Evening star., 1940-11-01
.WiIIkie Gain
In Midwest
Seen Halted
Swing to Roosevelt
Claimed by Chicago o
New Deal Leaders
BY JAY FRANKLIN.

In the last few days. the Willkie
trend in the Midwest seems to have
been checked, while Roosevelts
strength is growing, according to,
reports to New Deal leaders in
Chicago.
A single evening saw a sharp set
back to the Willkie-Lewis drive to
link the c. I. o. with big business
in an "unholy alliance" which is
being compared by some TO the
Hitler-Stalin pact Of August, 1899.
On that night, there was a big labor
meeting for Mayor La Guardia at
the West Side Stadium, where
10000 Chicagoans were packed in
and an additional $4,000 crowded
outside the doors. A week before,
bare 1000 had turned out to hear
Dan Tobin and Secretary Ickes.
At this meeting, the crowd
cheered as labor leader after labor
leader-Whitney of the railway
brotherhoods. Thomas of the United
Automobile Workers &C. I. o., and
representatives Of the A. F. of L.
Joined in support of President
Roosevelt and labor unity. Mayor
La Guardia brought the house down
with a rough-and-tumble attack on
Wendell Willkie. Melvyn Douglas
of Hollywood also spoke effectively,
and the net effect was TO step up
the morale Of the Democratic forces.
Kennedy's Speech Effective.
The same evening, Ambassador
Kennedy broke the hearts of the
pro-Willkie faction in this region
by his announced support of Mr..
Roosevelt, when the buildup had
led them to hope Mr. Kennedy
would take a walk. The Kennedy
speech was particularly effective in
Irish-Catholic circles and among
those business groups where the
Ambassador is regarded as one Of
the shreWdest oportunists in Ameri-
can history. If Joe Kennedy comes
out right down the line for F. D. R.,
they interpret it as meaning that
he figures that Roosevelt will win,
that England will win, and that
the axis, at home and abroad, is
on the way out.
Dorothy Thompson's broadcast,
taking John L. Lewis to pieces on
his 'unholy alliance" was described
as "the most effective speech of the
campaign" by man with 40 years
experience in Illinois politics. The
bank at Englewood, Ill, which was
used as an illustration Of unfair Re-
publican campaign tactics by Mayor
La Guardia, found itself facing
angry depositors the following day.
The steel workers and the packing
house workers in this region have
refused to follow the Lewis lead and
now are turning out the leaders who
did "Me-too" to the Willkie tie-up.
New Deal Seen on Upgrade.
Every speech by Mr.. Roosevelt in
creases morale and is winning votes,
and the Democratic organization is
cruising through the Loop with
the Republican Navy"-a dinghy
manned by Martin, Barton and Fish.
For the first time since the Juror
over Elliott Roosevelt's captaincy,
Democratic and New Deal sentiment
has hit the upgrade. Current polls
of newspaper opinion are said to
miss much of the latent Roosevelt
strength, because the full-time fac
tory employment-With many mills
running on a 24-hour basis-keeps
the workers of the streets, while
employer coercion makes many
workers reluctant to advise can
vassers as to the true state Of their
sentiments.
One man recently was fired from
a large oil company here after he
had refused to wear a Willkie but
ton. Down-State and farm senti-
ment seems pretty evenly divided,
which means that the Chicago vote
should carry the State.
This new wave of Roosevelt
enthusiasm is spreading from Chi
cago and affecting all of this indus
trial AREAS far West as Min
neapolis, up into Wisconsin and
Michigan, and far over into Indiana
and Ohio. Until this development,
Wisconsin was regarded as lost to
the Republicans, with Michigan.
Ohio and Indiana a $3.50 chance
and Illinois too close for comfort.
If the events of the last "A hours
are any indication. this decisive area
in national politics will be found in
the Roosevelt column on Noven-
Der 5.
incidentally, the fact that the first
man called for the draft in Chicago
was Chinese has tremendously
eased the tension over the drawing
of numbers at Washington.
(Released by Consolidated News Features,