Evening star., 1948-10-10

or the people OF Repupllcan states.
tely trying to stem this tide Of pub.
ment, to tear down their social and
economic systems.
The Democratic leaders are talk.
ing more ana more Of the supper,
they expect to be received from q
great silent vote" They sound
when they make these statements
very like wallace Progressives. The
Progressives insist that they have
been the victims Of intimidation.
Certainly, however, the Democrats
have no SUCH grounds for their be-
lief In . silent vote coming their
way. No one has been intimidatins
them.
Reports Of resentment against
Truman among the Democrats OF
Oklahoma are on the increase. The
Republicans in that State have q
very solid foundation on which to
work. They cast more than $4,000
votes for Dewey against Roosevelt
in 1914, and lost the State by only
81 900 votes.
Texas Situation Complex
In Texas, with its greatly In.
creased population, the situation IL
complex. On the surface and from
the election results Of 1914, 1t would
appear that Dewey has no chance
at all. The Truman Democrats have
with them the organization leaders
In considerable majority. They were
able to ditch the efforts of the
States Rights Democrats to take
control Of the party. But the Dixie
Gratis have q place on the ballot for
electors pledged to the Thurmond-
Wright ticket.
1t does not seem probable that
either Dewey or 1hurmond will sue
ceed In wrestling Texas Is electoral
votes from Truman. Yes, Here the
rally may be silent vote" which
will upset all calculations. 1t has
happened before. The Houston Press
carries daily q column entitled, 10
Years Ago in Texas" taken from the
files of that newspaper. A few days
ago the following paragraph ap-
peared in the column:
Gov. Dan Moody forecasts q
Democratic presidential victory In
Texas in a telegram to Senator Jo-
seph T. Robinson, who is now in
Amarillo. In my judgment. there
need be no anxiety about the result
in Texas; the Governors telegram
read the Governor can see little
chance of Hoover carrying the State
for the Republicans"
Hoover Won State
At that time-20 years ago-Sen-
ator Robinson Of Arkansas was the
running mate of Gov. Alfred E.
Smith Of New York, the Democratic
candidate. On election
day, a few weeks later, Texas silent
vote" gave Hoover 367 900 votes, In
round numbers, to BAL 900 for Smith.
Hoover had won the State with q
$4,000 majority.
-Four years ago, Franklin d. Roose-
velts lead over Dewey in Texas in
the presidential race, was $50, ,180.
Dewey had a total of 19l ,425 votes.
1t Is on this tremendous margin Of
strength that Truman Democrats
now rely.
Nevertheless, there is . possibility
that the vote in Texas this year will
be 50 split that the Republican can
didate may squeeze out q victory.
Some OF the Democrats in the State,
in their opposition to Truman, will
determine that the best way to ac-
complish his defeat will be to 60 all
the way over and vote for the Re-
publican. Others will prefer to sup
port the States Rights candidate, a
man of their own party. Still q
third group may stay away from the
polls entirely.
Reasons for Split
The two outstanding barriers are
his civil rights program, eliminat-
ing all segregation of whites and
Negroes and calling for 4 Federal
Fair Employment Practices Act, and
his stand in favor of Federal owner
ship of the immensely valuable tide
lands-containing oil-under the
Gulf waters which border Texas ter
ritory. The anti-Truman Democrats
are making much Of the tidelands
issue. They point out that these
tidelands have been recognized Is
belonging to the State for more than
q hundred years; that the State con-
stitution provides that State income
from these lands shall be used for
the public school system Of Texas.
The lands are leased for oil pro-
duction. More than 1000 900 has
been received from royalties and
the sale Of leases-apd it has gone
into the public school fund Of Texas.
Not only do Texans frown upon the
attempt to take the title of these
lands away from the State, but they
also foresee An increase in the
taxes II this contribution to the
school fund ceases. Truman, they
emphasize, vetoed . bill passed by
Congress which sought to fix title
Of these tidelands for all time IN the