Evening star., 1952-07-20
Movement 10 Draft
Stevenson Persists;
Backers Are BUSY
BY a stuff Correspondent of The ssar

By a Siuff Correspondent of The Star
CHICAGO, July 19.-On the
eve Of the opening of the Demo-
cratic National Convention, the
move for Stevenson draft re-
fuses to die.
Supporters of Gov. Adlai Steven
son are busily gathering a hard
core of pro-Stevenson delegates,
from States other than Illinois.
Their purpose is. Cd To have the
Illinois Governor put in nomina-
ton or ca To have those delegates
start voting for him on an early
ballot in the hope that the drive
will SNOWFALL.
Those who support the plan Ssay
they do not believe that Gov.
Stevenson would rise in his place
on the floor as a delegate from
Illinois and request that his name
not be placed before the conven-
tion. If he did, they admit the
Governor would make his nominal
ton very difficult. Even so, they
would go ahead and vote for him,
trusting that. in the event of al
deadlock, the convention would
turn to the man whom they believe
a majority of the delegates prefer.
They say he cannot refuse such
a draft"
Other Candidates Busy.
Meanwhile, the camps of Vice
President Barkley, Senator Ke-
fauver of Tennessee, Mutual Sc
curity Administrator AverellI
Hartman of New York, SenatorI
Russell of Georgia and SenatorI
Kerr of Oklahoma. all are busily
building up their fences. All are
ready to work on the many State
delegations expected to reach |
Chicago tomorrow.
If the Illinois Governor is sue
ceSsful in throwing enough cold
water on his own nomination, the
political star of 74-year-old Vice
President Barkley may easily be
in the ascendancy. Rumor has
is that he will have the nod from
President Truman himself. Fur
ther. he may be the man to whom
those delegates will rally who do
not wish to nominate Senator
Kefauver. AS crime investigator,
Senator Kefauver has trod on the
toes of a great number of the
organization leaders in many
States.
Senator Kefauver and Mr.. Har-
riman seem destined to divide
between them the so-called lib
eral or left wing delegates. III,
they do, the result may be to
improve the chances of Mr.. Bark
ley.
The situation, so far as presi-
dental candidates is concerned.
however, will not be determined |,
until the big delegations and their
leaders reach Chicago. Many of
the delegations are committed toI
favorite sons-Michigan, Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut, for ex- '
ample. Other delegates are un- =
committed, or committed only fort
a first-ballot vote.
Ohio's Delegation Split.
Ohio's delegation is spit down
the middle, q for Kefauver and
II for the favorite-son candidate.
former Senator Bulkley. While ,
Mr.. Bulkley hopes to hold his !
group until it can be thrown to
a probable winner, the expecta-
tion is that after the first ballot,
the group will split, with perhaps ,
10 votes going to Senator Ke- 1
fauver. some to Mr.. Barkley and ,
perhaps a few to Mr.. Hartman.
Illinois delegation is to caucus !
tomorrow. The delegation will re- ]
spect Gov. Stevenson's wishes and
make no move to place him in
nomination, or to vote for him on
a first ballot. Mr.. Barkley is said
to have considerable strength;
among the members Of this big /
delegation. Senator Kefauver won
the presidential preference pri-
mary in Illinois, but the prefer
ence vote is not binding. Massa- {