Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1950-11-05
The Issue Nobody Knows

It looks as though the 1850 congressional
campaign is going to be fought and won Tor lost)
without even so much as a passing nod to the
really great issue which hangs over the American
people.
There is much talk, of course, about the issues
some of them real others phony. The outcome
of the hammer and-tongs senatorial battle in
Ohio will tell whether a man OF competence ana
integrity can incur the wrath of organized labor
and remain in public office. There are subsidiary
issues in that campaign-the conduct OF the
Korean war, foreign policy, liberty VS. socialism,
etc. But the big question in Ohio is whether
subservience to labor is the price of holding
office, and that is an important question
In Pennsylvania, Governor Duff, seeking the
seat of Senator Myers, the majority whip, has
challenged the Republican Old Guard. If he
is cut down, the Grundyites will do it. Comnnu-
nism (the Democrats call it McCarthyism) is the
big issue in a number of States, California Mary
land Indiana and Utah included. This, while
it may prove to be politically potent should be
high on the list of phony issues In the Midwest
the Brannan plan seems to be a matter of some
Importance. At any rate, it apparently has saved
the Republicans in Iowa and despite his own
disavowals, it is giving Majority Leader Scott
LuccS cc-lc tTcutlc in Illinois. There is con-
siderable interest in the New York race. But
if there are any issues there which rise above
the level of mud singing and name-calling, they
have long since been lost in the shuttle.
There is not single candidate in any State
who is campaigning, pro or con, on what ought
to be the overriding issue Of this election. The
Congress that is going to be elected Tuesday will
have to resolve this issue, however, and 1t is
hardly an exaggeration to say that our future
depends upon the decision that is made.
To say that this issue is initiation would be
to drive away people who are tired OF hearing
about that SO perhaps 1t can be stated another
way Will the next Congress vote for an increase
of from SO to SIS billion year in taxes? Will
it support other measures some OF which already
are in effect that will lead inevitably to a lower
standard of living for the American people?
These are chief among the so-called indirect re-
straints on imitation If these fall the alternative
is the direct approach-wage controls, price con-
trolls, rationing, etc Will the new Congress go
down the line for the stern measures that are
required? If it should refuse to do so, there is
not responsible man in Washington who believes
that the country, and with the country the whole
of the free world can escape disaster Compared
with this question, such things as the alleged
Communists in the State Department, the matter
of whether we were ready for the Korean war.
and if not, why not; the Brannan plan, the
Hanley letter and the like are mere trivia Yet
there is not one candidate who has taken a clear
stand on the great question awaiting the next
Congress, and the chances are that not one
person in a thousand will give the matter a
serious thought when he goes to the polls on
Tuesday.
1t may be that we have lived too long with
Alice in Wonderland not to expect that politicians
would run away from an issue of this sort. But
there is something lacking in our political system
when the people, who must suffer the conse-
quences, one way or the other, are perfectly
willing to vote for man without knowing OF
caring where he stands on what should be tn.
fundamental issue in the election.