Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-07

1NOOo0'SAV - & .&HzTM
h supporters
to ponder and David Lawrence.
study as there is for the groups who
backed Wendell Willkie.
Why, for instance, did Kansas go
30 overwhelmingly for Mr.. Willkie
and Maine, though Republican. re-
veal such a sharp drop from her
September and hitherto normal ma
jority? Why was the vote in New
Jersey relatively close and Pennsyl-
vania heavily Democratic?
No single answer can be made to
such questions. 1t will be averred
that the huge vote of the employed
workers in defense industries going
full blast affected some States. 1t
will be argued that large foreign
born groups swung this State or
that, whereas other States with less
foreign population and more agri-
cultural constituents voted the other
way. But not one of these yardsticks
will suffice, because Idaho and Ore
gon at one end of the continent be-
haved like New Hampshire at the
other, whereas Indiana didn't follow
the pattern of her neighbor, Ohio,
any more than Iowa followed the
lead of the adjacent State of Minnie
sofa.
One Real Issue.
When votes estimated at between
100000 and 100000 are cast,
the search must be for some possible
common denomination that affected
a preponderant number. There was
only one real issue in the campaign:
Did the presence of a grave crisis in
the world affecting possibly the
destiny of the United States justify
the American people in Subordinat-
ing domestic issues, the third term,
the spending policies and radicaliSm
of the New Deal? The Republican
nominee argued that his foreign
policy would be the same as that of
the Roosevelt administration and
that domestic issues and the third
term could be permitted to have
paramount consideration. But the
voters disagreed with this view and
brushed aside domestic argument IN
favor of the theory that it is not
good to swap horses in midstream.
From the moment Mr.. Roosevelt
accepted third nomination at the
Chicago convention, he drove home
the argument that the Government
ought not to be permitted to pass
into inexperienced hands" lest the
latter fall victim to peace by zap
peasement.' A majority of the voters
of the Nation apparently believed
this argument and today Hitler can
not rejoice at what America has
done. From all over the world come
the press dispatches revealing the
delight of the Latin American
countries and of Britain over the
Roosevelt reelection, and the dis
may of Italy and Germany and ia
pan over what has happened.
There was certainly a clear man
date on foreign policy. Both candi-
dates pledged aid to Britain and
condemned the totalitarian states.
But such a vote of approval could
be considered by Mr.. Roosevelt as
a vote of confidence should he find
it necessary to go further and fur
ther with his policy of interven-
ton. Probably America will never
declare" war, but in the spring of
next year, when British shipping
losses are expected to be actually
felt, the demand for American mer-
chant ships and possibly the use Of
the American Navy to convoy car
goes of food and war materials to
Britain may rise At that time Mr..
Roosevelt may feel that he has a
mandate to do virtually what he
pleases in foreign policy and he will
not be far wrong.
No Clear Domestic Mandate.
AS for domestic policy, there is
no such clear mandate. The split
tickets throughout the country, the
fact that Congress showed relatively
little change and that Midwestern
agricultural States gave Mr.. Willkie
big gains hardly permits the view
that the farmers are united behind
the administration or that wasteful
expenditures can be continued. Ger
tainly the 1912 congressional cleo
tons now will come to the fore as
the means of settling domestic
scores and, if the war crisis has
passed by that time, the verdict on
that occasion will do more to clarity
the meaning of this election in terms
of radicalism and conservatism than
the one held this week.
Inside the New Deal there is a
sort of sober restraint. The state
ments issued since the election re-
suits have been known have been
in good taste on both sides. There
is a realization of the prime impor-
lance of the national defense pro-
gram and especially of the fact that
all isms must be subordinated to
the achievement of schedules in ma
tional defense.
The Willkie supporters, confident
of the Justice of their cause, are I'M
doubtedly stunned by the result
They expected to win. But with
bombs falling in London streets ana
with the free way of life hanging