Evening star., 1947-05-30


Truman doctrine" had greatly
"perturbed" the Democratic high
command" in Washington, which
now believed he had to be recognized
as factor in 1948 and was appre-
hensive lest he lead a third party"
He had, 1t was explained, demon
strated that he is the one man in
the country with a sufficiently large
following to launch one.
Another friendly commentator
asserts that Mrs. Roosevelt and sons
James and Franklin, Jr., now pro-
tege of Boss Eddie Flynn, of the
Bronx" are counted on to persuade
the Wallace following that the
memory of the late President is best
served through regular Democratic
channels.
Labor Writer Hostile.
That Is one way to look at 1t.
Surprisingly, and somewhat sig
nificantly, the contrary view comes
most strongly not from regular
Democrats and regular Republicans
but from left-wing prolabor sources
in which normally, 1t has been gen.
orally held, Mr.. Wallace had his
most enthusiastic support.
Perhaps the most emphatic ex-
preston of this came from Victor
Riesel, a recognized authority on
labor politics who conducts a daily
column entitled Inside Labor" mi
the extremely 1eft-wing, prolabor,
proliberal New York Evening Post.
Mr.. Riesel could hardly be more
hostile. Speaking as he does from
the labor angle, it seems worth
while to quote some of his COM
ments.
After declaring that Mr.. Wallace's
tour Is a publicity stunt, engineered
by the publisher of the New Re-
public, Willard Straight, who travel
ed with him and wrote his speeches,
Mr.. Riesel says that what MIR. Wal
lace was really doing was selling
magazines"
His crowds, he said, were account
ed for by the fact that in the care
fully selected cities where Mr.. Wal
lace spoke, the little Karl Marx
clubs, the debating societies, the
campus left-wing centers, the
leather-jacket crowd, and the null
titude of committees to Protect the
Indonesian Proletariat and Save
by Buying at Lower Prices Later,
were dragnetted by Wallace's pro-
moters in search of audiences"
Rejected by Labor Aides.
"That," continued Mr.. Riesel, "is
his only crowd-the left-wing clique
in each city. He does not speak for
business. He does not speak for Ia
Dor. I would rather not print what
the AFL men said of him today
when I polled them on Wallace. As
for the CIO, Mr.. Wallace has not
spoken to any important leaders in
many months. To-day was told in
the headquarters of informed CIO
leaders that as far as they are con-
cerned Wallace is no candidate for
anything. He has no support in
the CLIO. He is just propagandist
on a speaking trip"
"As for Wallace leading a third
party" says Mr.. Riesel, that is just
downright silly. He could not rally
anyone but the left-wingers to get
an election petition signed unless
he paid SO much per hundred names
gathered"
The reason this Is surprising is
that Just short time ago, Mr.. Wal
lace was the highly eulogized darling
of the CIO. Philip Murray and the
late Sidney Hillman were his chief
hackers for denomination In the
1914 convention. For years CIOl
orators and CIO publicity agencies
have praised him to the skies. Ger
tainly, at one time he ranked above
both Mrs. Roosevelt and Senator
Pepper, Democrat, of Florida on the
CIO list of preferred statesmen. For
the CIO leaders to have lost their
taste for Mr.. Wallace weakens him
in the place where he was supposed
to be strongest.
No Sign Of Worry.
If MIR. Riesel knows what he Is
talking about, Mr.. Wallace viii have
no encouragement from either
branch of organized labor should
he move in the third-party direction.
If the Democratic high command"
Is really perturbed, it has given no
outward or visible sign. Actually,
the Republicans are more In favor
of Mr.. Wallace as a third party
leader In 1948 than any other group
or party, which is entirely natural
as his candidacy obviously would
increase Republican chances by
drawing radical support from the
Democrats.
The truth seems to be that despite
his rather lurid publicity, Mr.. Wall
lace is being taken less and less |
seriously by the politicians In both
parties. The idea is widely held that
he has about talked himself out
and is rapidly becoming recognized
as a frst-class public bore of no
real importance-except to the ex-
treme left wingers.