Evening star., 1952-08-21
Truman Denies
Knowing About
ANY Mess Here
Queried on Assertion
By Gov. Stevenson on
How He'd Clean Up
By Cecil HolIond

Uy SS&u tsVtt0uO
President Truman said today he
knows nothing about any mess in
Washington.
Mr.. Truman made the state.
ment when asked at news con-
ference about an assertion of Gov.
Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. the
Democratic presidential nominee.
|earlier this week.
Gov. Stevenson was quoted as
saying his record in Illinois should
indicate how he would deal with
I"the mess in Washington"
Mr.. Truman said he had no
comment on the matter, since he
knows nothing about any mess
in his administration.
Would Name Qualified Men.
Gov. Stevenson used that ex-
pression in a letter to an Oregon
editor. Yesterday he told re-
|porters at Minocqua, Wis. that
the best way to deal with the
Washington situation would be to
name qualified and incorruptible
men to Government jobs.
Mr.. Truman seemed little grim
as he answered a furry of ques-
tions regarding Republican charges
and criticism from Democratic
sources, too, about his administra-
ton.
He said he had no comment
when asked If he was satisfied
with the way Gov. Stevenson and
Senator Sparkman of Alabama.
the Democratic vice presidential
nominee. were beginning their
campaign.
He made the same reply earlier
when asked to comment on Sem
ator Sparkman's recent criticism
of the way the steel strike was
handled.
To Answer G. o. p. Charges.
Mr.. Truman promised that Re-
publican charges by Gen. Eisen-
hover, the Republican presidential
nominee, will be gone into very
carefully during the course OF the
campaign. But he emphasized that
they will be answered on the stump
and not at press conference.
A newSman asked Mr.. Truman
whether these remarks of the
Democratic nominees gave him Q
feeling Of being a. target"
Mr.. Truman said. no, Of course
not. He went on to say he couldn't
possibly be the target-that he
was the key of the Democratic
campaign, and couldn't possibly be
a target of the Democratic candi-
dates.
Knows What They'll Say.
He said categorical answers will
be given to what the opposition
has to say. He added that he
knows what they are going to say
and that they are wrong all the
time.
He made the comment about
the Republican charges when
asked about Gen. Eisenhower'S
speech yesterday in Boise in which
the Republican nominee said the
Truman administration applies
the philosophy of left.
Mr.. Truman was asked about
Gov, Stevenson's statement that
there was need for the refresh
ening of what has been going on
in Washington for the last 20
years. Mr.. Truman replied that
he believed there ought to be new
blood IN the Democratic Party.
But he added that doesn't mean
going back on what the party
stands for.
He said the Democratic Party
has to run on the record of his ad-
Iministration and that of the late
President Roosevelt.
Gov. Stevenson's remark about
the mess in Washington. which
brought the comment from Presi.
dent Truman, was made in a let
ter released last Sunday to Tom
Humphrey, editor of the Oregon
Journal. Gov. Stevenson said:
"As to whether I can clean up
the mess in Washington, I would
bespeak the careful scrutiny Of
what I inherited in Illinois and
what has been accomplished in
three years. Immodesty is not. I
(See TRUMAN, Page A-3.)