The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1952-09-08
Political
Notes
By RELMAN MoRIN

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PORTLAND, Ore. R-Gov. Adlai
Stevenson said today the battle for
the presidency is going to be a
hard one, but he claimed, 1--WE are
gaining steadily"
The Democratic candidate spoke
before a group of Oregon news
paper editors, publishers and radio
men at a luncheon in Portland to-
day. He arrived here by plane last
night, extending his hard-driving
campaign to the Pacific Coast.
at is going to be a tough cam
paign," Stevenson said, "and am
not kidding myself about the diff
cultieS.
eve have lot of ground to
make up. We have made up some.
/ figure that we still have a little
distance to 60. But figure, too,
that we are gaining steadily"
It was the first time Stevenson
has publicly discussed the progress
of the campaign. In saying, it is
going to be tough" he also paid
. tribute to the Republican candi-
date, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower,
saying:
''My opponent is a great general
who has served the Army and the
nation we'll"
But Stevenson again tainted the
Republicans on the ground that
they are split into two parties,
sharply divided over policy, and
have no policies of their own. He
has hammered away at this point
in number of speeches made
since he left Springfield, ILL.,, his
headquarters, last Friday.
at wait breathlessly for each
mornings newspaper, he told the
editors, Ito see which Republican
party is on top that day.
81 do not think the people will
| install a party which does not seem
capable of governing. And / do not
see how anyone can argue that
| this fretful, distracted and divided
Republican party has that capa-
city. If it cannot govern itself, why
should we suppose it could govern
the country"
The luncheon was sponsored by
the Oregon Journal.
Much of Stevenson's address to
| the editors today was devoted to
newspaper coverage of the cam
paign to date. He had both good
and critical remarks, asserting:
81 have been well impressed by
the fair treatment accorded me by
most newspapers, including most
of those aligned editorially with
the opposition. am convinced that
nearly all publishers are doing
their honest best, according to
their lights-even if / must confess
that sometimes their lights seem to
me a little dim"
He said the nation relies on
free and responsible press to battle
the ''three greatest enemies Of
democracy - ignorance, apathy,
and excessive partnership"
And he reminded his audience:
sour brand Of representative gov
something which l think your pro-
fesSion sometimes overlooks, you
depend on government, for the ulti-
mate protection of free press re-
sides in the constitutional guaran-
tee"
Stevenson said he was aware that
"the overwhelming majority" of
newspapers are supporting Eisen-
hover. And he leased the editors
, by recalling that neither the late
President Roosevelt nor President
Truman had widespread editorial
support in their campaigns:
II certainly don't take il person
ally" he said. ''In fact l would
have been somewhat startled and
unhappy If I had received much
press support after the reception
given my Democratic predeces-
sors. Some people might even have
considered such support an nj
omen"
More seriously, then. he said
there should be two-party system
among newspapers as well az In
politics. 81 am frankly eonsidera-
bly, concerned" he said, when /
see the extent to which we are de-
veloping a one-party press in two
party country"
"A free society means = society
based on free competition and
there is no more important compe-
tition than competition IN ideas,
competition in opinion.
ats not honest convictions hon
estly stated that concern me.
Rather il is the tendency Of
many papers. and l include colum.
niSts, commentators. analysts. fea-
ture writer's and so on. 10 argue
ediiorially from the personal OBJ
jective rather than from the whole
truth.
what I am saying. In short, Is
that the press cannot condemn
demagoguery. claptrap. distortion
and falsehood in politicians and
public life. on the one hand. and
practice the same abuses on the