Evening star., 1944-07-02

among the delegates and on the COM
mittees of the convention.
The nomination of Gov. Bricker for
Vice President turned out to be a
draft" too. Gov. Bricker had steadfast-
ly insisted he was candidate for only
one oflce-that of President. But when
he withdrew from that race, the con-
vention voted solidly for him for Vice
President. Gov Dewey's draft was ac-
complished, but with one dissenting
vote, cast by a delegate from Wisconsin,
who cast his ballot for Gen. Douglas
MacArthur-who had declared he could
not and would not accept nomination
The Republican National Convention
established record for speed. 1t fin
ished in three days the work which
usually takes four or five days. This
was due in part to the fact only one
name was placed In nomination for
President, and only one for Vice Presi-
dent. This cut down enormously the
time usually occupied in making NOM
mating and seconding speeches. There
were no long -drawn-out demonstrations
on the f1oor-so often staged by the
supporters of rival candidates merely
for the purpose of showing how much
vocal, and presumably popular, support
the various candidates have.
The demonstration for Dewey. when
his name was placed in nomination,
lasted not moro tbop IN v,,ir,,+,e rh,&
for Bricker, even less. This did not
mean the convention was not favorable
in the extreme to these nominations
1t meant that the delegates knew what
they were there for and wanted to get
it over
In this connection, 1t may be re-
marked that this was the hottest con-
vention-in point of high tempera-
ture-that has been held in many day.
The hall was swelteringly hot The del
egates were anxious to get their work
done and to seek relief from the hot box
in which they were incased along with
thousands of spectators. If the same
temperatures prevail during the DEM
ocratic National Convention and an at
tempt is made to stage an hour long
demonstration for President Roosevelt.
as the Democrats have done in the past.
1t is doubtful that ordinary human be-
ings will be able to put up with it.
Any discussion of the 1914 Republi-
can convention would not be complete
without reference to the large part
which was played by women In the
first place there were more women del
egates than ever before Secondly, for
the first time, women were given the
opportunity to sit with the men in the
Resolutions Committee, drafting the
party platform. More than half of the
States took advantage of the decision of
the national committee to give equal
representation on the Resolutions Com
mittee to women.
Further, the women were given recog-
milton when an invitation was extended
to Representative Clare Boothe Luce of
Connecticut to address the convention
as one of the two guest speakers. The
other was former President Herbert
Hoover Mrs. Luce's speech was as dra-
matte as might have been expected. It
was delivered with telling effect. And
quite naturally it has led to wide and
controversial discussion. Her creation
of the character "GI Jim," the Ameri-
can soldier who has laid down his life
for his country, together with her COM
ments upon the Roosevelt administra-
ton. have aroused the fourth-t -termers
almost to state of frenzy. It is fact,
however, that many woman in the
great audience which saw and heard her
had tears in her eyes. And the women
in the great invisible audience, the au-
dience of the air, who listened to her
may have been similarly affected.
COP Likes Platform.
What she said, in effect, was that
there would not have been so many "GI
Jims" had the Roosevelt administration
e1ectually warned and prepared the
country for the conflict which threat
ened the country. Indeed; she said,
there might have been none.
The Republican platform, drafted by
the Resolutions Committee and adopted
by the convention, has been generally
approved by the Republicans. Like other
party platforms, 1t represents compro-
mise of many ideas. But in the main
it is a STRAIGHTFORWARD statement of
foreign and domestic policy. 1t runs
four or five thousand words in length.
It is no light reading for the summer
months. 1t does, however. pledge the
Republican party to an about determi-
nation to see the war through to a VIC
torious close. It does place the Re-
publican party on record again In favor
Of international collaboration to pre-
serve peace In the future. And 1t does
deal effectually with many domestic
problems.
It remains now for Candidate Dewey
to give his own Interpretation of the
platform to which he has given ap-
proval. Invariably presidential candi-
date follows such course. He person.
alizes platform and the people learn
to know just where he stands. That
Gov. Dewey may be expected to do
during the course Of his campaigning.
i