Evening star., 1950-02-07
Taft Given Ovation
By $4,000 Attending
6. @. P. Box Supper

Robert A. Taft on the first bal
lot! That's the way it would have
been last night if the Republicans
had been playing for keeps.
Uline Arena was packed with
$4,000 of the party faithful from
every State, and it was almost a
national convention as speaker
after speaker took the rostrum.
The occasion was 81 chicken
in-the-box rally, but the conven-
tion spirit was rampant as party
bigwigs grated.
Then the next to the last
speaker approached the micro
phone picking up the excitement
for the ABC network. The crowd
didn't wait for an introduction
1t recognized Senator Taft of
Ohio and burst into a tremendous
ovation.
1t was bad moment for Movie
Actor George Murphy and Orches-
ira Leader Fred Waring, dou-
bling as masters of ceremonies
There were less than three min
utes of radio time remaining,
and they wanted Joe Martin of
Massachusetts to earn his letter
before the whistle blew.
The MICS and Representative
Kearns of Pennsylvania, produc-
ing the show. made every effort
to stifle the din.
Still the crowd roared. Sena-
tor Taft, aware of the situation,
began talking into the din. 1t
was learned later from him that
he had said:
THE Republican Party has re-
stored equality between employer
and employe, outlawed secondary
boycotts, jurisdictional strikes and
other unfair labor practices; guar
anteed to every workman the right
to work and has given the
President power to protect the
public against threats to its safety
and health"
It is true the crowd was a little
weighted. The big State of Cali
fornia had only a small group
around its standard. And there
was an overly large representa-
tion of below the Mason Dixon
line Republicans groups about the
standards of Maryland and Vir-
ginia. Also there were no Repub-
lican Governors among the speak
ers. But there was no doubt of
one thing-to the 10000 assembled
last night, Senator Taft was their
hero.
The size of the crowd surprised
everyone. The program and the
distribution of box suppers began
at $50. BY all the seats were
filled and the crowd began to i'm
pinge on the floor space reserved
for the marching of bands and
fife and drum corps.
Then Cover Floor Space.
When 10000 persons had en-
tered the arena, the doors were
shut for time so that floor space
could be held for the bands. At
8 o'clock, the doors were opened
again and about 1000 more people
piled in. They sat on the floor
where the bands had been march
ing and covered every bit of it.
The sponsors of the show had
ordered 7,400 box suppers. Tele-
phone calls managed to bring in
more boxes. but not nearly enough.
The hot dog stand in the lobby
was cleared of every frankfurter
the cencessionaire could put out.
But it was good-natured crowd
and it had good time.
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, jr.,
OF Massachusetts, and his brother,
Representative John Davis Lodge,
OF Connecticut, sat at opposite
ends Of the platform. Representa-
tive Lodge is expected to seek the
Senate seat from his State in this
years elections. Senator Lodge,
issued statement during the day
expressing disappointment that
the party's policy pronouncement
had not included anything about
civil rights. He was not one of
those chosen to speak at the rally.
Here is a tabulation of the
speakers and what they said:
Representative Dondero of Mich
igan-"Lincoln knew that any
man worthy of the name would
rather be free than safe; he knew
also that when freedom is lost, all
is lost
Guy G. Gabrielson, national
chairman of the party-"From this
night on, the Republican Party is
going to be the strongest, most
active and vigorous opposition
party that has ever been known
in the history of our country"
Representative Halleck of In
diana-"Mr. Spender in Chief
cloud boos from the crowd has
again sounded the call. He wants
more taxes. To that the Republi-
can Party says Let's cut the cost
of Government and reduce taxes
not increase them. Let's belance
the budget. Let's be sure we have
q sound economy"
Wherry Raps Extravagance.
Senator Wherry of Nebraska
"The reckless and extravagant
spending by this Administration
can result only in disaster and
ruin for our country"
Senator Margaret Chase Smith
of Maine-"I hope with all my
heart that tonight the Republican
Party will be starting America,
you and me, back to that most
basic of all freedoms that we used
to cherish and enjoy-the freedom