The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1940-08-29
GEN e RAJ
HUGH s.
JOH N SON
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THIS MAN WILLKIE
wNu Serso
Washington, D. C.

Three days of observation of Wen
dell Willkie have been eye-openers
to Newell as I thought / knew
him. This column isn't going to
make the mistake it made in 1896
and take a strong partisan position.
But it feels a certain sense of re-
| sponsibility for insisting on the avail
ability of this man for almost two
years and getting good many rasp-
berries for its alleged goodness"
The "eye-opener" was this guys
sturdy independence. / think he is
another, but a pleasanter, Grover
Cleveland. sensed, and sometimes
saw, the strongest kinds of pulls
and pressures applied to him in
these few days. Some of them were
from the mightiest of political lead
ers. Others were of the modern
telegraph-barrage variety-"Speak-
ing for 100000 farmers, we urge;
Speaking for 21,000,000 Catholics,
we demand; "As representative of
100000 Negroes we ask; eff you
won't do so-and-so, you will lose New
York state and the whole Atlantic
Seaboard"
The candidate answers genially
and courteously. He checks facts
from every source he can command.
He continues to pursue the even
tenor of his way and thought with
smiling urbanity that seems mira
Gle to me. I know only one other
man who could take such pushing,
pulling and paving with as much
good nature, as little disturbance of
his convictions and as little loss of
sleep. His name is Franklin Roose-
velt
do not for a moment mean to
suggest that Wendell Willkie is a
stubborn dogmatist. He is just the
reverse of that. He has the usual
business habit of putting up an alert
defensive to any professional sales
talk. But he also uses the efficient
business mans practice of overlook
ing no promising proposition and
of getting every fact and expert
opinion available before he decides.
There has been good deal of spec
ulation about why I went to Colorado
Springs. Mr.. Willkie asked me to
come to give my opinion on GER
tain aspects of the farm, labor and
defense problems, with all of which
have had some experience and
have expressed strong views.
Well, he winnowed whatever
brains have with a fine-tooth comb,
so far as I know accepted nothing,
put up as able and well informed
debate as I have yet encountered
and left me in complete ignorance
as to his final judgment.
To me, all this seems a good sign.
The greatest blunder in recent
government has been, I think, a
sort of trout-like swapping at and
swallowing whole of any attractive
brainstorm, with little or no attempt
to get an objective analysis or hear
any worthwhile contrary opinion.
Of one thing 1 am sure. Nobody
is going to shove this shaggy Hoosier
around, sell him any gold bricks or
push him off of any important moral
position, for the sake of any expedi-
ent political advantage. The latter
has, to my knowledge, been vainly
attempted with dire threats of de-
feat if Willkie did not instantly
knuckle. He just laughed.
He has another quality of Franklin
Roosevelt. Nobody rejected ever
goes away mad. But while the Pres
ident accompliShes this by saving
Eyes, yes, yes-you are perfectly
right" and then acts just as he
pleases; Mr.. Willkie somehow man.
ages to keep them cheerful with
something like: "Yours received and
contents noted. will study it care
fully. Just now it looks lousy"-or
attractive" as the case may be.
still say he would be a great
President.
THOSE so DESTROYERS