Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-07-15
Truman and BurkIey

One has only to read the speech with
which President Truman accepted the
nomination of shattered Democratic
Convention to realize that the country is
in for rough and tough election
campaign.
Mr. Truman was talking to convention
and a party which was deeply split over
the issue of civil rights. A rebelhouS
element had overridden the leaders and
by a vote of 65112 to 1922 had written
into the platform an emphatic civil rights
plank. The delegates from Mississippi
and some of those from Alabama had
walked out of the convention. Other
southerners remained in the hail. but they
mustered 1853 votes for the antl-Truman
candidacy of Senator Russell Of Georgia
Not for long time, II ever, will the OLD
Democratic lines be restored.
The President knew all of this as ne
came to the rostrum in the early morning
hours to greet his running mate, Senator
Barklev of Kentucky, and to address the
weary delegates. But he did not yield an
inch to the dissidents within the party
or to the Republican opposition To para
phrase the words OF General Grant, MI
Truman proposes to fight it out, WIN or
lose. on the line which the party has TAKEN
AS first step. he is going to call Con-
gress into special session on July TO- 1nls
is a political maneuver pure and simple,
and the President knows 1t. But as OF
this time, at least it looks ike clever
r,ove There is not a chance in the world
that the special session will act on Inc
,onp LIST of measures enumerated by the
President, but it will put the Republicans
m an uncomfortable spot and it WILL give
Mr.. Truman a good sounding board against
which to make some political speeches.
It. seems rather evident that, aside
from bedeviling the Republican Congress-
Mr. Truman intends to steer his campaign
along two main lines One will be an appeal
To the people on the issue of high prices,
for which he blames the Republicans. Inc
other will be call to the farmers and to
labor to vote the Democratic ticket IN
return for the favors they have received
Ut Democratic hands
The President stated this latter PROPOSE
ton very bluntly in his acceptance speech
He pointed out that farm income mas
Increased from less than two and one-half
billion dollars in 1888 to more than IL
billion dollars in 1947 And labor's reward,
the President said takes the form OF an
increase in wages and salaries from ~
billion dollars in 1888 to more than 128
billion dollars in 1947.
And" he added, I'll say to labor just
what I have said to the farmers: They are
the most ungrateful people in the world
If they pass the Democratic Party by this
year"
That is putting it badly, very BADLY
indeed 1t is almost as though the Presl-
dent were saying that the labor vote and
the farm vote can be purchased and that
the Democrats are the highest bidders.
This is an assumption which, whether
or not 1t be true overlooks one thing. The
money which has gone to labor in the form
of higher wages and the money which has
gone to the farmers in the form of higher
prices for their produce is very important
factor in the increased cost of living. Out
of total national income Of 203 billion
dollars, 146 billion, according to the Presi-
dent, went to labor and the farmers.
There, in very large part, is the explain
alton of why living costs have scared. The
President ignores this, but he cannot have
1t both ways. He cannot boast of the
money which the Democrats have put in
the pockets of labor and the farmers while
at the same time holding the Republicans
responsible for higher living costs How
ever the people may vote in November,
they should understand that living costs
are never going to come down while labor
costs and farm costs continue to rise