Evening star., 1940-06-25

from Gov. Harold Stassen tod
somed in a big way-so big that
Mr.. Wilkes status as dark horse
candidate has vanished entirely.
No longer can Mr.. Willkie and his
followers stand by and wait until
Senator Taft, Mr.. Dewey and Sem
ator Vandenberg have killed each
other off, or have been killed off
Mr.. WILKES aggressive candidacy
has arrayed the field" against him
He is in position where he will
have to do considerable bit of
running himself.
Four Ballots May Decide.
Mr., Willkie has been touted dur
ing the last few days as the man
with a hold on a very large number
OF the delegates, in many if not all
OF the States. If the convention
ballots three or four times and the
Willkie strength has not material
lied on a large scale, his delegate
strength, instead of increasing, may
fall off-and that would be the end
in all probability, of the Willkie
boom.
Gov. Harlan ]. Bushfield of South
Dakota has announced he will have
his name presented to the conven-
ton as candidate for the presidential
nomination. This was regarded as
a move by Westener against the
Willkie candidacy. The opposition
to the Willkie nomination lies par
tlcularly among the delegates from
Western States. Gov Raymond E
Baldwin of Connecticut took himself
out of the race yesterday as a favorite
son candidate, declaring he intended
to support Willkie and to second his
nomination. The Bushfield an
nouncement that he would run is
regarded as an answer of kind to
this attempt of the Connecticut
Governor to start a bandwagon
movement toward the power mag
nate.
Gov. Ralph Carr of Colorado, who
had said a few hours earlier that
his State delegation was wide open
was added to those who will second
Mr. Wilkes nomination.
Claims are made that the strength
OF Senator Taft is on the in
crease. 1t is urged by his cam
palgn managers that he has a ma
terial secondary strength among the
delegates which will go to him on
the second and third ballots.
Attempts are made to discount
the strength of Mr.. Dewey, New
York's fighting district attorney
Reports that his delegates in many
instances will leave Mr.. Dewey
soon after the balloting begins are
vehemently denied.
Allen Denies Losses.
Mr.. Deweys headquarters issued
a statement by former Gov. Henry
j. Allen of Kansas asserting, Moth
ing is more silly to men experienced
in the trend of political conventions
than the reiterated propaganda that
Dewey is slipping"
Delegations do not slip away from
the top candidate" he said.
Former Gov. Allen is also among
those who are active in the drive tc
bring about the nomination of Mr.
Hoover. He is opposed to the
nomination Of Wendell Willkie.
In a press conference j. Russell
Sprague, the New Workers. manager
said he was standing by his predic-
ton OF 400 Dewey votes on the first
ballot and forecast an increase oil
"at least so" on the second. Mr.
Sprague agreed there had been some
fluctuations" in delegate line-ups.
Dewey managers were greatly
pleased over the results of the con-
tests in the Credential Committee
ratified today by the convention.
They claimed this action gave
them the delegations from both
Florida and South Carolina and g
scattering of delegate votes in other
States.
Taft-Dewey Feud Fades.
One thing is apparent. The Will.
kie threat has started reaction
which has caused the two leading
contenders, Taft and Dewey, tt
leave off fighting each other fol
the moment and to turn their at.
tention to stopping Mr.. Willkie."
Louder and louder grow the
charges that the Willkie candidacy
is backed by Wall Street and public
utility interests; that instead o1
being spontaneous, as claimed by
Willkie and his friends, the candi.
dacy has been carefully nurtured
with plenty of money spent by so.
called independent and "spontan.
eous" Willkie clubs.
Opposition Must Crystalline.
Sooner or later, however, the dele.
gates opposed to Willkie will hav.
to center on a candidate to nomi
nate over Willkie-unless it is fount
possible to knock Mr.. Willkie of
first. 1t is a fact that efforts ar,
going forward today to bring abou
an arrangement between the Taf
| and Dewey forces for a Taft ant
Dewey or Dewey and Taft ticket
The tremendous interest in tn,
national defense and foreign rela
tions plank of the platform wa
exemplif1ed in the addresses mad,
last night by the temporary chair
man, Gov. Stassen, and by thu
permanent chairman, Mr.. Martin
today. Both laid heavy stress OF
the need for this country to turn tn
handling Of its foreign relation