TM~ THE MICIIGAN DAILY SUNDAY, JULY 20, 1954 DORIS FLEESON: Convention Rudderless Without Truman at Helm WASHINGTON-Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown of that strange and wonderful collection of voting blocs which five times has'won the presidency under the banner of the Democratic party. President Truman has retreated to the sanctuary of Walter Reed #lospital, im- mured from the candidates and their friends. Not all the marvels of modern medicine, however, can soften for him the hard outlines of the facts he faces as the national convention draws inexorably closer. The convention is rudderless. Unless he puts a sure hand on it, no one can say what might happen. He cannot depend upon the big city bosses; the craftiest of them, as is Ed Flynn of New York, are ill or retired. The advantage now lies with the slick op- erators who so often have macerated his Fair Deal in the Senate. The appearance of many candidates among the Democrats is pure illusion. From any national standpoint, what the Demo- crats have is a collection of political thin men. In their various ways they are able. Most of them have unusual sincerity in a business where that quality is hard to main- tain. Not one is cheap. Still, none of the avowed aspirants has, that combination of assets, plus recog- nized stature and campaigning ability, needed to fight the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket effectively. The demand of people for a change just defeated Mr. Republi- can in a convention run by his friends. That they will be any more charitable to- ward Democrats dear to Washington, as the remorseless TV portrays them this week, is highly dubious. The whole fabric of democratic policy for the last 20 years is under unusual attack precisely because the candidates are so vul- nerable. They are trying to tailor the plat- form to fit their individual needs and cover their weaknesses from the view of the dele- gates, rather than leading from historic strength. There, at least, the President has moved quickly. He has sharply informed the draft- er what he wants in a platform; he has privately spoken strongly to key people on the subject. Mr. Truman conceivably will let the del- egates give him guidance on their favorite candidate. He will do battle for a Fair Deal platform. Mrs. Truman's arrival here has been duly noted by political observers who know the White House well. Men are notorious babies when they are ill at all; the Tru- man fanily is unusually close and respon- sive to each other's needs. It is still a fair guess that Mrs. Truman has been reading about the rudderless aspect of Chicago, the prospect that a draft-Truman move- ment will develop and is taking steps to avert it. She is determined to enjoy the late afternoon of life with her husband. Until Mr. Truman gets his homework done on the foregoing, Chicago will remain the Windy City in more ways than one, but, one day next week, that fateful presidential Roll Call must and will begin. (Copyright, 1952, by the Bell Syndicate) MATTER OF FACT By JOSEPH and STEWART ALSOP DREW PEARSON: Washington Merry-Go-Round CHICAGO-If you had told Estes Kefauv- er's colleagues in the Senate one year ago that he would emerge with the top num- ber of delegates at the next Democratic con- vention, they would have snorted with dis- belief. Some of them are still snorting. This attitude, however, is solely con- fined to Washington and a few big cities where the political bosses had their ma- chines bounced off the track by Kefauv- er's crime expose. In Washington, the at- titude is based on something which is all-important in the nation's capital but not readily understood elsewhere-senior- ity. Young Estes Kefauver has been in Congress only 12 years. On the other hana, his colleague, McKellar of Tennessee, is 85 years old and has been in Congress for 35 years. And every time McKellar passes young Kefauver in a Senate corri- dor, he curses. Other Senators do not curse. But some of them are jealous. They do not realize that these are fast-moving days when the American people are fed up with the old, as witnessed by Eisenhower's nomination and by the sudden elevation of a political unknown, Nixon of California, to the No. 2 spot on the Republican ticke. - KEFAUVER'S RECORD - PERHAPS also they don't entirely appre- ciate the fact that Kefauver has a magnificent voting record, has shown more courage in facing racial problems than any other Southern senator, and had the vision to realize the danger of permitting an un- derworld to gnaw at the foundation of America. On top of this, he has gone through an intense political campaign, during which he hasn't made a single mistake. Eisen- hower, on the other hand, has made sev- eral. Kefauver, meanwhile, did Eisenhower the biggest political favor of his life. He is the chief reason Eisenhower was nominated. For the main factor motivating Republican delegates at their recent convention was that they badly needed a winner. And they knew, first from the Gallup poll, second from their own political observations, that Kefauver could outpoll Taft in most of the nation. To beat him they had to nominate Eisenhower. For they had seen Kefauver defeat Pres- ident Truman himself, plus an old and established Democratic machine in New Hampshire. They also saw him swamp the Democratic organization in Ohio, even with a bunch of unknown delegates; while in California they saw him roll up a vote big- ger than Governor Earl Warren. Again he did it by bucking the old-line leaders of the Democratic party using a bobtail as- sortment of young and enthusiastic ama- teurs that nobody had ever heard of. - KEFAUVER'S CRIME - After Estes Kefauver first started his New Hampshire campaign, he remarked to one of his advisers: "I'm tired of talking about crime. I think I should make some speeches on foreign policy." Stick to crime, Estes, stick to crime," re- plied the adviser, "that's what the people understand." However, Estes has not stuck to crime, either in his subsequent speeches or in his earlier record in Congress. That record is on which shows up well under the most critical microscope. Though a Southerner, Kefauver voted for the controversial anti- lynching bill. He also voted to abolish the poll tax, though he did not vote for cloture or a compulsory FEPC. He.voted against the Taft-Hartley act, at a time when it took courage to do so-unlike Sen. Russell who voted to override the Presidential veto but now says Taft-Hartley should be