Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-04-17

was oESCJdCuldTiy SUCCESSFUL. DO ldl
as the Negro voters are concerned
the competition this time will be
particularly fierce, because the ties
by which the President has held
them Chiefly the WPA) have beer
loosened and the Republicans have
their strongest hope in eight years
of inducing them to come back
''home."
At the moment, the Negroes have
three main grievances against the
President--(D his failure to give
effective support to his Fair En-
ployment Practices Committee which
he named year or more ago under
Negro pressure; CD his failure after
eight years to put through the poll
tax repeal, which, incidentally, will
be up again shortly in the Senate,
where once more it probably will be
defeated by the filibustering of DEM
ocratic Senators favoring a fourth
term; 90 alleged discrimination by
Secretaries Stimson and Knox in the
segregation and the treatment of
Negroes in the armed services.
On this ground recently petition
signed by 105, 900 Negroes was sent to
Congress asking impeachment of
both Secretaries.
This petition was engineered by
Edgar G. Brown, director of the
National Negro Council Some time
ago Mr.. Brown, while at the Capitol
to present resolution from his
council, was allegedly assaulted by a
Democratic doorkeeper.
Prior to this incident he had de-
clared his belief that the best inter-
ests OF the Negro lie in the removal
from ONCE OF every Democrat, from
President Roosevelt down." "They
are ALL" he declared, dominated
by the Southern lynchers." These
and other things are disturbing to
Democratic politicians in the North
ern States, where the Negro vote is
large and which, because of that
vote, until recently have been going
Democratic with great regularity.
Signs OF this disturbance are given
IN New York, where the left-wing
press is violently assailing Gov.
Dewey for his appointment of a
committee OF prominent persons to
consider and make recommends
lions to end racial discrimination
In the State. The charge is that
Mr.. Dewey thus killed of q previous
committee which he had named and
which had made recommendations
and that his latest move was in
order to postpone action and con.
tinue profltless discussion. In brief.
that he had betrayed" the Negroes.
1t is difficult to see what motive
Mr.. Dewey would have for doing
that, but it is not difficult to see
reasons why the ardent fourth term
ers would like to ALLEVIATE from the
man most likely to be the Roose-
Welt opponent the Negroes who
voted for him in 1912.
But, though the Negroes are the
biggest and most important of the
voting groups, it is not the only
one about which administration
strategists are concerned. Foreign
policy will play more important
part in this than in any previous
campaign. And there is the risk
that in dealing with it, the Presi-
dent may antagonize various ele-
ments which have been supporting
him.
For example, it is said that the
Polish vote is resentful over our
failure to protest against Russia s
aggressive Polish plans; that the
Irish are angry because we are sup
porting the British in their CO.
ercive demands on Fire; that the
Italians feel aggrieved, because in
Italy we have recognized the Fas-
cist leader and the King; that the
Jews are not satisfied with Mr.
Roosevelt's vague promise of Gus
tice' in Palestine-nor with Mr.
Wallace's pious hope to see there
IVA (Jordan Valley Authority
which would make the desert bloom
in the interests of the common
man."
The list could easily be made
longer. Most of the items sound
foolish and certainly most of the
charges do Mr.. Roosevelt injustice
Largely, the foreign policies to
which the groups object were made
as they should be, by the military
authorities in the field with the
primary purpose, as explained by
Mr.. Hull, Of winning the war. It is
easy to criticize hut II &c not aoey