Evening star., 1940-06-28
Old Style G. 0. P.
Rigidity Broken 10
Accept Wi|Ikie
New Republiconism
Triumphs Over Thot
Of Penrose Type
BY WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE

by WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE.
PHILADELPHIA, June 28.-The
slow grind of the great ballotine
machine made it evident, as last
evening grew old, that Wendell WILL
kie was the most vital candidate
before the convention. His mounting
vote showed a widespread enthu-
siasm in every section and votes in
more States than any of his oppon-
ents could muster.
The cheering galleries, as Mr.
WILKES forces swung into command
r of the early evening contest, must
have seemed cruel to the friends of
Thomas E. Dewey who began to
stagger in the third ballot.
BY 10 pm. it was evident that
the battle was between Senator TAFT
of Ohio, representing solid Republic
an conservatism, and Mr.. Willkie
who was frankly the independent
Republican candidate.
Clash of Old and New.
1t was a clash of the old Repub-
licanism of Penrose, the elder Lodge
Harding and Coolidge on the one
hand, and on the other the new
Republicanism which apparently is
trying to form itself out of the lib
eral wing of the party and the dem
ocratic malcontents.
Mr.. Willkie, the hero of the gal
leries, stood in something like the
place where Theodore Roosevelt
stood % years ago, at Armageddon
battling for the Lord.
To understand what was going
on here in the convention hall last
night, the Republican party and its
political mind must be taken into
account.
Inevitably, any national conven-
! ton of major party is controlled
by its high priests, caste apart
from the rank and file. This caste
thinks in terms of its major pre-
mise, which is: The party is always
above the country. The Republican
party and the integrity of it's mem
bership, pure and undefiled, means
to these delegates more, however,
than the same concept would mean
in a Democratic convention.
Proud of Party Faithfulness.
Each delegate, like a high caste
Brahmin, is bursting with pride in
his long, unbroken party-voting rec
ord. These delegates with incrusted
political minds are intelligent
enough on most subjects. Indeed,
they are intelligent about current
events, but, in a partisan convention,
either Democratic or Republican,
the average delegate rejects with
some emotion any attempt to tie
current political events into these
proceedings of his party.
The delegates knew, of course,
that Wendell Willkie was popular
The galleries revealed Mr.. WILKES
popularity time and again. But
the delegates on the floor did not
exhibit the slightest reaction to
this popularity in the galleries.
They knew of Wilkes popu-
1arity because he appeals to the in
dependent vote and can carry
large sections of the Democratic
vote. The delegates frankly admit
ted this, but their minds closed with
a click when they were asked to
vote for any man, no matter how
popular, no matter what voting
groups will follow him, because he
had been registered Republican
less than two years.
1t is unnecessary to add that g
two-year Democrat in a Democratic
convention will have the same
trouble Mr. Willkie had here last
night. The party mind is always
the party mind.
Poll Shows Fear of Hitler.
Another thing. a poll carefully
and rather extensively made in the
last two days by professional
group of interviewers shows that
these delegates in a considerable
majority believe that the United
States is menaced by Nazi Germany
that Hitler will not leave us time tc
arm and that we shall have to de-
fend our Western Hemisphere. A
so per cent majority of the delegates
interviewed sees imminent danger;
half think Hitler will strike at the
United States now or soon; IS per
cent believe it would take all this
year and part of the next to gel
ready for Hitler. Yet three-fourths
of the delegates would have us now
attempt to defend the entire West
srn Hemisphere, even beyond oul
own frontiers Moreover, these dele.
gates are intelligent enough to be.
lieve that America should make 6
firm stand against Nazi Germany
economic aggression in this hemi'
sphere. Two-thirds of them wan
an economic alliance in all tht
Americas against Germany. I an
satisfied that this poll is accurate
Yet many of these same open
minded delegates opposed Mr.. Will
kie because he feels that America
first line of defense is Great Britain
although they agree with him en-
tirely, outside of politics. Despite
all their interest in economic soil
darity in the hemisphere, they op
posed Mr.. Willkie because he ia
vored the Hull treaties and alst
because in general he has strung
along with the foreign policies o
the blank three e-dashes-and.
three-exclamation- points" in thu
White House.
When Willkie was booed Wednes.
day night, in hurt him in the conven-
tion, even though the ordinary, in
telligent delegates know why he was