Evening star., 1950-11-10
Business Hearfened
By Election Results,
Reports Here Show
Socialist Stote Issue
Made Clear in Cumpoiqn
To People Over Nation
By David laurence

By David Laurence
Businessmen throughout the
country, judging from reports re-
ceived Z here, are tremendously
heartened by the election.
Many of them feel that the elec-
tion was the most critical in a
generation and that the effect o1
1t will be to make it possible to dc
business planning with more con-
fidence.
The reason, of course, is that
the trend toward the socialistic
state has been growing since 1913;
and not even the election of 194t
showed any clear indication that
the people were aware of trends.
In the campaign just closed
however, these issues were made
clear. The "Fair Deal" was moi
treated as an entity but specific
parts of it came under severe at
tack. So far as business is con-
cerned, it regards the check ap-
piled to labor-union politicians to
be the most encouraging aspect
of the whole election.
What Aroused Alarm.
Businessmen today are satisfied
with an evenly balanced labor
MANAGEMENT law and they would
not object seriously to many OF
the amendments to the Taft
Hartley Act which were passed
by the Senate but blocked in the
House. What aroused genuine
alarm was the effort on the part
OF the unions to form political
organizations to elect members OF
Congress who would do their
bidding.
In State after State the Repub-
liean nominees carried industrial
districts where there is large
labor vote. Such areas as, for
example, Cuyahoga County, which
includes Cleveland, have rarely
been. carried by the Republicans
It has a large labor vote. But
Senator Taft carried it this year
by $4,000.
From other States, too, comes
the story of how labor union
members. resenting dictation by
their officers. voted their party
preferences on the basis of issues
other than labor union politics.
This is the kind of news that
businessmen have wishfully hoped
for in the past. but today they
see it plainly in the statistics. It
means that the American cleo
torate does react to argument and
debate and to an explanation OF
the issues by the candidates.
What such an election can mean
to American enterprise in future
years cannot be exaggerated
After the successive victories of
the New Deal and then the Tru-
man election in 194S. businessmen
began to feel that America was
drifting to the "left" and toward
a socialistic government such as
Great Britain has today. The
election this week is construed as
a definite turning of the tide.
Same Story Over Nation.
Undoubtedly many Democrats
contributed to the result. In State
after State, the victors are say
ing that independent Democrats
helped. them offset the heavy
labor-union vote or the pressure
of organized machines. This Is
exactly the way the two-party sys-
tenn has often functioned in de-
cades gone by. The lesson learned
in the 1948 election was applied
in last Tuesdays election-the
Republicans did an intensive Job
in the precincts and got out their
vote.
From all over the country comes
the same story. The Republican
organizations of men and women
did not depend on forecasts OF
take anything for granted. They
canvassed the citizens and in most
Instances found them already
alert to the necessity of voting
Many a candidate says that the
same attitude, if manifested in
-1948, would have told a different
story in the electoral vote column
then.
Likewise, the campaign stirred
up more interest than is custom
ary in an election that occurs ir
the middle of presidential term
This may or may not have beer
due to the increased attention
given the political contests by the
1press as well as by the radio anc
Jelevision. But it was due to ne
small extent to the fact that this
congressional campaign actually
began as far back as a year ago
Certainly Senator Taft begar
campaigning then, and so did the
opposition forces.
One thing seems clear-cam.
apaigns are getting longer anc
longer and hence are exciting
much more interest on the part Of
those who do vote. While the tota
who voted was not as high per.
scentagewise as in other years
when the figures are all in, it may
be found that a higher per CEN
of those who were registered wen,
to the polls than in a presidential
election year.
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