The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1943-02-19
~ ALBERT LENAN

rest about his ears when ne sdvo-
Gated at Indianapolis that the
Republican party discard some
of its high tariff tenets in the
postbellum era Before setting
out from New York for his boy
hood state he had been caution
ed 10 soft-pedal his shertsies"
because powerful industrialists
would vehemently oppose in toto
any plan to break down tradi-
tional protective barriers. al
though Mckinley, the political
patron saint of business. once
endorsed a similar course.
What rankles the erstwhile GOP
stsndard-bearer i1 tho tendency
shown by many people to use
cliches and oatehwords in cata-
loguing a public figure who re-
commends or condemns a specific
aspect of a controversial subject.
The Hoosier proposes reciprocal
treaties and adjustments of i'm
port duties as the means Of sup
porting a three hundred billion
dollar war debt on a ninety bill
lion dollar national income.
And for that stand says
Willkie, I'm being branded a
free trader
But this is not his first ex-
perience in being tagged without
reservations. He criticized feat
ures Of the British colonial setup
in India. whereupon London Tory
publications called him anti
British. He frequently denounees
Washington's dickering with
Vichyites; New Dealers charge he
is snti-French. He favors bring
ing Russia closer to the councils
of the United Nations before the
armistice; administration spokes-
men whisper he has gone Bolshe-
visit. None of the shibboleths are
accurate.
Apparently Willkie intends to
continue shooting buckshot into
domestic and foreign dovecots IN
order TO stimulate American
thinking. He urges a realistic
approach to international policies
because he contends future jobs
and sound economic structure
cannot be maintained in the
United States should the world
blow up again in twenty-five
years.
According to his doctrine IL
will be impossible for an insular
system, however pleasant in
memory, 70 thrive in an airplane
misunderstanding age. Nor can
American pocketbooks finance a
Wallace globsl Beulah of milk
and honey based on promises
which cannot be realized in a
hundred years. Between the two
extreme positions is the Wlllkie
middle ground.
The dynamic leader is held
by many 10 be an unreliable
Pied Piper who betrayed
vast following, and by Others
the prophet of common
sense liberalism capable of
solving postwar problems. II
will be interesting TO observe
In the coming months which
hat fits.
People in occupied territories
are having the last laugh. Recent
communiques OF the battle of
wits have been sent by the I'M
derground to New York agents.
A Dutch teacher taught his
pupils an innocent game. Child
ren gathered on a wooden bridge
spanning a canal and leaped up
and down in unison. The sport
was called jumping for the
moon" German soldiers laughed
al their antics but being superior
Herrenvolk they judged the pas
time rather silly. Next day a
tank rumbled across the struct-
ure but the props gave way and
the vehicle plunged into the big
ditch. Not until several similar
mishaps had occurred IN other
sections did the enemy realize
they were being duped. The
rhythmic swaying by the little
folk had loosened the supporting
timbers.
Soviet prisoners of war es-
capped from a Norwegian
camp and scattered through
out the countryside. The
commander of a GestapO
patrol raped at farmhouse
door and demanded whether
the owner had seen any Rus
SLAMS. Good heavens" queri-
ed the householder. ''they
aren't here already, are
they"
While some branches Of the
government are wisely trying 70
hold back the Threatening flood
OF initiation. other federal units
are about 10 start a new leak
in the dam Small town bankers
warn that. Il certain radical ele-
ments in the Department Of Az
riculture succeed in reviying the
Regional Credit Corporation and
increasing farm credit by sp-
proximstely two hundred snc
twenty-five million dollars, Il
will lead 70 the bidding up Of thf
prices on livestock. machinery
and other equipment required Il
fields ard barns.
This particular measure