Evening star., 1941-03-25

Chairman Martin. who is also
leader of the Republicans in the
House of Representatives. He specl-
fes the Republican task to be Ito
police and audit the New Deal ad-
ministration as it reVelS in the
spenolng of 80 to 40 billion dollars
and thus protect our country from
financial, political and social bank
ruptcy."
Allowing for the hyperboles of
party statements, the fact is that
In Britain and the United States
during wartimes. the opposition
party has acted as useful check
on the operations of the party in
power.
The need for check and check
no is all the more important today
In Congress because the New Deal
has such an overwhelming majority
Il sometimes feels it does not need
to explain or justify its action.
There is a more powerful reason
the tendency of certain New Deal
ers to use the defense billions to
kuIIIlGI SCHellltS VI SOIldl lClOIll
which have in them more of de-
sire tc get the reform going while
the money is available than to
help defense.
Mere denial of an intention to
abuse the defense power is not
enough The committees of Con-
gress can determine the truth about
defense projects which are started
In the name of defense but are
really related to a socialistic trend
which would have been repudiated
at the polls in 1910 but for the
International situation which gave
the New Deal its third term.
Weak on Labor Issue.
Mr.. Martin points out that the
Republicans carried 1920 and the
Democrats carried 936 counties out
side the Solid South and everybody
comedies that the strength of a po-
liucal party is to be found in the
county seats. The Republicans in
1886 carried only 438 counties. Like
wise the Republican candidates for
Congress received SOB per cent of
the total vote outside the Solid
South.
This showing, which is far from
poor. as indeed the 22000.000 votes
cast for Willkie indicated, too, is,
however, tempered by the fact that
the Republicans made a relatively
poor showing in the urban areas.
Our principal weakness is in the
large cities" confesses Mr.. Martin.
The Republican party will doubt
less have a research organization at
work and various means of studying
public trends. 1t might we'll seek to
discover why the Republican party
failed in the big cities. 1t would
discover perhaps that here the per-
centage of persons who are deeply
interested in the outcome of the
European struggle for democracy is
so large that it may not have had
sufficient confidence in the foreign
policy proposals of the Republicans,
namely, the isolationist spokesmen
who were so numerous on the Re-
publican side.
The Republicans likewise are weak
on the labor issue. They have not
yet convinced labor that if elected
to Office they would not let the
pendulum swing too far in the di-
rection of the employer. The minor
ity party, however, usually benefits
from any agitation due to the NAL
administration of existing law. Thus
the strikes in the defense industries
and the fact thai the Wagner law
has failed to prevent strikes at a
critical time will tend to build up
stronger public opinion behind the
Republican position on labor than
II otherwise would have had in the
normal course of events. It may be
that the strikes and the high initia-
ton fees of labor unions-something
like 100000 being taken in at one
Army camp alone-will cause re-
vulsion of feeling toward the con-
tinued exercise of labor power with
out regulation.
Forced to Be Discreet.
The trend in the next campaign
may be to urge that monopolies be
regulated, whether in the field Of
labor or industry. If abuses should
continue in the operation of labor's
economic power, the workers them
selves may revolt against labor
chieftains and express dissent at
the polls. But it would appear that
the Republican party cannot hope
to get the workers vote unless it
can assure them that whatever
changes are made in existing laws
will not really weaken the right of
labor to the legitimate exercise OF
the collective bargaining power free
from coercion or intimidation by
any employer or anybody else.
The Republicans still have a sharp
division in their ranks on foreign
policy. Wendell Wilkes position
has been vindicated but this does
not mean that the politicians agree
with him. His power over them, if
It is to continue, will be the power
that leader maintains who can
count on the support of public
opinion If events by the time OF
the November, 1942, congressional
elections have further corroborated
the Willkie attitude on foreign policy
he will be an asset to the candidates
seeking seats in Congress, but if
world events have swung the other
way and isolation is popular, the
Republican party may be seeking
new leaders. Time alone will tel
the answer but at the moment the
Republicans of the political group
who are here for the national COM
mittee meeting observe a necessarily
discreet position on foreign policy
and the larger issues growing out
OF the war situation.
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