Evening star., 1948-05-29
The Political Mill
New Porty' Held Unlikely
To Exist After Cumpuiqn
Like the Bull Moose and Progressive,
1t Is Built Around One Man
Rv Gould Lincoln

Ry Gould Lincoln l,
The first national convention Of the New
Party" viii have little to do outside Of writing
. platform It's candidates for President and
Vice President have already been chosen
Henry A. Wallace, former vice president, and
Senator Glen H. Taylor Of Idaho respectively.
No other candidate for either nomination u
expected to raise his head In the coming con.
vention. The problems Of the New Party, In
this respect, are as nothing compared to those
Of the Republican and Democratic parties
The New Party Is being constructed as
matter of fact, around the candidacy Of one man
Mr. Wallace. This Is ominous when the history
Of other new" political parties in this country.
since the turn Of the century, is considered.
The Bull Moose Party in 1912 was built around
Theodore Roosevelt-who had been President.
The Progressive Party in 1924 was built around
the personality Of one man-Senator Robert
(Fighting Bob'D M. La Toilette. In both in
stances the presidential candidates Of the new
parties insisted that the two old parties-Re-
publican and Democratic-were as alike as two
peas in . poland that the American people
should be given an opportunity to vote for
something different. That Is just what Mr..
Wallace Is saying now. And like Mr.. Wallace,
Theodore Roosevelt and Bob La Toilette insisted
they had come to lead the people to new heights
of progress, away from the crushing feet OF
big business and monopoly.
Neither the Bull Moose Party nor the La
Toilette Progressive Party survived They dis
integrated almost Immediately after one presi.
dental campaign.
90 P. Born Of Great Issue.
The Republican Party on the other hand,
which was destined to live on. was not or
ganized around or for . single leader. 1t was
born OF . great issue-freedom, economic a.
well personal. It's first presidential candidate.
Gen. John c. Fremont got nowhere in the
election Of 1856. Within four years, however,
the party had grown. Abraham IAncoln had
been discovered.
The formal call for the national convention
Of the New Party-reminiscent In its name Of
the New Deal-now gone forth-asserts that
"the New Party under the leadership Of Henry
A. Wallace and Glen H. Taylor has already
taken firm root AZ the party Of the common
people Of America" That's quite claim-for
the common people Of America are numerous.
The call also says that millions Of men and
women are rising to support the New Party
because they wish to vote for q program "in
which they believe and for candidates whom
they can trust with its execution" Obviously,
however, the program Of the New Party has al
ready been selected by Mr.. Wallace, and the
common people had little to do with 1t. It's
Wallace program, with the appeasement Of
Russia as its foremost plank-although that Is
not what MIR. Wallace calls his foreign policy.
He calls it peace policy.
Says the New Party convention call: Control
OF the Republican and Democratic Parties alike
has passed into the hands Of the economic
royalists." It sounds like-indeed, is almost the
echo of-l924, when the Republicans NOM
mated Calvin Coolidge and the Democrats
John w. Davis and Bob La Toilette called for
popular uprising. The common people Of that
day, however, went along with Mr. Coolidge.
Established in FL States.
The convention of the New Party. which Is to
be held in the same Philadelphia convention
hall as the conventions of the Republicans and
Democrats, is slated for July %, a. and Is. BY
that time the two old parties will have NOM
mated their candidates and written their plat
forms. The New Party and Mr.. Wallace will
have full opportunity to disagree with both
and to 60 as far to the left as they desire.
The Wallaceites have been busy. They havs
established new political parties in 81 states
or have been taken in hand by parties already
established, like the American Labor Party in
New York. In order to have all the states and
territories represented In the national conven-
ton, the call specifies that In those places
where new parties have not actually been
formed, delegates shall be selected to represent
the Wallace-for-President Committees.
The New Party national convention Is on the
grand scale. 1t is going to cost . lot OF money
This fact. If nothing else, should convince the
doubling Thomases that Mr.. Wallace is In this
race to stay-that he Is not going to drop out
before the November election. Mr. Wallace him.
self has repeatedly stated there will be no turn
ing aside, that he is a candidate. It is expected
$500 delegates and alternates will show up for