Roanoke Rapids daily herald. (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1948-1949, 1948-11-04
Truman To
Garry Out
Party Plans


Washington, Nov. E(R)-Re-
publicans closed their shattered
ranks today for a two-year fight
in Congress against a certain ef-
fort by President Truman 10
modernize the new deal.
Mr.. Truman returns to Wash
ington and welcome-home
, celebration tomorrow the hottest
article in American politics, as
the result of his upset victory
over Gov. Thomas E. Dewey.
He will be off Sunday for 4
two-week breathing spell at
Key West, Fla.
When he comes back, 1t will
be time to shape up the legis-
lative program which he prom
ised last night will be based
on the Democratic Party plat
form.
Mr.. Truman told hometown
victory celebration in Independ-
ence, Mo-, he wants every citi-
zen to help him carry out his
tremendous responsibility for
the peace and welfare OF the
world"
II am going to do the very
best I can to carry out that
Democratic platform as I prom
ised to do in my speeches a.
round the country" he said.
Besides efforts toward win
ming a lasting peace, the plat
form pledged such things at
home as ~ curbs on "Repub-
lican inflation," (2) "comprehen-
sive" housing legislation and
(3) tax reduction whenever it
is possible to do without unbal-
ancing the nations economy"
The platform also called for
~ repeal Of the Taft-Hartley
Act (2) 75-cent an hour mini
mum wage to replace the pre-
sent Accent figure, (3) extension
of social security coverage, az
a national health program, (5)
federal aid to education, (6) a
farm price support program, %
repeal Of the oleoitaxes, and (8)
strengthening Of civil rights.
Election chastened Republic
cans won't oppose all of those.
In fact Dewey was for some
Of them.
The Republican leadership
there will remain the same, with
Rep. Joseph w. Martin, Jr.
(Mass.) bossing the House min
ority and Senator Robert A.
Taft (Ohio) continuing to run
things pretty much on the Re-
publican side of the Senate.
Taft shrugged off the election
results with the observation
that they proved it is almost
impossible ito put an admins
tration out of office at the very
peak of a prosperity BOOM"
Taft and Martin are likely to
figure that the battered COPS
best chance for comeback in
1850 rests with making Mr.. Tru-
man look bad on his campaign
promises.
Now his party has control by
an apparent $50 to 174 margin
over the Republicans in the
house (there is one minor party
member) and a certain 81 to AZ
edge in the Senate.
Whether Mr.. Truman can get
much more in the way of legis-
lation out of such Democratic
controlled Congress remains to
be seen.
Southern Democrats who hdve
never been too enthusiastic
about some Of his policies will
be back in the saddle as chair
men of many of the important
committees.
They may have a new re-
spect for Mr.. Truman as q po-
litical windmill who can chop
down the opposition at the bal
lot boxes. But lot OF them
think the president carried
Southern states simply because
he was the Democratic candidate
and not because-for instance
he advocated repeal of the Taft
Hartley act.
The States Rights party,
headed by Gov. ]. Strom Thur
mond of South Carolina, served
notice it will continue its fight
against the presidents civil
rights program.
Thurmond won four states
South Carolina, Mississippi, Ala
bama and Louisiana. But Mr..
Truman demonstrated that the
Democrats still can win even a
close election without the Solid
South.