The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1948-08-26
Copyright by The Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by per
MISSION.
by FRANK r. KENT


Federal pay roll ESTIMATED each to
be worth a minimum of four votes)
mean a basic asset for the President
of 100000 votes
Careful research shows this state
ment to be Incorrect. Far from hein%
able to count upon 100000 votes
from the iobholders, it is doubtful
whether Mr.. Truman can count upon
two thirds of that number. Various
correspondents in different parts oi
the country point out that there arG
at least $4,000 post-offcc employees
included in this 100000. that all of
these $4,000 are under civil service
protection, that majority Of them
are Republicans and that Governor
Dewey probably will get rs percent
of the total. In addition, the civil ser
vice protects a great many other Job
holders in other departments. Also,
in Washington, where the greatest
.iobholder concentration exists, most
of them have no votes. In brief. the
contention that the full weight OF the
Federal machine is behind the Prcsi-
dent and that that means l0,000GUO
votes Just does not hold water. I'm
doubtedly, it is an asset but nothing
like as great an asset as has beea
stated.
Thus, a widely heralded source Of
strength for Mr.. Truman is mini
mixed by the facts. On the othes
hand, two elements of weakness
stressed by his critics, when exam
med, are not nearly as unfayorahla
as they seem. One is the admitted
fact that the Democrats will have
difficulty in raising adequate cam
paiGn funds. The other is that Demo
cratic candidates for Senate, House
and other elective offices, are far
in their own election
than I'M Mr.. Trumans. Hence, the
argument is, MI. Truman will he
neglected by these candidates, inter
ested only in themselves; by the big
city bosses, interested only in their
local tickets; by the CIO, which a.
proclaimed by the blatant Mr.. Reu-
Their, in private one Of the coarsest of
the Truman detractors. is chiefly in
tercsted in electing good members
Of Congress-.
None of these alleged facts stands
up we'll under analysis. True, tile
Democrats will find it harder to raise
money than before. The expectation
that Dewey will be elected makes il
easy for number Of rich and self
seeking so-called Democrats who
gave lavishly to the Roosevelt cam
paigns, while personally hating
Roosevelt, to close their purses tight
now. But by no means all of them
will do that and there are in Mr..
Truman's Cabinet-particular qE
the level just below the Cabinet a
number Of formerly obscure wealthy
men, now deeply enjoying their
Washington jobs and lives, who feel
under obligation to the Truman Adj
ADMINISTRATION. One Of these, Cornelius
Vanderbilt Whitney, has been made
chairman of the Democratic finance
committee. Nearly all of them will
"come through" So will a great
many smaller jobholders. 1t is a
matter of self-interest.
Besides, the Democrats do not need
nearly as much money as the Repub-
Leans. Their candidate is in the
White House, which in many ways
gives obvious advantages and facili-
ties for which his opponent must pay.
Not only will the Democrats require
less than half as much money as the
Republicans but their treasury is not
now-and will not be later-nearly
as bare as has been depicted. So much
for the question of money. Now, con-
slider the theory that all the other
Democratic candidates, the city boss
es and the CIO are going to ditch
Mr.. Truman and look out only fer
themselves.
SO far as many of these gentle
men" are concerned, few would put
that sort of treachery beyond them
The practical political fact, however.
is that it is not possible to he treach-
erous in this way except on a small
scale. For one thing, all the cand;-
dates run on the same ticket with Mr..
Truman at the head. Treachery TO
him not only would not pay other
candidates in votes but open treacA-
cry would react. The self interest Of
the lesser candidates is for the head
] of the ticket to run as well as pos
sible, not as badly as possible. 1t
makes no sense for either the House