Evening star., 1943-11-28
1914 Foreign Planks May Agree


doctrine of imperialism which condemns
the world to endless war"
Mr.. Willkie has been the frankest Of all
Republican prospects, with the exception
Of former Gov. Stassen, whose nomina-
ton next year is highly unlikely. Gov.
Dewey in an interview at the Republican
gathering on Mackinac Island, came out
for an alliance with Great Britain, but
that was before the Moscow declaration,
In his private talks Gov. Dewey Is not as
globalminded as Mr. Willkie, but is far
less nationalistic than Gov. Bricker, the
darling of the conservative Republicans,
as well as such "nationalists" as Robert
Mccormick of the Chicago Tribune
Bricker Is living up to his reputation
as another Harding" on foreign policy.
His public utterances are open to CON-
pletely opposite interpretations, but the
records of his hackers give key to what
they think of their candidate. For a
long time Bricker declined to give his
views on national and international af-
fairs He broke his silence when he
formally announced that he would seek
the 1914 presidential nomination.
Virtually nothing is known of Gen.
Douglas MacArthur's views on inter-
national affairs, and it is unlikely that
he, under military regulations, will give
them before the Republican convention.
The fact that he, like Bricker is IA
vorite of the Mccormick -Patterson-
Hearst press has led many persons to
believe that he would not be an active
supporter Of international cooperation,
This may do the general an injustice,
which as an Army officer he cannot
/ correct without appearing to be an
active presidential candidate.
The Bricker candidacy has support
/ OF the Republican Old Guard, and If
they cannot nominate him, they may
/ turn to Senator Robert A Taft of Ohio.
VINO may practical politicians think, will
be the heir to the Bricker delegates If
the Ohio Governor is killed of in the
first ballots of a deadlocked convention.
Want Domestic Issues Stressed.
Bricker, Taft and the Republican Ma
tlonal Committee apparently agree on
the type of campaign they would like to
conduct against the Democrats If the
foreign policy issue could be eliminated
and the presidential and congressional
candidates OF both parties could be free
OF questions as to their personal inter-
pretations OF similar or identical foreign
policy planks, the advantages would be
with the Republicans. They could con-
centrate their efforts on domestic issues.
such as taxes economy, subsidies, bu-
reaucracy, strikes, rationing and prices.
These domestic issues were the prin-
cipal causes of the recent Democratic
defeats in New York, New Jersey, Ken
lucky, Philadelphia and other localities.
These samplings were too spotty to be
an absolute guide to the 1914 primaries
and elections, but they strongly indi-
Gated that these issues will play
dominant part in the 1914 campaigns.
These are legitimate political issues. and
the Republican National Committee is
following the tactics employed with
such efficacy by Charles Nicholson for
the Democratic National Committee
against the Hoover administration from
1929 through 1882
These issues, together with the re-
ported swing of a large part of tho
Negro vote back to the Republican
party; the preponderance of woman
voters next year-estimated by the Re-
publicans at 60 per cent-and the divi-
sion OF the organized labor vote, prob
ably will put the House into the Re-
publican column next year. There is
even fair chance that the Republicans
will have slight majority or an even
break with the Democrats in the Senate.
That astute practical politician, James
A. Farley, announced after the over
Whelming defeat of the Democrats in
New York last month that the voters
were very tired of the Roosevelt ad-
ministration. similar answer was
given by Judge Simeon S. willis, the
first Republican to be elected Governor
of Kentucky since 1927. Like views have
been expressed in private letters from
Missouri to this reporter, although some
of these letters say that the voters are
against whoever is now in office-Re-
publicans as well as Democrats
1t was this tired" feeling that gave
the Republicans their victory in 1920.
1t will be more natural feeling in 1914,
when the Roosevelt administration will
have been in Office for almost IL years.
Domestic issues will be important, Of
course, but unless the voters use their
campaign advantage to demand that the
presidential and congressional candi-
dates state as explicitly as possible what
they will do on the foreign policy issue,
the similar campaign planks may prove
as meaningless as they did in 1920.