Evening star., 1940-06-23
@. 0. P.
. Continued From First Page.)

1 -
three are favorite-son candidates,
and the fourth is a candidate only
If and when Senator Taft is elimin-
ated with the convention still bal
lotlng. All three are delegates.
Still Others on Hand.
Senator McNary of Oregon, Re-
publican leader of the Senate; SEN
ator Capper of Kansas; Frank Gan
nett New York publisher, and Rep
resentative Joseph w. Martin, jr.,
of Massachusetts,, House leader for
the G. o. P, will be here for the
convention, too. Senator Styles
Bridges of New Hampshire is al
ready here for the duration"
Crowds gathered to see Mr. Will
kie, whose amazing boom in press
and magazine has aroused great
curiosity There were crowds. too, at
the headquarters of Senator Taft
and Mr.. Dewey.
Mr.. Willkie, soon after he arrived,
admitted that he favored reciprocal
trade agreements lin principle" al
though he did not favor some of
those entered into by the Roose-
welt administration
Mr.. Dewey frankly told a press
conference he would vote to con-
firm the nominations of Col. Frank
Knox to be Secretary of the Navy
and Henry L. Stimson to be Sec
retary of War if he were a member
of the Senate.
II certainly would" he said en-
phatically. when the question was
put. He said he did not agree with
the views of these gentlemen on
possible intervention in the Euro
pean war, but that he preferred
competence" in the cabinet, partic-
ularly in these days, even if the
men appointed did not hold his
views.
Takes Shot at Roosevelt.
Celebrating. Mr.. Dewey charged
that President Roosevelt had left
the defenses of this country in a
"shockingly deplorable" condition,
for which Mr.. Roosevelt was per-
sonally responsible.
"Now Mr.. Roosevelt, on the eve
of the Republican National Con-
vention, is making a raid on the
Republican party for two obvious
purposes" he continued. "One is
to provide an alibi. Secondly, he
has picked two distinguished and
able gentlemen, who, however, are
regarded as interventionists. I
would vote for their confirmation
as at least step in the direction
of getting competence in the War
and Navy Departments"
Mr.. Dewey insisted that Col. Knox
and Mr.. Stimson are still members
of the Republican party and that
he would not join in any attempt
to read them out of the party.
Nobody can do it, and nobody
should do it," he said.
Mr.. Dewey was asked If he had
entered into any arrangement with
the Taft forces to stop Mr.. Will
kie or any other candidate.
IT have not" he replied. He him
self has been the object of stop
movement for months.
Disinterested in Second Place.
Mr.. Dewey also stepped on the
suggestion that he was possibly
candidate for the vice presidency
II am a candidate for the presi-
dency and nothing else" he said
He said he honestly did not
know" how many delegates would
vote for him, but that his managers
had claimed upward of 400 would
support him when the ballotine
starts. It takes SOL, or majority
of the convention, to nominate.
He said he had not given his
advice to the Resolutions Commit
tee of the national convention, now
working on a foreign policy plank
He said he was in favor of "lbera
foreign policy" favoring such aid
to the Allies as can be given within
the laws of this country now or
the books and within internationa
law.
II would make certain we shall
not become belligerent," he added
Mr.. Dewey went on to say hi
would be willing to sell to the Allie!
bona fide surpluses" Of war mate
riels, but would not approve thu
sale of warships. 1--WE haven't hall
enough" he said.
Sees Roosevelt Making Issue.
"Are you in lavor of making th'
Republican party the peace party
and the Democratic party the wal
party?" he was asked
President Roosevelt is MAKING
that issue for us" he quickly replied
He insisted that the people general,