Evening star., 1944-05-10

Republican nomination, made a
good fight, but was badly beaten
After the election. he performed q
notable service in supporting lease
lend and other features of the aid
to-England policy. And after we
entered the war he made a grand
fight for the principles of postwar
international cooperation.
The result of this was to swing
his own party away from narrow
nationalism" and drive the Repub-
lican isolationists out of their
trenches.
But in every poll of the voters
taken throughout the country he
ran behind Gov. Dewey as their
choice for the presidential nomina-
ton. In the first actual primary
Wisconsin-Mr. Willkie ran poor
fourth. He was, in fact, so badly
defeated that it was clear to all he
could not get the nomination. Ac-
cordingly, he withdrew as a candi-
date and the Dewey nomination
was conceded.
Now, Mr.. Willkie was not beaten
In Wisconsin on the isolation issue.
Nor is Mr.. Dewey an isolationist.
Months prior to the primaries Mr..
Dewey had taken a clear-cut stand
for precisely the principles Mr..
Willkie advocated.
Dewey "Has Spoken Out"
He had done this publicly upon
at least two occasions But, after
the primaries, Mr.. Willkie went into
a deep silence and a demand arose
from his left-wing and New Dealish
supporters for Mr.. Dewey to speak
out" Well, Mr.. Dewey, in his own
time, did speak out" and with such
force that practically all the lead
ing international co-operationists
were highly pleased. Newspapers
like the New York Times, the New
York Herald Tribune and the Balti-
more Sun, which had urged Mr.
WILKES nomination because of his
devotion to these principles, de-
clared the Dewey speech to be fine.
There was. too, favorable reac-
ton in London, where there had
been some apprehension lest the
Willkie withdrawal meant a turn
toward isolationism.
In fact, the speech was generally
commended. 1t suited all the prin-
cipal Willkie supporters and the
only people disappointed were the
New Dealers, who, for their own
fourth-term purposes, wanted Mr..
Willkie as the Republican candi-
date. But, from Mr.. Willkie
came no word of commendation
no expression of qualification or
approval that the man scheduled to
be the Republican nominee had so
forthrightly embraced the principles
for Which he fought.
Actually, there is not today any
real difference between Gov. Dewey
and Mr.. Willkie on foreign policy
or, for that matter, on domestic
policy. On both, they are headed
in the same direction. And Gov.
Dewey, except that he is not SO
belligerent about it, seems deter
mined to supply the same kind of
leadership for the Republican
party that Mr.. Willkie would have
supplied had he been nominated.
Yet, Mr.. Willkie sits and "sweats'
over his problem, the problem
being whether to come out for Mr..
Dewey. 1t isn't a very sporting at
.titude to take. Nor does it seem
very smart. In the end, Mr.. Willkie
will have to support Mr.. Dewey be-
cause he has no real alternative.
He can't possibly bolt his party
because of personal pique or be-
cause he personally does not like
Mr.. Dewey. And, in the matter of
principle he has been given no
excuse.
No Excuse to Bolt,
The fact that some of the lead
Ing tsolationists are supporting Mr..
Dewey gives Mr.. Willkie no more
OF an excuse to bolt Dewey than
the fact that all the leading Com
muniSts are for Mr.. Roosevelt pro-
vides reason for boiling him. And,
OF course, supporting Mr.. Roosevelt
would make Mr.. Willkie ridiculous
He would have to swallow more
words than any man well could do
without choking.
To sit sulkily through the cam
paign without indicating any pref
erence for President is unthink-
able for MIR, Willkie. That would end
in a complete loss of his prestige
and following, Already he has lost
something of both. And the more
he "sweats' over his problem" the
more he will lose 1t looks like
bad temper and some who have
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