Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-07-31
Conservative-LiberaI
Issue Seen CIean-Cut
In Coming Election
Trumon Platform So Far
TO Left Thot the G. O. P.
Is Way to the Right
By Frank r. Kent

desire that in domestic affairs the
country should have q clean cut
choice between liberal and con-
servative has at last been realized.
Any voter who knows the direction
in which he wants to 60 and pos
sesses any sort of political philoso-
ply, however hazy, should have no
trouble in casting his ballot this
time.
For Mr.. Truman and the Demo-
Gratis have definitely gone so far
to the left that, by comparison,
Gov. Dewey and the Republi-
cans are way to the right.
For several reasons, the candi-
dates and the platform of the Third
Party do not affect this situation.
One is that the platform was framed
by the Communists who dominated
the Wallace movement and is about
the most added piece of idiocy ever
presented by a political agency. 1t
could only appeal to the dimwitted
and gullible. Another is because
Mr.. Wallace emerged from his
Philadelphia experience a bedrag-
gled. discredited and absurd figure.
BY his refusal to say whether or
not he had written the imbecilic
Guru letters he convinced every one
who read the record or witnessed
his performance that he was, in
deed, their author.
Amounted to Confession.
It amounted to a public confess
sion and justifies the horror which
so many feel when they consider
how close this furtive and silly man
came to being President of the
United States. A third reason is
because it is now generally agreed
that Mr.. Wallace will poll an insig-
nif1cant number of votes in the COM
ing election-certainly not enough
to affect the result.
Thus the uncomplicated choice
for the vast bulk of our citizens Is
between the liberal Democratic and
conservative Republican ticket.
Convincing evidence that no alter
native exists Is furnished by the
way in which the so-called ''Roose-
welt Democrats" their labor leader
allies of the CLIO and all the profess
sional liberals" and "breast-beat-
ers" who labored so prodigiously-
and 80 futilely-to do Mr.. Truman
out of the nomination now admit
they are going to support him.
Chagrined at having made asses
OF themselves at the convention,
exceedingly bitter toward him per-
Eonally and reluctant to see him
stay in the White House, neverthe-
less they are slowly swinging into
line behind him, simply because
there is no place else to go.
The Truman platform leaves them
no excuse. 1t is liberal" almost up
to the Wallace line. Not once in the
entire document does the word
economy occur. Nowhere Is waste
or extravaganza mentioned. Even
the remotest suggestion of re-
trenchment, reduction or saving,
in order to render easier the vast
expenditures abroad necessitated
by the Marshall Plan, is absent. In
the whole platform there is no hint
that efficient governmental man
agement might save a nickel. On
the contrary, no liberal" Except
those who drew the Wallace plat
form) could go further in demand
ing higher Federal spending in
every direction-social security,
education, housing, health, veter-
ans, public works, Twas, school
lunches, rivers and harbors, etc, etc.
Though the American taxpayer is
burdened with the greatest peace
time expenditures ever heard of,
this platform tells him our spending
along these lines is inadequate"
No suggestion of where the
money Is to be obtained for these
new schemes and expansions is
offered and, though the number Of
Federal jobholders has now reached
a peak Of 2,500,0O0 with, as Senator
Byrd says, 500 additional going
on every day since March. it is the
Republican and not the Democratic
platform that deals with this vital
matter.
Different Set of Principles.
While the Republicans advocate
additional expenditures for housing
and veterans, they do not attempt to
compete with the spending program
OF the Democrats and they do not 60
nearly as far in the direction of
paternalistic government or nation
al socialism. On the contrary, they
denounce excessive naturalization
and bear down strongly for econo-
my. The administration of govern
ment, they say, must be economi-
cal and effective. They insist upon
progressive reduction in the size
and cost of government, the elimi-
nation OF waste, the abolition OF
overlapping, duplicating and ex-
travagant governmental agencies.
The budget must be balanced and
the great debt reduced. The Demo-
Gratis mention the debt only casually
and the budget not at all.
When to all this is added that for
the first time the Democrats have
abandoned their historic States
rights doctrine, that the Republic
cans are less explicit and offensive
in their civil rights declaration
and less subservient to the union
labor bosses, it is easy to see how
accurately one party can be classed
as Left and liberal and the other
as Right and conservative. This
distinction could have been drawn
In 1886, in 1910 and in 1914 but
for the fact that the Republican
presidential candidates in those
years, alarmed by the tremendous
appeal of the New Deal spending.
tried, without success. to out
promise the New Dealers. This
time there is no pressure to do
that.
This time each party is pre-
senting different set of political
principles-and the voters have
choice not only between candidates
but between political beliefs and
party trends, 1t might be summed
up by saying that one party appears
to believe in the multiplication