Evening star., 1944-07-26

scured so far as the people generally
are concerned. And that would be
unfortunate, as the facts should be
clearly understood.
The truth is that the defeat of Mr..
Wallace was the result Of as calcu-
lated piece of political treachery
as has occurred in our history.
This is an assertion which exhibits
the President in a peculiarly unfa-
vorable light and 1t should not be
made If there were any doubt about
it, But there Is no doubt about it.
The record fully sustains it and
there are score of people with
direct personal knowledge on the
subject
Because Of easily understood rea-
sons, public testimony to the facts
cannot be expected from the poll
ticians who know them. But, none
Is needed. The record is clear and
the deduction inescapable. The
facts tell the story.
Fact No. l is that Mr.. Roosevelt
and Mr. Wallace had been the
closest of personal and political
friends. Mr.. Wallace accepted and
believed in everything Mr.. Roosevelt
said or did. He was completely
loyal in every possible way. More
than any other public man, he was
symbolic of the New Deal and the
Roosevelt policies. More than any
other his devotion to Mr.. Roosevelt
and his policies was unselfish and
sincere.
Fact No "A short time before
the Republican convention Mayor
Eddie Kelly of Chicago visited the
White House and told the President
that Mr. Wallace was a drag on the
ticket and might cost him the State
OF Illinois Other city politicians
reached his ear with similar stories
Then open opposition was voiced
against Mr.. Wallace by various
Southern States, including Texas
and Virginia.
Fact No. 3-Alarmed by these re-
ports, Mr.. Roosevelt wrote a letter
to Senator Jackson, the convention
chairman. in which he gave Mr..
Wallace one of the feeblest recon-
mendatlons ever written-a recon-
mendation which left his friends
deeply disappointed and which his
foes regarded as throwing him to
the wolves.
1t said, in effect, that If he (Mr.
Roosevelt were delegate he would
vote for Mr.. Wallace as a personal
friend, but that he did not want
to dictate to the convention, which,
OF course, would use its own judg-
ment and discretion.
Clearly, he could not have said
less, and when the way in which he
dictated every other detail of the
convention, including the wording of
the platform, is considered, it is
impossible to believe that he really
wanted Mr.. Wallace nominated
when he wrote that letter.
Fact No 4-Nevertheless Mr.. Wal
lace made the best of this miserable
little pat on the back and with his
C1O backing, continued his fight on
the assumption that the President
wanted him. though there was not
posted man in the convention who
thought so. However, so strong was
he among the delegates and so pow-
erful the CIO support that unuues-
tlonably he would have been nom
mated had Mr.. Roosevelt kept hands
off and just stood on that letter.
Fact No. 5-But, Mr. Roosevelt
did not keep hands off. Through
Mr.. Hannegan and others, he put
himself really back of Senator Tru-
man and against Mr.. Wallace. He
did more than that-he wrote a
public letter to Mr.. Hannegan in
which he expressed approval of Sen
ator Truman's candidacy, declared
he would be acceptable to him and
that he would add strength to the
ticket.
This struck Mr.. Wallace a blow in
the back from which he never ral-
lied. 1t gave the Truman forces
firm ground for saying that the
President did not favor Wallace and
did favor Truman
How many others the President
directly communicated with on this
matter is not known, but it is a fact
that at the caucus of the New York
delegation his intimate friend, Mr..
Eddie Flynn. declared to the dele
gates that the President wants
Truman" And that is what his
other friend, Mayor Kelly, told the
Illinois delegation. too.
Well, that is the record. These
facts cannot be disputed. What
they add up to is a plain double
cross. Beyond doubt Mr.. Wallace
would have been renominated but
for the active opposition of Mr..
Roosevelt, exerted through his
agents. And also beyond a doubt
Mr.. Roosevelt ditched Mr.. Wallace
because he feared he might handi-
cap him in his fourth-term ATTEMPT