The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1944-07-27

HAZEL
EYES
BY HAZEL BRANNoN

This is truly the machine age. Wnetn-
er II be In industry, war or pohtics, IL
il the machine that counts as the bruis-
ed and bleeding person of Henry A..
wallace will testify after the l944
Democratic convention farce got through
with him for while Hitler was purg-
inr his officers in Europe Franklin u.
Roosevelt was ~purging his loyal friend
and vice-president, Henry Wallace, in
the United States.
Having sold the Democrats a bill OF
goods in the old line: Don't change
horses in the middle Of the stream" Mr..
Roosevelt was perfectly safe in revers-
ing that stand when his advisors finally
convinced him that he could not safely
carry too much excess baggage in the
person of his esteemed v~ice-president.
Having become convinced that the
donkey WAS carrying too much weight
and that it might not get both himself
and Wallace across the 1914 vote-post
the President had no other alternative
but to dump Mr.. Wallace in the interest
Of his W candidacy. No one could ever
accuse Mr.. Roosevelt Of not doing the
smart thing, politically speaking.
We do not doubt that Mr.. Roosevelt
wanted Wallace. Besides his written
word, publicly announced: "f ! were
q delegate ! would vote for Henry Wal
lace" Mr.. Roosevelt could not help but
be for the man. Wallace Is Mr.. Roose-
velt's own pick and he alone is respon-
sible for the fact that Wallace is vice.
president. Certainly no delegates at that
1910 circus wanted Mr.. Wallace when
he couldn't even make his acceptance
speech because Of the boos. The dele
gates Of 1910 took Wallace because the
big boys passed out the dope that Mr..
Roosevelt himself would not run II he
couldn't pick his running mate. FDR at
the height Of his glory in the Demo
cratic party could dictate then.
Four years later, after four years Of
loyal unswerving devotion, service and
friendship from Wallace, Mr.. Roosevelt
has made himself a pack Of enemies
for the knife he plunged in Henry Wal
lace's back. Some people like fair play.
Wallace himself would not have been
. candidate for the vice-presidency if
he had not thought he had the real
backing Of the President. He had left
il up to the President as to whether
he would run or not, and had said SO
publicly.
Just what other factors besides the
revolt of southern Democrats figured
in the meanwhile could not be said. But
somewhere along the line Mr.. Roosevelt
became convinced that he might not
win with Wallace. While saying he was
leaving II to the delegates and conven-
tion to decide on the vice-president Mr..
Roosevelt and his bosom companion,
Robert e. Hannegan. st. Loui political
boss and chairman of the Democratic
National COMMITTEES, had planned every
detail Of who was to be the ~vice-presi-
dental candidate, even to the ballot he
would be named on.
Those delegates from the south who
went to Chicago determined to get rid
of Wallace must have been terribly sur
prised to learn that Mr.. Roosevelt him
self was on their side along with all of
the big political machine bosses in the
country. Kelly, Flynn, Hague, Hanne-
gan, and echoes of Pendergast.
These same delegates should carry
their thinking farther and remember
that while Mr.. Roosevelt was giving lip
service TO the people, saying he didn't
want 10 appear to be debating in any
way, he was carefully laying the plans
for delegates to consider as potential
candidates only those men he selected
with the aid and approval of Sidney
Hillman Of the Clio who sat in his hotel
suite and turned thumbs up or down or
Democrats.
1t was Hillman. a Lith~unian-born jew,
who has been in this country only since
1906, who said that Assistant President
Court, would not edo" as a vice-presi-
Dental candidate. We may presume
Byrnes. admittedly able, was too south
ern" for the job.
1t was not until Truman had been
given tho al1-clear signal from Hillman
that he really doomed rs a candidate.
All in all there was absolutely moth
ing democratic about the Democratic
convention. The delegates only went
along for the ride to ratify the wishes
Of q man who consented in advance to
be drafted for the job again before the
convention was even held; and to watch
the slickest, smoothest working Of ma
chine politics in the history of the
Democratic party.
There are thousands of M~ississippians
who do not like Mr.. Roosevelt, who rec
ognized the threat he presented to the
American way when he wanted to pack
the Supreme Court; who saw his poten-
t~ialities as a dictator in his purge"
campaigns and third and fourth term
aspirations. Yet some of these same
Mississippians will say they HAVE to
vote for him which reminds me