Evening star., 1940-08-30
Mr.. Wallace Accepts

Mr.. Wallace Accepts
Henry Agard, Wallace left the farm
behind him last night in his accept
ance speech at Des Moines. "I am
running for Vice President, not Sec
retary of Agriculture" the retiring
Secretary of Agriculture told the
press few hours before he gave his
talk in the capital of the great farm
State where he was born and grew
up. The speech mentioned the
farmer only incidentally, since the
Republicans find little fault with the
Wallace program.
Among the high points of the
speech were commendable plea for
an intensified defense effort and an
unwarranted attack on Republican
party leaders. Mr.. Wallace during
his seven years in the cabinet has
achieved reputation for fortnight
ness as we'll as for great administra-
tive capacity. 1t would be regrettable
if, as his speech indicated, he has
been induced to trade not only his
Secretaryship for a chance at the
vice presidency but also his tradi-
tional independence for a purely
political partisanship.
1--WE have launched a great ma
tional effort to build up our defenses
against the threat from abroad" Mr..
Wallace said with complete truth,
and few will disagree with the run
ming mate of President Roosevelt for
giving the Roosevelt administration
credit for the efforts launching. But
with little logic he paints his rivals
black while he paints the New Deal
white. Most Republicans may not
yet realize it," Mr.. Wallace said, "but
their party is the party of appease-
ment in the United States today"
There is no Justification for this
statement. The Republican platform
OF 1910 and the acceptance speech
of the Republican candidate, Wen
dell Willkie, are both vigorously anti
appeaSement. Nor did Mr.. Wallace
ever allude to the fact that the most
vigorous opposition in the Senate to
such an essential defense, measure
as the selective service bill came from
Democrats, not Republicans. He
charged the Republican party with
being the party of appeasement, and
asserted that the appeasers will have
their way If the G. o. P wins the
election because they will have con-
tributed so largely, both politically
and financially, to the Republican
cause. In that connection, Mr..
Wallace must know, and should have
been candid enough to acknowledge,
that one of the most energetic
opponents of the selective service
phase of Mr.. Roosevelt's defense
program was John L. Lewis, of the
C. I. O., who has contributed very
largely, both politically and finan-
cially, to the New Deal cause.
This effort to draw a distinction
between the Republicans and Demo-
Gratis on the national defense issue
an issue which has been character
lied by bipartisan alignments-is
little, if any, above the level of
demagoguery. In his effort to present
President Roosevelt as the only man
capable of leading this country in
a period of emergency, Mr.. Wallace
has engaged in Misrepresentation
which must be disappointing in the
extreme to those who have been i'm
pressed in the past by the candor
and forthrightness of his public
statements.
The American way, but not Mr..
Roosevelt, is indispensable. The
whole of Mr.. WallaceS speech en-
phasized Hitler and the German
menace to such a degree that at
times the Democratic nominee for
the vice presidency made it appear
that the issue in the United States
in 1910 Is whether Mr.. Roosevelt
shall be reelected or whether the
country shall be turned over to
Hitler. That, of course, is not the
issue. The issue is how the United
States may best be governed so that
it shall be safe from foes without and
secure from economic and social dis
lnro tion Within