Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-03-12
White Warns 6. 0. P.
Must Back War or
Go Out Of Business
Kansas Editor Sees
Party Suicide in
Present Policy
BY WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE.

the war. President Roosevelt de-
fines our status as "the arsenal of
democracy" But we were in the
war as deeply as now when we
amended the neutrality law to keep
out of the war in 1889 by forbid
ding our ships to sail with contra
band in belligerent waters. In effect
then we joined the blockade of Ger
many.
So, for all of Adolf Hitler's at
tenpts and the purposes of the axis
partners the United States has been
an unneutral acknowledgement for
nearly year and a half. 1t may not
be our war yet, but it is our cause
now; whether the Presidents deflni-
ton of our country's status as the
arsenal of democracy" shall stand
or whether under these new circum-
stances Hitler and his axis partners
will redefine our status to suit them
selves and make us an actual belllg-
erent in our undeclared' war is a
matter for them to decide, not for
us. We have taken our stand. But
the war is now political reality in
the United States.
Republicans Must Decide.
So we have the problem of the
Republican party. Will it be "agin'
the war" now that the war is a real
ity in our politics? No party has
been able to live in this country and
not uphold war in which the coun-
try is even remotely engaged.
The Wings tried to straddle in
the 1905 and disappeared. The
Democrats tried to oppose the Civil
War and were kept out of power for
"a years. The word Democrat" be-
came synonymous in current politics
of the SOS, '70s and early sos with
the word rebel"
The Republicans must decide, and
decide quickly, whether they are 60
ing to follow Wendell l.. Willkie and
support the war, root hog or die, win
lose or draw, whole hog or none, or
follow the Republican congressional
leadership and go out of business.
NJ EdSy DcCISiUH.
It is no easy decision. In Con-
gress the Republicans generally op-
posed the repeal of the Neutrality
Act. They Illuminated against the
destroyer deal They put up a
fairly solid front, in the House at
least, against the lease-lend bill.
Responsible Republican congress
sional leadership to date has
fairly consistent record of opposi-
ton. The Republican record in
Congress is about the record that
Hitler would have made, If he had
been Republican leader.
Republicans must now abandon
the Hitler line or get crossways of
American public opinion. To sur
vive while their country is fighting
the war as the arsenal of democ-
racy," the Republican party must
abandon its record, must cry inca
culpa," or plead the statute of limi-
tations on their past deeds and
pull for the shore"
In the meantime, no matter what
the Republican National Committee
does, no matter what the accredited
leader of the Republican party. Re-
do, Wendell Willkie is the real
leader o fthe Republican party. Re
publican leadership does not need
National Committee backing nor
congressional Endorsement.
Cemetery of Oblivion"
Theodore Roosevelt, in the 1912
primaries and convention, over
whelmingly carried the Republican
States in the fight against President
Taft. Mr.. Willkie may easily be in
the same position in 1914, If he cares
to make the fight, which is not GER
tain. But certainly he is developing
a leadership as a nlan-sized Ameri-
can based on affectionate admira-
ton.
Since Theodore Roosevelt, and,
back of Roosevelt, to James G.
Blaine, no other Republican has
been able to command affection,
with respect, as Mr.. Willkie COM
mands it today. His appearance be-
fore the congressional committee
was not f1awless, but it was superb.
No one else in sight can gainsay the
power of his position with the rank
and file of Republicans.
Now if the official leadership In
the National Committee and In
Congress cares to defeat him, their
suicide in time of war in the face
of the enemy will leave an unmarked
grave In the cemetery of oblivion,
along with the Wings, who straddled
themselves to death more than 80
years ago.
Intelligent Politics.
This is the politics that plays the
obbhgato to the jazzed-up Star
Spangled Banner" of our American
participation in the war, even
though we have gone in as a nom
belligerent unneutral. The Demo-
Gratis may hate Mr.. Roosevelt. Many
of them do. They may pound on
the table and refer to him as that
man in the White House." but that
man" has done his party such a
partisan service by his course rela-
tive to the war, whereby they may
be reborn, rejuvenated and restored
to another generation of power.
All this Democratic strength will
be due entirely to his prescience, call
it smartness if you will, and to his
courage in directing his country
from isolation to the policy of inter-
nationalism. The moral effect may
be questioned, but as intelligent pol
itics, the Presidents political batting
average its 1000 per cent as a war
score.
If Wendell Willkie is rejected by
the Republicans, he may easily be
nominated and elected as the leader
of new party, created from the
ashes of isolationist folly in the Re-
publican leadership.