Evening star., 1950-05-14

difference in either the size or the
attitude Of the crowds; they turn
out at all hours of day and night;
they listen with quiet attention to
matter-of-fact discussions of the
global problems with which the
President deals daily, and they re-
act with the customary outbursts
to the homely sallies punctuating
his talks.
II the President has lost ground
in the past two years, it is not evil
dent in the reception he has re-
ceived from the Mississippi to the
Puget Sound country.
Some of his best crowds have
been in Nebraska-late at night,
incidentally-and in Oregon, two
States which went for Thomas E.
Dewey in 1948. Paradoxically, he
had a poor turnout relatively
speaking. in Cheyenne, the capital
of Wyoming, a State he took in
1948, after it had gone for Dewey
over Roosevelt in 1914.
Follows New Route
Curiosity may play it's part in
the turnouts. for while the Pres
ident is traversing the same States
with the exception of North
Dakota-that he Travelled in the
last campaign. he is following a
new route in large part, and COM
ing before people who have not
previously seen him. This partic-
ular thought was advanced by a
transplanted Ohioan who is doing
all right for himself in a prosper
Gus Idaho farming community.
He wasn't buying" the crowd
around the Presidents 13-car
special as symptomatic of Truman
sentiment.
You people in the East see a
lot more celebrities than we do
out here" he commented. IF
Bing Crosby came through he'd get
good crowd, too" That could be
true, but the President and his
party are satisfied now - and
optimistic about November.
A surprising development of the
trip is the seeming apathy of the
people-other than those in the
heart of the Pacific Northwest
toward the charges Of communism
in Government stirred by Senator
Mccarthy. Republican. of Wis
consin. Generalities always are
dangerous. and the opportunities
for sampling sentiment on fast
trip like a presidential cross
country tour are necessarily linn
tied, but as of the present there is
nothing to show that the Red
hunt" is having much effect.
Talks with newsmen who have
Joined the presidential train at
various points. and with members
of train-side audiences, leave the
impression that where individuals
hold positive convictions on the
issue. they are likely to divide
along party lines. with Republicans
sure that something is wrong and
Democrats equally certain that all
Is we'll. There is some feeling
that where there's smoke there
must be fire" as it is put OCCASION
ally, and the story about perver-
sion in the State Department was
disturbing.
Wait-and-See Attitude
The picture changes in the
Northwest. Oregon newspaper
men who know the country well
say that the people have an un-
usual awareness of the Communist
threat, but are. despite that, still
taking "wait-and-see" attitude.
AS they point out, the North
west has had long and sad ex-
perience with the power welded
by Harry Bridges. the longshore-
mems boss, who has been linked
with the Communists for years.
The proximity of Alaska is
another angle, and they are not
forgetting either that more than
q dozen years ago Russians made
a nonstop fight from Moscow to
Vancouver barracks, then COM
manded by Brig. Gen. George c.
Marshall.
The feeling of the people of the
Northwest wasn't improved much
either by recent reports that in
event of war Alaska and the rest
of the section would be considered
expendible.
President Truman went to the
trouble of mailing that one at
Pasco, Wash. which is near the
Hanford atomic plant.
No Name Calling I
This current ''non-political''
trip as the White House styles
it. has been pitched on an entire
ly different plane than the rau-
cous curtain-raiser for the 194S
campaign, which carried the same
euphemistic label.
Sirup has taken the place of
vitriol.
Then. Mr.. Truman, diSowned
by his own party, cast about for
a good issue, and decided that the
Republican, controlled Congress
was cit" When crowd reaction
to the free-swinging attack indi-
Gated he was getting somewhere,
the President really started capi-
talizing on these tactics, and the
result made history.
This time around, the President
still is giving you the facts be-
cause you can't get them any
place unless I come out and talk
to you." But there is no name
calling except in an abstract
sense.
The "reactionaries, moss
backs" special interests" and
assorted kindred elements still get
the back of the presidential hand