Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-12-08
Mrs. Taft Tells
OF Midwest's
Reaction to War
+
Bureaucracy Here
Is Resented, She
Informs COP GROUP
By GRETCHEN SMITH.

4$AoontAoA oStlOll Will washing UOil
bureaucracy and with home front"
conditions generally led to the de-
feat of mnay Democratic Repre-
sentatives in last months elections,
according to Mrs. Robert A. Taft,
wife of Senator Taft of Ohio, who
accompanied her husband through
out several Midwestern States dur
ing his campaign.
Speaking before the League of Re-
publican Women yesterday, Mrs.
Taft told of, her observations of
peoples reactions to war conditions
in Montana, Nebraska, South Da-
kota, Illinois and Ohio, where she
personally addressed numerous
groups while campaigning with Sen
ator Taft. -.
MANY Of those I questioned were
dissatisfied with the way the war is
being rum" she said. THE citizens
are not criticizing the strategy of
the war and do not think that the
generals and admirals who are con-
Quoting it should be high-pressured
or prodded into action which they
think unwise. But they do resent
the confusion and bureaucracy in
Washington" she continued.
The speaker added that large
group in the Middle West also re-
scented the smear and purge" cam
paign which had been conducted
against candidates for Congress
who before Pearl Harbor believed it
best for the United States to remain
out of war.
Those people are deeply patriotic"
she declared. They we're opposed
to the country entering the war be-
fore we were attacked, but now they
are working just as hard as any
others to see that we. win the war.
They resent the TACT that their
former convictions have been made
the reason for a sheer campaign
Another source of dissatisfaction
among Middlewestern voters is the
Governments handling of the labor
question, Mrs. Taft asserted.
1.-THE administration Is making
spelled child of labor groups" she
declared. while it is using the whip
on the farmers it is coddling the
laborers. There is a terrible shortage
of labor everywhere" she added.
The speaker told of one Montana
farm she visited where average ages
of the farm hands were 81 years
The woman who is running the
farm is trying to carry on while her
husband is in Australia" she ex-
planned THE worry of the farmers
is not only that their crops cannot
be harvested but that it may cause
a food shortage in the country"
Mrs. Taft cited an incident during
her Montana visit which, she said,
typified the sort OF thing voters
resent against the administration.
Il met about 20 young men at
Montana station who told me they
were being sent by the National
Youth Administration to Seattle to
receive training for use in factories
on the West Coast. Those boys were
farmers she continued. They are
needed on the Montana farms and
not in factories"
Mrs. Taft told how the women
she met expressed special respon-
sibility" and obligation to participate
in politics while their men are or
the fighting front"
They are going to see that we
maintain the kind of America that |
our men want when they return
she commented.
While there were no complaints |
against rationing or taxation in the
States she visited, there was de-
cided discomfort with national
waste. the speaker asserted.
THE people want to help but they |
are confused" she stated. While
there Is a crying shortage Of man
power throughout the country, there
are 100000 on the Government
payrolls outside of the war effort.
Take, for instance, the Office OF
Price Administration" she pointed
out. There are 10000 employees
there alone. Of course, We must
have price control, but we don't
need 10000 policemen to enforce it.
The people Of the country have as
much at stake as Mr. Henderson
and they don't need vast amount
OF policing to carry out regulations
Mrs. Taft concluded her talk with
q declaration that new members of
Congress would not be rubber
stamps" but would be expected by
constituents to give prompt reports
on true conditions in Washington.
1.-THE duty of the next Congress
will be to carry out the mandate of
the people," she declared. and to
see. that they clean house in Wash
ington."
Mrs. Taft was introduced by Mrs
Edward E. Gam, the league presi-
dent, who presided at meeting be-