Evening star., 1944-06-27
COP Convention Seen
Lacking Dynamic Spirit
Dewey Must Give Party Pep
in Acceptance Speech

-
Dewey Must Give Party Pep
in Acceptance Speech
By Dapid Laurence
CHICAGO. June 77.-There is some-
thing comforting about the fact that
. national convention = being held
comforting In the sense that American
traditions and institutions are being
maintained notwithstanding the chaos
Of wartime.
II II refreshing to feel that the ma.
chinery Of both major parties d con.
tinuing to function and that the sys-
TEN Of selecting party nominees has
not been brushed aside BY wartime
dictatorship. America has been able
to retain her Organized democracy and
yet night total war.
The Republican convention 4 IN
many respects too traditional and too
much like normal. The conservatives
who like : safe and sane" candidate.
. simple, straishtforward and FORTH
right candidate who Isn't coy or oppor-
tunistic. are behind Gov. Bricker. But
the Ohio Governor has started too late.
Dewey Has An the Glamour.
Gov. Dewey has all the glamour be-
cause he has been . successful Cow
ernor Of the most populous state in
the Union. This counts heavily with
the practical politicians even though
they fear his possible progressiyism. So
the bandwagon for Dewey started be-
fore the convention assembled. In fact,
the only thing that has happened there
thus far is that an actual tabulation Of
the votes In the various State delega-
tons has been made as each State has
held its caucus.
The result is exactly the same as the
press associations predicted weeks ago.
Gov. Dewey has an overwhelming ma
jority. So when the obvious comes true
1t carries no sensation. That's why one
hears comment that this is 4 very dull
convention. If there had been uncer-
tatnty or contest, the description of
the convention would have been Diff
ferent.
Still, Notwithstanding the fact that
Gov. Dewey's nomination has been as
sured. there is something missing which
Is not accounted for by the statement
that the convention is ratifying q Sc
lection the delegates have been making
these last several weeks. What is lack
Ing Is the dynamic spirit Of q militant
party. And that's lacking because the
nominee has been, for reasons Of his
own, q silent candidate.
He Is submitting to the draft" be-
cause he refused to 60 back on his
promise to the people OF the State Of
New York that he would devote all his
energies to the governorship and
wouldn't lift . finger to get the presi-
Dental nomination. He has kept faith
with the New York State populace but.
now that he Is about to accept the
nomination, the big question is whether
Gov. Deweys strategy hasn't made the
nomination itself worth less than would
have been the case If he had been an
aggressive spokesman Of . regenerated
Republicanism.
Mr.. Dewey Is to come here this week
to deliver his acceptance speech. Maybe
he cap put some pep into the delegates
that way and send them home prepared
to wage . strong fight. But the Repub-
ncan concept Of the 1914 campaign has
been to lay low and gather In the protest
vote.
War Issues Sidetracked.
The war issues have been carefully
sidetracked In the hope that the Demo-
Gratis wouldn't get any advantage out
OF them. The Republicans believe In
prosecuting the war vigorously and they
pledge cooperation with other nations
after the war. One can hardly see any
lines OF controversy on the war or peace
issues as yet. Maybe Wendell Willkie.
who stands apart, may, after it is over.
dissent the platform and persuade q
substantial following that the Chicago
convention was too discreet and too
careful and not sufficiently fortnight.
The real difficulty is that the Repub-
lican platform makers are thinking
more about pleasing their conservative
brethren ~on the high tariff issue than
they are about foreign policy. Some of
the influential Republicans still feel
that the tariff wall Is sacred barrier
which must be preserved no matter
what it does to world peace or world
economics. If the Republicans continue
to think about the tariff primarily
and the tariff can be symbol of their
provincialism in the midst of . world
wide war-the Democrats will not hesi-
tate to debate that issue and show its
relationship to future world peace.
The Republican convention looks like
many previous conventions. The nomi-
nation is foregone conclusion, and SO
Is the platform. The whole thing could
have been done weeks ago-because the
Republicans usually believe in COM
promise instead of controversy in their
conventions.
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Preview of Postwar HOUSING
From the Manchester Guardian.
Lord Portals demonstration model OF
q tAmnorarv y,raf hricotod bo,,ra reay,o.