Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-12-22

~ ~ d II q economic
n views.
You can't say
Charles G. Ross. that the Repub.
llcans would wage one kind of CAM
palgn with Mr.. Dewey at the head
OF the ticket, and another kind
under one of the senatorial candi-
dates. The general lines of their
strategy are bound to be very largely
tne same In one case as another.
only the unlikely nomination of
some one like Wendell Willkie, at
one end of the political spectrum.
or the equally unlikely choice of a
Mayor La Guardia, at the other.
would make any great difference.
There is plenty of proof of this
IN the speeches which Mr.. Dewey
has been making. They have been
Well-organized and well-delivered
speeches, vastly more literate than
the average of their kind, and they
are not, as I think, fairly open to
the criticism of having been too gen.
eral. After all, it was incumbent
on Mr.. Dewey, first of all, to state
a political philosophy on which to
build whatever concrete recommen-
cations he may make. This ne has
done. Discussion of specific issues,
no doubt, will follow. But nothing
that Mr.. Dewey has said differs
essentially from what Senator VAN
denberg and Senator Taft have
been saying. The three of them are
fundamentally alike in their eco.
nomic outlook and their attitude to.
ward the New Deal.
Democrats of Several Minds.
To say this is not to disparage
any Of them. 1t is only to point
out that the Republicans are fairly
we'll united for the campaign,
whereas the Democrats. because Of
the cleavage between New Dealism
and the more conservative brand Of
Democratic thought, are torn with
a dlssension which will cost them
heavily If it is not repaired.
Hence the deep and growing in
terest in the outcome of the 1910
Democratic convention.
The great. overshadowing cues.
ton, Of course. is whether or not
Mr.. Roosevelt will be the nominee.
! The question is not whether the
choice will fall on a Rooseveltian
tmeaning Mr.. Roosevelt or some
| other complete New Dealer or on
some one of more conservative
bent. For there seems no possible
chance that any 100 per cent
Rooseveltian save the President
himself can be nominated. The
main question is narrower-it is
whether the President himself is
to be nominated, or some one with
at least one foot in the other camp.
If the President is left out of the
calculation, who is likely to be the
nominee?
You can hear any number of lines
of speculation. The Garner people
contend that their man has gone
into the race to win. This is what
they would say in any event; the
ritual of running for office or pro-
noting a candidacy so demands.
But the statement of Mr.. Gamers
bitter-end determination to win
must not be read as precluding a
trade If and when the time comes
for trading.
There is also the hopeful theory
OF the McNutt boosters that the
Indiana man in due course will
receive the Presidents support and
hence the nomination. There is the
theory that after a few trial ballots
in the convention, Mr.. Garner, Mr..
Hull and Mr.. Farley, who among
them will control a large bloc of
delegates, will get together and pick
the nominee, possibly one of them
selves, possibly somebody else. There
Is the view, sometimes joined with
the preceding. that Senator Wheeler,
as a man on whom both factions of
the party can unite without too
great surrender on either side. will
emerge as the compromise nominee.
All these guesses have been ex-
| plotted. There are others, and
among them is one which is now
being put out with a great show OF
assurance on the part of the guess
ers. This one has it that the presi-
dental nominee will be the head Of
the Reconstruction Finance Corpo-
ration, Jesse H. Jones.
| Mr.. Jones is from Texas. Those
who attended the Democratic Ma
tional Convention which Mr.. Jones
won for Houston in 1928 with a Ger
titled check laid on the line, came
away with the impression that he
owns a large part of that thriving
city. He entered the Government
under Hoover and his influence has
grown as the activities of the r. F.
G. have expanded.
Garner a Trader.
Mr.. Garner, it is recalled, is by
nature trader. He ran for the
presidential nomination in 1882 and
traded himself into the vice presi-
dency. The Jones theory has it
that after Mr.. Garner has failed to
make the grade in the 1910 conven-
ton he will throw his strength to
some one who holds substantially
his own economic views and whom
he trusts. What is more natural, 1t
Is asked, than that the Garner dele
gates should go to the Vice Presi.
dents friend and fellow Texan, Mr..
Jones?
1t is part Of this theory that the
President could not fail to support
a man who has been as loyal to the
administration as Jesse Jones.
There's deal of wishful think
ing in all this, but also a certain
element of plausibility. Mr.. Jones
is not putting himself forward, but
there's no doubt among his friends