Evening star., 1948-02-15

The hot words the southern
are, not merely manifestations of {
deep-seated, and it Is probable that
q vast majority Of the white popu-
lation of the South shares in it.
Protests. still pouring into WASH
ington, may be new signs Of the
establishment one day Of another
major political party. But, that time
has not arrived. Certainly, unless
things change greatly in the months
ahead, there viii be no white SUI
|premacy" ticket Of major Importance
entered in the November elections.
Not So Harsh in Private
These are impressions gained in
talks with Southern Governors dur
ing their conference last week at
Tallahassee, Fla, and in conversa-
tions since with some members Of
Congress.
Nearly all of the nine Governors
at the meeting were in agreement
that the battle against the Truman
program should be waged within
the party" Most Of them were not
nearly so harshly critical of the
President privately as they were in
public utterances. A number doubted
Mr.. Truman's sincerity, accusing him
Of angling for the strategic Negro
vote.
Sentiment against Mr.. Truman
reaches the heights among Missis-
sippi leaders and, admittedly, any
thing can happen there. Gov. Field
ing Wright and the others favor
strong ways of asserting their dis
pleasure. 1t is entirely possible they
will follow through on the threat to
put forth a slate Of electors COM
mitted against Mr.. Truman.
That the other Governors, at least
right now, do not share the extreme
views of Gov. Wright was shown
clearly at the Tallahassee meeting
when the Mississippi Governor failed
to get q second for a motion which
might have led to secession from
the Democratic Party nationally
The resolution proposed the calling
Of Southern conference Of true
Democrats" to lay plans that will
enable us to use our electoral votes
In way that will best serve the
South and the Nation"
Wright Determined
After his resounding defeat, Gov.
Wright, however, went right ahead
with his plans for revolt. A mass
meeting to sound out the sentiment
Of the people was held in Jackson,
his State capital, Thursday. He Is
making an appeal to the people of
other States over the heads Of their
Governors and much more may be
heard of 1t.
OF course, the extent of the "re-
volt" against the President cannot
be determined precisely until the
State conventions are held and dele
gates are selected to the Democratic
National Convention. However, the
opinions of the Governors are i'm
portant since most of them exert
powerful influences within their
States.
1t seems probable that delegates
from other States besides Missis-
sippi will vote against the Truman
denomination at Philadelphia. For
example, Gov. James E. (Big Jim)
Folsom of Alabama proposed to
the Governors that they send to the
national conventions states Of dele
gates either uninstructed or COM
mitted to "favorite sons" Big Jim,
whose big break with Mr.. Truman
is over the Marshall Plan and for
eign policy in general, is said to have
presidential ambitions. He wants
to be the "favorite" of Alabama.
His proposal also received no sup
port.
ALI of this does not mean that the
Southerners have any hope they
could defeat the President for re-
nomination or that most of them
will not be in there pitching for
him when the election campaign
itself gets under way,
Gov. James N. McCord of Ten
nessee sounded the majority senti-
ment of the meeting when he pointed
out that our forebearers did not
desert the Democratic Party when
they unsuccessfully fought the l4th
and 18th amendments to the Con-
stitution. If you decide to tamper
with your electoral votes or stay