The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-04-19

| | heard Dorothy thompson IN an
otherwise commendable broadcast
say that the present Administers
ton in Washington is bipartisan.
II she meant that il is composed
OF Democrats and New Dealers.
she Is correct. for there is a definite
demaCcation between these groups.
Or If she inferred that the Com
munists formally support the New
Deal, she is correct But if she
/ believes that because Secretary of
war Stmson and Secretary of
Navy Knox are. or were, Republi-
cans, this is bipartisan Ad-
ministrdtion. then she is all wrong
but wrong without any possible
justification.
Before the 1910 election. Mr..
Roosevelt proposed to All Landon
and Frank Knox, the Republican
1886 candidates, that they take
cabinet positions in his Admins
tration as Republicans. Neither
had any authority TO bind his par
~, such authority, if anywhere,
being vested in the Republican Ma
tional Committee. And ! can saw
that officers OF that committee were
consulted as well as some of the
senior leaders OF the Republican
party At any rate, All. Landon
desired a guarantee that no third
term was being considered and
that r was not being hoaXed into
an endorsement of such a violation
OF the spirit of limited tenure in
office. Mr. Roosevelt not being
willing TO make such a guarantee,
both ALI Landon and Frank Knox
declined the invitation.
Subsequently. Henry Stimson
and Frank Knox did join the cabi-
net. but il was strictly on their
owr, with no formal consent from
their party In fact in the 1910
and 1912 campaigns neither Henry
Stimson nor Frank Knox played
any part in Republican affairs.
They are not acting as Republican
leaders at the present time. No
candidate for the Republican nomi-
nation for the presidency consults
them or regards them as repre-
senting the Republican party. Ger
tainly the National Committee does
not instruct these gentlemen as to
their relations with President
Roosevelt nor is il consulted by
them
The leaders Of the party. apart
from the National Committee. are
in the Senate and the House OF
representatives. Senators Van
denberg and Taft lead in the Sem
ate; Joe Martin leads in the House.
Were this a bipartisan govern
ment, the President would consult
With Vandenberg, Taft and Martin
as to legislation, foreign affairs
and appointments. This has not
been done at all although Mr.. Hull
Is establishing some formal COLA
boration at this moment. But there
is no formal arrangement of any
kind between the two parties
none justifying the phrase, bi-par.
tisan administration.
One often hears that because
number of business men are In
positions OF importance in the Ad.
ministration and because some of
them may have been registered as
Republicans or contributed to Re-
publican campaign funds or even
voted for Republican candidates,
this is bipartisan admins
tration. The fact that Mr.. Roose-
welt could not find in his own par
ty adequately equipped and train
ed administrators and wisely took
them from the citizenry without
regard 10 political affiliation. still
does not make this a bipartisan
administration. II means nothing
more than that certain individuals
are honored to be OF use 10 their
country in wartime, in spite OF
their lack OF affiliation with the
party In power. A bipartisan ad-
ministration would mean that such