Evening star., 1940-06-06

speech as a mdpter OF courtesy ana
1t turned out that the move was
planned by ardent admirers as
means of stampeding the conven-
ton if that were possible. This time
the friends of the former President
are similarly active and it is under
gates are pledged to Mr.. Hoover
now
Under the circumstances some of
the supporters of Messrs. Taft,
Dewey and Willkie are beginning
to ask why it wouldn't be a good
idea for all the leading candidates
to be invited to speak. In this way
the delegates would be able to
measure them all as possible cam
paigners for their cause this sum-
ner and autumn.
Some Ill-Feeling Created.
Unfortunately there has been
some ill-feeling about the fact that
Mr.. Hoover, who has never said he
would not accept nomination,
should be invited to speak whereas
objections were raised in the ar
rangements committee to inviting
former Gov. Landon who has pub
hcly stated he would not be
candidate in 1910.
If anybody deserves chance to
speak to the delegates it would seem
to be the former standard bearers
of the party, but it is questionable
whether their addresses should come
before the balloting unless all po-
tential standard bearers are given
an equal opportunity to make an i'm
preston on the delegates
From the standpoint of the specta-
tors and perhaps the radio audiences
as we'll. it would be an interesting
innovation if all nominating speeches
were eliminated and instead, if the
men whose names are placed before
the convention were themselves to
be permitted to talk for 80 minutes
each. In this way the delegates
would be able to analyze not only
the quality of the speeches written
for such an occasion, but the person.
ality and delivery both of which are
factors in appraising the merit of
candidate in terms of campaigning
and vote-getting.
Boom Growing.
The Hoover boom has been grow
ing lately. The men who held office
under the former President are still
devoted to him as a leader and they
insist he was maligned and NAL
treated by political opponents. His
alleged failure to cure depression
now, they declare, has been matched
by nearly eight years of Roosevelt
deficits. Mr.. Hoover's unbalanced
budgets of three years amounted to
a total of less than $5000,000, 900,
whereas the New Deal deficits at the
end of the eight years will amount
to about five times as much ire
spective of the new national defense
expenses.
Among the ma jority of members of
the Republican party in Congress
there is, however, a feeling that Mr..
Hoover would not prove as good a
vote-getter as some one else who
has not been defeated in a national
contest. 1t is not unusual, however,
for parties to renominate a defeated
candidate. Thus William Jennings
Bryan was nominated in 1896 and
1900 and again in 1908 Though de-
feated three times he was an i'm
portant factor in bringing about the
nomination of Woodrow Wilson in
1912. In the Republican party, how
ever, it is rare that defeated candi-
date gets another chance.
Had Experience in War.
The Hooverites have been en-
eouraged lately to bring forth the
former President because he actually
had experience in the World War
and in the National Government
from 1920 to 1928 in charge of the
Department of Commerce. He had
the confidence of business and in
dustry in those years and while he
was President from 1928 to 1882,
being able to mobilize them even in
the matter Of maintaining wage
scales in 1880 and 1914 factor
which brought down upon him some
severe criticism in later years from
those self-same businessmen who
felt he should have let deflation
reach a natural bottom promptly.
Whether Mr.. Hoover could be
brought back into popular favor as
a candidate is a matter on which
many politicians have positive opin-
ions. They are inclined to say his
name is too closely associated with
the economic debacle which reached
such severity in 1882 and 1888.
Would he make a good war Presi-
dent? This is the real test today
and it is one reason why Wendell
Wilkes candidacy also Is growing
rapidly as the other candidates are
failing to move ahead. The general
impression here is that Taft and
Dewey will have about an equal
number of delegates and that after