The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1952-01-17
Hardly Worth A Nickel

The comment, commendation and
criticism that have followed General
Eisenhower's admirable statement of
Monday have created situations in
both parties practically unique and
certainly interesting. Also, certain
significant facts have been more
clearly revealed by his opponents
than by his advocates.
Take first the Republican reaction.
Almost every dissenting opinion has
been preceded by tribute to character
and ability. The tune which the dis
senters sing, practically without eX-
ception, is on one key" Nobody
knows what he stands for" lie is
they chant, "the mystery man. how
can the party nominate one whose
position on foreign policy, economy,
labor management, taxation, corrup-
ton or any domestic issue is IN
known?
The query "Where does he stand ?"
is, of course, utten nonsense. Take,
for example, his position on
foreign policy If that had not been
proclaimed by his acts and utterances
it is certainly made clear by the fact
that his strongest and most violent
opponent is Col, Robert Mccormick,
owner of the Chicago Tribune and
leading American isolationist. Con-
sidelng this, one must be very stupid
not to know where Ike" stands ON
foreign policy. As d Republican he
stands ON foreign policy where the
late Senator Arthur Vandenberg
stood and the Senator's son is one of
his strongest supporters.
Take next his position on domestic
issues. 1t is ridiculous to ask where
he stands on corruption in govern
ment, reduced taxation, economy, a
balanced budget and the "preser-
walton of the American way of life"
What aspirant for office from Presi-
dent down, anywhere, has not given
lip service to these things? This diff
ference is not in what they say about
them, but in their known attitude.
Well, what do we know of the Eisen-
hover attitude? First, we know
f,om his own lips now-that he is a
Republican; that in 1948 he voted for
Dewey; that Senator Lodge correctly
described his position when he made
it clear that he was available only
for the Republican nomination.
Does it strain anybody's reason to
deduce from this that he is and al
ways has been an anti-New Dealer
and an anti-Fair Dealer? And can
you be those things and not aghast at
waste, inefficiency and corruption in
government? The real domestic issue
the anti-Eisenhower critics want to
make mysterious is his attitude to-
ward labor encouragement. AS to that
the Generals friends know he does
not want industry and management
to run the country, but neither does
he want the labor bosses to run it.
That seems a pretty sound position
but better answer lies in the fact
that the labor bosses - particularly
some of the CLIO, next to Colonel Nc
Cormick, are the most violent of
Eisenhower opponents. Apparently
they know that with the General as
President the days of their White
House dominance would be over
and they don't like the idea They
don't want just fair treatment, they
want favored treatment. Next to
Senator Taft himself, they dislike
the idea of Eisenhower as President
That they have made so plain that il
seems hard for anyone not to know
where like" stands on that issue.
AS to the situation which his state,
ment has created, it is acute in botF
parties. Clearly the Republicans mus
nominate either Eisenhower or Taft