Evening star., 1953-09-15
The Political Min
Democratic Courage
Is Becoming BuIlish
Party Chiefs Feel Ready
To Tuke On Eisenhower
By Gould LINCOLN


At low ehb following Gen. Eisen.
hower's humping victory last Novem-
ber, the party leaders are beginning
to take pot shots at the President him.
self, as well as the Republican Congress
and Gen. Eisenhower's administrative
officials. Only a few weeks ago, the
Democratic cry was Elect Democrats to
Congress next year if you want the
Presidents hands upheld!
Former President Harry Truman
doesn't believe in any such tactics. He
said as much at a dinner meeting on
Labor Day in Detroit. He took poke
in true Truman style, too. at the Eisen-
hover administration when he called
it the stacked DEAL" This was only
the beginning of the Truman fuSillade.
continued last night at the big fund
raising dinner given by the Democrats
in Chicago, and sponsored by the DEM
ocratic National Committee.
Senator Douglas of Illinois, a candi-
date for reelection next year and the
principal speaker at the dinner, opened
up with both barrels at big business
in government under the Eisenhower
leadership. All of which is reminiscent
of that merry quip of Adlai Stevenson
last winter-the Eisenhower adminis-
tration, he feared, might become the
big Deal" because so many big-busi-
ness men were being placed in office and
would give trend to the whole EiSen-
hover regime.
Natural Course.
This renewed courage on the part Of
the Democrats is q natural. Obviously,
it would be impossible to gain votes for
electing Democrats to Congress next
year if the purpose were to support a
Republican President. That is an i'm
possible argument to put before the
voters. The logic would be to elect Re-
publican members of the House and
Senate, and SO make sure of Eisenhower
support.
The Democrats are feeling cocky at
present, with the voices of Mr.. Truman
and Mr.. Stevenson, titular head of the
party, ringing in their ears. They be-
lieve they have something to talk about
in the failure of the Republicans imme-
diately to reduce taxes and balance the
budget They believe that the reSigna-
ton of Secretary of Labor Durkin, ac-
companied by charge he had been
amend the Taft Hartley Act, has given
them plenty of ammunition to fire at
the G. o. P. and Gen. Eisenhower him.
self. They are going after the admins
tration-whoSe prices have been drop
ping. In a backhanded kind of way they
are criticizing the Korean truce-al-
though they don't quite dare attack it.
They remember for nearly two years
the Truman administration sought to
make truce and failed.
Fund Cut Hit.
Along with Gen. Eisenhower's handling
of the truce and of foreign affairs, the
Democrats are criticizing the cut of SIS
billion in the Air Force estimates sub
mitted by Mr.. Truman to Congress just
before he left Office last January. In
deed, Mr.. Truman himself used that
cut as a principal theme of Labor
Day address. The effort is to make it
appear that the President and the Re-
publican Congress are endangering the
safety of the country in order to aim
for a balanced budget. Democratic
leaders, including Mr.. Stevenson, have
suggested that Senator Joe Mccarthy
and "McCarthyism" be made issues in
the coming campaign. They like to be-
lieve that Mccarthy, as an issue. will
be helpful to them.
Republican leaders are willing to
admit that the items raised by the
Democrats will be issues in the 1854
campaign-but they believe that most
of them will help the G. o. P. in its drive
to keep control of Congress. If the Ko-
rean truce is followed by satisfactory
peace, they believe that Gen. Eisen-
hover will be impregnable and that
they will win the congressional elec-
tions. They point to a cut of SIS
appropriations for fiscal year 1864,
made by the Republicans and to big
savings made by the Eisenhower team
in administrations. They arc making
the most of the fact that business is
exceedingly good and that employment
and wages are high.
The split in the Democratic Party,
which sent four Southern States into
the Eisenhower camp in 1852, continues
to hang over the Democratic scene Ike
a dark cloud. Democratic National
Chairman Mitchell speaks of improved
relations between the Democrats Of the
North and the South but when the
question of a Federal FEPC is brought
up, he offers no solution for the diver
gence between the South and the North.
His great hope is that that issue will
not be raised in the congressional elec-
tionS.