Evening star., 1948-03-06
TIL Stands 10 Gain
N Esteem Even il
He Isn't Nominated
condidocy Not Deterren
To Fortnight Attitude
On important Issues
By Frank r. Kent

tainly, he runs poorly in the popu-
larity polls. He Is the favorite tar
get for the self-styled journalistic
and political liberals" There are
plenty Of things about him to criti-
cize. He makes mistakes and flaws
can be picked In his voting record.
1t is easy enough to disagree with
him.
Nevertheless, even If he loses in
the convention, it is altogether
likely that Bob Taft will have
gained more than any other-per-
haps more than all the other as
pirants combined. For, what he
win have gained Is increased ad-
r1iration for his ability and respect
for his character. Those gains he
will have made because of what
he 20 clearly Is rs a man. He will
have made them not among the
prejudiced and ignorant but among
the thoughtful and intelligent men
and women In both parties all over
the country.
Perhaps the highest tribute to him
Ia that neither the poorest of his
opponents nor the shoddiest of his
critics even remotely reflects upon
his intellectual integrity and COM
plete sincerity.
Unparalleled Courage.
This column is not intended as q
eulogy of Senator Taft. He has
been criticized here in the past and
easily may be In the future. But, as
. matter OF fairness to q high
minded and truth-telling man, there
seems an obligation to report more
fully upon his unparalleled political
courage
II, under similar circumstances,
there has been any public man In
American political history who has
equaled the Taft demonstration in
this respect, IL would be interesting
to know his name and see the evi-
dence. So far as Mr.. Taft is con-
cerned, the facts are clear, recent
and in)disputable.
Undeniably, the four most power
ful groups OF voters in the country
and the four most influential lobbies
In WasFlington-are those represent
ing labor. the farmers. the Negroes
and the veterans. To these four all
presidential sspirants. except Mr.
Taft, truckle and cater. often in O.
humiliating way. Mr.. Taft is friendly
to all fo,u-but not subservient: :
anxious to treat them justly, but
completely independent, the one man
mentioned for the presidency who
has had the fortitude to oppose all
four when he thought they were
wrong.
Here IL his record in this Con-
gress:
On Labor-He put through the
Taft-Hartley Labor Act, despite
violent denunciation from every
labor boss of every labor faction.
and a grand chorus OF threats to
his political life.
On Veterans-He was the one man
In Congress who voted and spoke
against the terminal leave pay bill
which added approximately two and
a half billion dollars to the cost OF
the war after it was over. Mr.. Taft
could have refrained from voting.
need not have said a word. He did
both-and though most Of his col
leagues agreed with him that 1t was
an indefensible bill, no other voice
was raised against it in either House
or Senate.
On Neeroes-Last month In the
Labor Committee he voted against
the fair employment practices bill
He did the same thing three years
ago. It is q matter Of principle with
him. He does not believe compul-
sory Federal legislation with pen.
slties is the way to deal with racial
discrimination. He believes the
pending bill would do more harm
than good: that the right to work
nlay and associate with whom one
chooses is one of our basic liberties
under the Constitution. Curiously.
the simple honesty of Mr.. Tafts
position is not resented by Negro
leaders. They say they understand
his views and thai he has kept his
word with them by not trying to
hold the bill in committee.
On Farmers-On February l3. IN
agricultural Nebraska, Mr.. Taft de-
ciared that the Governments 80 per
cent Of parity price floor is too
high. advocated immediate lowering
thereof.
No other public man has taken q
similar stand on farm prices. though
many agree with Mr.. Taft. They
well know that the main reasons for
high food prices are the farm price
policies. Yet, the accepted course
for all presidential sspirants-except
Mr.. Taft-is to advocate lower prices
but completely ignore the obvious
thing that keeps prices up.
Some Hyprocritically Silent.
Add all this up and 1t makes a
remarkable total. Here is a man
seeking the presidency who, because
he does not agree with them. has
taken issue with all four OF the
great organized voter groups. No
other presidential aspirant in either
party has taken issue with any one
of them on anything.
Some have been hypocritically
silent; others have gone far out OF
their way in the effort to placate;
still others have tried to be on both
sides. No one-except MIR. Taft
has taken a fortnight position
against anything these groups favor,
or favors anything these groups
oppose.
Contrast the Taft attitude with
that of the other aspirants and the
contrast is to his advantage-at
least in the view OF those who sd-
mire courage and respect charac-
ter. He has been neither belligerent
nor boisterous about his differences
with these groups and not even the
most hostile leaders ascribe to him
any sinister or selfish motive. They
concede that he speaks and acts
solely from conviction; that he does
not straddle: that he can neither
be cowed nor caioled.
He wants to be President, but he
has made it extremely clear that he
does not want 1t badly enough to
stultify himself or sacrifice his self
respect.