Evening star., 1948-06-28
Dewey's Selection Seen
Releasing Party From
Rule Of Conservatives
Republican New Deal
Of Efficiency, Liberalism
Held ProbobIe in lo4o
By David Laurence

By David Laurence
II, as 30 many observers art
predicting, Gov. Dewey and Gov
Warren respectively are elected
President and Vice President, il
means the end Of an epoch in
American politics the end Of a
standpat and reactionary conserva-
tism as the dominating influence OF
the Republican Party.
It means. moreover, the inaugura-
ton of a Republican new deal' on
January 20. 194s.
1t will not resemble the Roosevelt
New Deal" which, despite its
veneer of liberalism and worthwhile
achievements in the field of social
legislation, nevertheless was no
better in its political morals than
It's predecessors-using public funds
to favor certain groups and spe-
cial interests and thus win cleo
tions. That whole sordid story is
now being revealed piecemeal in
various magazine articles by former
Cabinet members of the Roosevelt
regime.
Instead it will be new deal" Of
liberalism with efficiency and integ-
rity that Gov. Dewey will intro
duce-it might be called the square
deal" if it is sloganized at all. 1t
will resemble mostly the progress
sivism OF Theodore Roosevelt days
which jolted the Standpat conServa-
tism of the Republican Party of just
40 years ago.
Struggle Will Continue.
Businessmen as whole have
undergone a Transformation since
then and most of them today will
welcome fair and intelligent con-
servatism suited to the times
though, to be sure, a powerful group
of businessmen of the ultraconser-
vative school will certainly be found
criticizing the Dewey administration
bitterly one year after it takes
office.
For the Republican Party has by
no means finished its evolution. The
struggle for mastery inside the party
will 20 on as always. 1t will mani
fest itself on labor relations, taxa
ton and foreign policy issues in
volving funds for European aid.
The weakness Of the ultracon-
servatives has besn their slavish de-
votion to political ideas that have
become obsolete at time when the
phrase public interest" must be
applied to a nation Of big population
affected directly in its welfare and
standards of living by big business
and big unionism, both of which
sometimes overreach themselves in
the exercise of economic power.
Gov. Dewey owes this nomination
In part to the confusion and dis
agreements among the conservatives
at the convention. He was not
averse to wooing some of them in
the larger States, thus splitting their
ranks still more. But, broadly
speaking, Gov. Dewey came out of
the contest with minimum of
entanglements.
Coalition ImperiTed Dewey.
While it looked like an easy vic
tory, actually the New York Gov
ernor was in danger of defeat by a
coalition. Fortunately for him the
conservative group which could only
have blocked him by rallying around
Senator neutrality-suspicious. he
plainly was the only man to whom
the Dewey forces would have capitu-
lated in a deadlock-did not like
Senator Vandenberg. The Michigan
Senator really lost the nomination
In the last two weeks after antago-
nizlng House Republicans and con-
servatives. He courageously fought
them, thus compelling the House to
restore the "meat-aXe" cuts it had
made in the European Recovery Pro-
gram,
The situation was further comp
Heated by the inability of Senator
Taft or Mr.. Stassen to see that
neither could win. The rise of a
Vandenberg bandWagon through the
early acquisition of Taft and Stas-
sen votes would have scared away
the very votes for Gov Dewey that
brought him his extra support on
the second ballot.
Gov. Dewey is efficient and suf-
ficiently trained in politics to avoid
the excessive zeal that converts
leadership into dictatorship-though
his critics fear that is his tendency.
Men like Senator Taft and Repre-
sentatives Halleck and Taber are
independent minded persons who do
not like to take orders, so they will
have to be handled with care by
Gov. Dewey. A battle is inevitable
on certain issues, because conserva-
tives never have accepted progress
sive doctrine without battle.
Gov. Dewey is free to become a
Theodore Roosevelt or a Franklin
Roosevelt in his relations with his
party in Congress. He doesn't re-
semble either man in personality
or behavior. but he will adopt
something of the tactics that each
displayed in exercising leadership
by influencing public opinion and
thus dominating Congress.
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