Evening star., 1952-10-29
By the ASsocioted Press

of Gen. Eisenhower'S question
and anSDer" telepiSion radio
appearance last night:
Eisenhower: am Dwight Eisen'
hover. Tonight some very dis
tinguished people have gathered
here with me to discuss a few o.
the recurring issues in this polit.
ical campaign. To introduce then
to you and to explain further whaI
We are about to do, I want vol
to meet man already well known
to you, Conrad Nagel.
Nagel: Thank you. general,
Good evening, ladies and gentle.
men. We welcome you to thi.
program, which is sponsored by
the Citizens for Eisenhower. The
purpose of this little group meet.
ing tonight. with the permission
of the general, is to pose certain
questions to him. These questions
are most frequently asked of III
when we are discussing the gen.
erals candidacy.
General, I fully realize that yol
have discussed these question!
many times during your politica
speeches, during your campaign
but we thought it nigh be a gooc
idea, perhaps. to pinpoint them
to clarity them. They are peril
nent to so many of our people.
Before we do that, may I pre-
sent our guests. First is Mrs
Mary La Guardia, whose late hus-
band was the Mayor of New York
City. Next is Mrs. Irving Berlin
whose husband has filled our world
with such exquisite melodies
Third is Mrs. John Warner, whose
father, Al Smith. was one of ou,
greatest Americans. Fourth is
Mrs. Robert Patterson. the widow
of our late, great Secretary of
War.
And now, general. we will get
right into the questions. I think
that Mrs. Berlin has something
she wants to ask you.
Q. Mrs. Berlin: Well, there is a
question that has been asked OF
me. and this is it: Have you made
any deals with any part of the
Republican Party? In other
words, are you the captive of any
group in the Republican Party?
A. When this campaign started
Mrs. Berlin. I pledged the Ameri-
can people that I would be a mo
deal" candidate. that I would
make no kind of arrangement OF
agreement that even by misinter-
probation could be called a deal
or a political favor with any one
Now, I not only have kept that
pledge, but I would be glad to
make that pledge again, right
this minute. I am and will con-
tinue to be, mo dear' candidate
AS for being a captive of any
body. I am 81 years and 2 weeks
old this evening. If there is any
body alive who can make any
claim whatsoever that I am his
captive. or have ever been his
captive. should like to meet him
because it just isn't so.
Nagel: Thank you, general
Mrs. Berlin. the general said he
was a mo deal' candidate, not
a New Deal" candidate. Mrs
La Guardia, I believe you have q
question.
@. Mrs. La Guardia: Yes, gen.
eral. a lot of people are asking
about the secrecy of their votes
Many letters come in from work
ing men and working women ask
ing if a political boss or a union
leader will know how they vote
when they go into the polls. 1t
seems a silly question, but they
want to know is it absolutely a
secret vote.
A. One of the greatest privileges
of this country, Mrs. La Guardia,
is that no one has to consult
anything but his own conscience
when he goes in that election
booth. Now, there are countries
in the world. totalitarian coun-
tries, where we have controlled
voting and any one who attempted
to cast a vote except for the
picked candidate would suffer q
very great deal. But here you pull
that curtain and you vote as you
please and not even your most
intimate friend can find out how
you voted unless you tell him.
Nagel: Now, I think Mrs
Warner has a question.
@. Mrs. Warner: Gen. Eisen-
hover. a great many people are
concerned about the mess in
Washington and the importance
of clearing it up. But they also
know that there are a great many
civil service workers who are not
responsible for these scandals
Now, you have said that you were
going to make a clean sweep
Well, now. will that clean sweep
include the civil service workers?
A. Not only will those civil serv-
ants be protected, but efficient
civil servants have absolutely
nothing to fear from this crusade
that is coming in to clean out
Washington. 1 would like to take
the opportunity to pay them g
little tribute. 1 have worked with
those people 40 years and more
/ have worked with them in diff
ferent departments. 1 have yet
to find any people working any
where who have shown more ded.
ication to the country, more 10y
atty and more efficiency than tht
great mass of America's civi
servants.
What We do intend to do
though. is to clean out all thes,
political bosses they have had ane
give them outstanding men anc
women, men and women of pres
tige, as the heads of those depart.
ments of whom these civil serv'
ants will be proud.
Nagel: That is an excellent an.
sWer. Mrs. Robert Patterson,
think you have question.