Nogales international., 1940-06-15
Jangling Discord

pROJECTION of the issue of national defense into
the political campaign has made the indecision and
dsorganiZation which already existed in Republican
ranks confusion confOunded None of the crowd
OF Republican aspirants for the presidential nonna
tion did agree with any Of the others politics.
except the hunger for office, but the question of
preparedness has produced among them such jag
ling discord to drown the of battle. Some of
them so upset that they cannot even agree with
themselves.
At the same hour in which Herbert Hoover from his
fastness in New York was procaiming the radio
that councils boards commissions were USE
less and the only efficient way to carry the produc
ton of arms and munitions was by single directing
head, Dewey, the Boy Scout candidate, down on the
plains of Texas declaring for the very opposite
"a non-partisan national defense board" Taft stuck to
his isOlatOnast stand, Frank Gannett got worked up
over "a political blitzkrieg", Wendell Willke, the
Power Trust entry the only remedy in repeating
all liberal legislation and letting big business run riot
again. while the party jitterbug, Ham Fish, became so
agated that he proposed the pOsponement of the Re-
publican convention to July rs.
In conformity with his custom of attacking every
thing accomplished by the Roosevelt administration
Dewey blamed it for not having the country already
in state of adequate defense This country had acted
he said Just like England and France in not getting
ready and the reason for the French bungling' was
experimentation with "a Socialist Popular Front mod
eled on the New Deal" Little Boy Blue evidently was
pressed for time that he had chance to read up
and learn that for some time England has enioyed the
he had known this the inconsistency of attributng
single condition to two separate and different causes
would not have disturbed his bumptousness.
Like Dewey some of the other candidates attacked
the administration for lack of foresight and charged
that defenses had been neglected That there is
ground for such accusations is shown by the test
mony of high Republican sources The Republican
New York Herald-Tribune said: owe do not see how
any fail to credit President Roosevelt with
rare gift of prophecy in relation to the Second World
War. Mr.. Roosevelt was everlastingy right in his
general forecast the whole country is today be1at
edly and reluctantly coming to perceive. The Wash
ington Post, another Republican paper, says: "Mr.
Roosevelt was on solid ground when he defended the
record of his administration on national defense Our
Navy Army and air force have been notably strength
ened in recent years Frequently the President has
asked for money than Congress has been willing
to grant for this purpose" The reactionary Baltimore
Sun, which has opposed virtually every progressive
act of the Roosevelt administration, in anayzng the
Presidents fresde talk said that it did not do so in
order to quibbe because "the Presidents figures
do indeed show that progress has been made especial
ly in the Navy"
If the eager, impatient, perspring Republican can
ddates expect their party to get anywhere they had