Evening star., 1940-06-25
Foreign Affairs Plank
Reported Shown 10
Anti-War Democrats
Candidates Attendance
At 6. O. P. Convention
AssoiIed by White
By WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE.

reciprocal IraOe CreaCleS ana LOT
other blemishes that mar a man
who was registered Democrat in
1895.
The attack of the Republican
leaders upon Willkie today has crys-
talized in an MISUNDERSTANDING
kie program. But the trouble with
this convention, the first Republican
convention in 40 years which has
run hog-wild like Democratic con-
vention, Is that the leaders have lost
control; and the more the Repub-
licans act like unwashed Democrats,
the less they seem to want to
nominate one.
The revolt against the bosses is
manifest all over the lot. 1t is con-
ceded that Joe Pew, the Pennsyl-
vania satrap, will lose IA of his
delegates on the first ballot to Will
kie and others of the Pennsylvania
delegation may scatter toward can
didates that Pew dislikes. Landon
and Joe Martin, the only two other
leaders who have anything like ma
tion-wide standing, are losing some
thing of their grip.
A Straddling Plank.
A carefully made poll of the dele
gates shows that a good 10 per cent
of them favor giving aid to the
Allies, yet the platform committee
is afraid of the proposition and has
adopted a straddling plank which
means nothing. The only hopeful
feature in it, as it stood last night,
was that this foreign affairs plank
binds nobody to anything and who
ever Is nominated can follow any
course he wills.
The language of the platform is
sufficiently mushy to permit any
stand that the changing fortunes of
the European war requires. There
was no leadership in writing the
platform. 1t coalesced around the
Glenn Frank report of policies
adopted last spring. Mr.. Frank was
in and out of the committee room
at odd times and it is reported
upon fairly good authority that the
plank on foreign affairs was read
to Burt Wheeler and anti-war Dem
ocrats to see If it suited them in
case they decided to withdraw from
the Democratic party next fall if
the Democrats went too far toward
war. Never before in the history of
the Republican party has there
been rumor that its platform was
peddled around to disgruntled DEM
ocrats to get their approval. The
episode is set down here merely to
indicate the kind of convention
this Is.
The convention really is Embossed
and unbuttoned, thousand milling
men and women without leaders and
with only the conservative tradi-
ton Of the Republican party hold
ing them together. There is no con-
flict between old-time liberals and
old-time conservatives. That divid-
ing line Is gone Upon foreign
policy. the only issue that win enter
into the campaign. there is neither
discussion nor purpose nor any con-
sciousness Of the terrible reality Just
ahead, grim reality that will make
all the nonsense, cowardice and fol-
de-rol of the platform seem chat
in the great winds of national dan
ger that are forming in the looming
clouds above this town.
1t is unthinkable that 1000 men
and women who have in their hands
the destiny of their country should
be entirely innocent, so puerile in
their political attitude, walking in
the grooves laid down by dead poll.
ticians, the mouldy traditions OF
other days.
Sign of Decadence
A sad sign of the decadence Of
this convention is that all the
candidates for presidential Office
are here in person. Occasionally
candidates for Office have appeared
before the conventions of the major
parties, but, in general, in the past
only the cheap self-seeking candi.
dates have come to conventions.
Harding was the only Republi.
can candidate in the century who
was in the convention town wher
he was nominated But Harding
thought so little of his chances thai
he came to town as a spectator
He paid little attention to the
handshaking and delegate chasing
ritual which friends of other dele
gates were enacting in Chicago in
1920. Before Harding, the only
winning Republican candidate who
appeared in the convention tina,
nominated him was James A. Gar
field. Bryan nominated himself
Mckinley was In Canton. Theo-
dore Roosevelt in 1904 remained in
the White House during his nom-
mating convention. He appeared
in 1912 at the Republican conven-
tion and was beaten. Indeed it was
used as an argument against him
that he cheapened the nomination
by going to the convention to seek it
Wilson was absent from both his
nominating conventions. Hughes
was on the Supreme Court when he
was nominated. Coolidge was in the
White House. John w. Davis lived
in New York when he was NOM
mated by the Democrats and could
not avoid the puerilities of the con-
vention hotels. In %, Hoover re-
manned in Washington when he was
nominated and In 80 Franklin
Roosevelt remained at the Gov
ernor's mansion in Albany and, OF
course. Hoover remained at the
White House. In SO both Roose-
welt and Landon kept away from
the convention.
This is the first time that men
have been seeking the Republican
nomination who have regarded it
so lightly that they have come to
the convention themselves. It is
a nadir in political dignity.
The pleasant thing about it is