Evening star., 1952-07-10
There's Method in Republican Madness


tion campaigns this year has been some
thing to shout about, get mad about
and fight about.
One would think there was plenty Of
such incendiary material lying around,
available to any candidate who would
light match to it. They have all tried
1t. But such issues as high taxes. big
government. bungling at home and
abroad. corruption and mink coats seem
to have burned out for the time being.
Nobody, at least. has been able to re-
kindle them.
But there has been an explosion at
Chicago. It occurred in the unlikeliest
of all places. an intraparty fight over
Southern delegates who, barring some
political miracle. can produce no party
dividends in the form Of electoral votes
next November. It occurred In an area
that has been smoking and smelling for
so many years that nobody had been
paying any attention to 1t. And while
the immediate effect resembles fratri-
eide rather than offensive warfare
against common eneny-the Demo-
crats-something has happened out here
that promises the sort Of fighting CAM
paign the Republicans have been pray
ing for. Before there can be fighting
campaign, somebody must get mad
enough to fight. And while the dele
gates are now mostly mad at each other.
there is method in this sort Of mad
ness that may be directed into produc-
tive channels.
Gov. Warren Of California, submitting
himself to television interview last
night. said he could remember no such
animositieS as have marked this one
in Republican convention since 1928.
That was when Mr.. Hoover was NOM
inated-the last Republican. since that
time, to be elected. Be that as it may,
If it requires family brawl to stir
up a fighting spirit, the means to that
end no longer are lacking.
What people may forget, in their en-
joyment of the spectacle itself, is that
this fiery outbreak within the Repub-
lican Party has brought about sort
of purge by fame. Most of the material
from which the Republican Party has
been drawing its leadership for the past
20 years has gone up in smoke.
younger, more aggressive and more in
spring type of leadership. having set
fire to relics of the past. Is now in
charge If they can maintain the fight
ing spirit of the revolt that produced
this unexpected result. they are going
places.
There is a turning point. even If it
is fixed only in the imagination OF an
observer, in every political convention.
It may have been that this point was
turned yesterday morning, in the gold
room of the Congress Hotel, where the
Credentials Committee had just COM
pleted its final examination of witnesses
in the case of the contested Louisiana
delegates.
A young man from Bristol. Va, Eugene
Worrell, was recognized for the purpose
of presenting resolution. Mr.. WorreH
is a Taft man. He had so identified
himself, without exception, in the voting
on the previously considered contests.
He moved, in effect. that the ruling OF
the Republican National Committee on
the Louisiana case be repudiated; that
the Eisenhower delegates be seated, and
the Taft delegates thrown out.
An agreement to do this, Of course.
had been reached earlier, without benefit
of teleyisiori or newspaper reporters. by
the members of the Credentials Commit
tee And among those who spoke for
the motion was Clarence Brown of Ohio.
one of the staunch pillars Of the Taft
campaign, one of the established leaders
of the Republican Party. What oc-
Cured is symbolic.
Mr. Brown paid a glowing tribute to
his old friend and party associate. John
E. Jacksonville same Mr.. Jackson whom
he was now voting to unSeat as dele
gate and throw into the discard. Mr..
Jackson, said Mr.. Brown. had been a
national committeeman and leader Of
the Republican Party for more than 80
years. He had rendered great service.
John" he said. "this is one Of the
toughest decisions of my life"
It must have been tough decision
for Mr.. Brown. He probably knew that
in throwing Mr.. Jackson out, he was
throwing himself out, too, and with
himself, the old leadership Of the Re-
publican Party.
There was the usual amount of dou-
ble-talk, to the effect that the decision
on the Louisiana case. and the repudia-
ton of jackson and all he has stood for
as the Republican boss of Louisiana, was
the result Of the Credentials Commit
tees judgment Of the evidence. But
there was no new evidence. All the evi-
dence in the smelly Louisiana case had
been presented to the Republican Ma
tional Committee, and the Republican
National Committee had seated Mr..
Jackson and his handpicked delegates
in spite Of that evidence. What had
happened in the Credentials Committee
was stark realization that the jig was
UP. Its members did not dare take this
case to the convention and the dele
gates, and review it all over again under
the searching eye of televiSion. And the
Taft members of the Credentials Com
mittee doubtless hoped that by conced-
ing on this one. the convention might
follow its decisions on the companion
cases Of Georgia and Texas. It was no
voluntary gamble on their part. 1t was
the calculated risk they had to take.
When the convention last night and
early today reversed the committee on
the Georgia and Texas cases. it meant
the close of one era in the life Of the
Republican Party and the beginning Of
This and Tht