abolished. He has also campaigned against the monopoly of war contracts to a few big companies and led an investigation to aid small business. He had the courage to circulate a petition in the House to get the Taft-Wagner Housing bill out of the Rules Committee, and finally helped to get it passed. He has been a leader in backing the President on foreign affairs and defense. And while a member of the House of Rep- resentatives, he wrote a book "The 20th Century Congress," carefully diagnosing our current legislative system. (Copyright, 1952, by the Bell Syndicate) ESTES KEFAUVER . , they're either too young SENATOR RUSSELL ... they're either too grey POLITICAL OBSERVERS were theorizing several weeks ago that Adlai Stevenson of Illinois would be the Democratic candidate if Senator Taft were nominated by the GOP, but he would definitely not run if General Eisenhower became the Republican standard bearer. At that time it was suggested that Democrats might choose Estes Ke- fauver as their candidate. The Kefauver selection would be ideal from several angles, politicians figure. Admirers of the crime crusader believe he should get the party nod because he has a real chance to beat Ike. Ene- mies of the Tennessee senator, specifically Harry Truman and the big city bosses, were said to be thinking that Kefauver would be a convenient candidate because the party was in for a defeat in November. They supposedly felt that Estes could be used as a front man to take the defeat. Then he would return to the Senate for the rest of his political life or retire altogether. Believing that Eisenhower's four years would not be particularly successful and that a depression might be inevitable during this period, they fig- ured on holding Stevenson until 1956 when he could make a Rooseveltian campaign and enthrone the party in power for sev- eral decades as Roosevelt did. In part these forecasts have come out correctly. Eisenhower has been nominated and Stevenson, who was reluctant to enter the race beforeo the GOP convention, has made his position quite clear: he will not run unless he is drafted against his will. A forced draft appears unlikely, especially since the President is reputed to be annoyed with Stevenson because the Illinois governor was not interested in his backing. Despite President Truman's assertion that he will not name his preference for the nomination, it is quite clear that he holds all the cards and will influence the decision either openly or behind the scenes. Truman has been looking over the field of Democratic aspir- ants for many months. He would obviously like to make a selection, but is frustrated by four major considerations: 1) Truman is out of sorts with many of the best Democratic leaders. As was mentioned, he had a mild rift with Stevenson. ie also dislikes Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois for several of his at- tacks on the Administration. Both of these men are top-flight Democrats. In addition, he has never cared much for Kefauver since Estes beat him in the New Hampshire presidential primary. 2) The President is disconcerted over the lukewarm acceptance of his Fair Deal program by several of the candidates. Though many embrace the majority of its tenets, several will not go along with the civil rights plank. Thus far the civil rights proposals have been un- successful in Congress, for the Southern block and some Republicans have stymied them. Feeling that the GOP took a lukewarm civil rights stand, Truman wants his platform to contain a statement of action as well as principle. Russell's vacillation on labor, and to a certain extent on FEPC shows the President's power in influencing the candi- dates, but no one except Harriman is really an ardent Fair Dealer. 3) HST would have liked to have seen Senator Taft nominated by the Republicans, because he regarded Taft as an extremely vulnerable candidate. Selection of Eisenhower has posed a difficult problem for Truman and the Democrats. Although the President and others have supposedly toyed with the idea of letting Kefauver take a defeat, no one likes to let the party loose, especially since it would be a repudia- tion of principles for which they have worked many years. Thus he is faced with finding someone who can beat Eisenhower. 4) Contingent with this observation is the bare fact that there is really no one outstanding left for the party. Kerr, Russell and all the other Southerners fail to qualify because of their civil rights position. Stevenson is supposedly out for now. Douglas is unacceptable to Truman, Kefauver is disliked and Harriman has no large following and little political experience. Barkley and Rayburn are too old. Where then, is Truman to turn? 0BVIOUSLY HE MUST compromise somewhat as to ability, experi- ence or principles. In this respect, Averell Harriman would prob- ably be most acceptable. Harriman is biding for labor's support and appeas to be gaining favor in that quarter. He was entered in New York as a "trial balloon" as well as to hold that large delegation at the convention either for himself or some other Truman-favored candidate. The strategy is likely to be angled toward getting the nomina- tion for Harriman, if this is at all possible. Labor leaders Murray and Reuther are going to be at the convention, and if assured that Honest Ave is their best man, can be expected to exert a powerful influence on delegates. The unseen hand of Harry Tru- ma nwill have a like effect. Thus Harriman may be advanced, while Kefauver, Kerr and Russell are blocked out. Shoudl the Harriman boom fail to develop as hoped, final efforts will quietly be made to convince Stevenson that he should run. If these also fail, Harry S. Truman will either let his name be offered as a nominee or else party leaders will do it without his permission. Prob- ably the chief thing that prevents him from running again, outside of his own desire to retire, is Bess Truman. Mrs. Truman is worried that she and her husband will not be able to go intoretirement. However, Bess did not particularly want him to run in 1948, and is dead against it now. Even so, Truman may feel that he is the only person who could lead the party to victory in November. He may think that not running would be a disservice both to the party and the country. He would certainly have no trouble being. nominated. If the President will not run, it is quite likely that Ke- fauver will be the nominee, if for no other reason than that the others have left the field. A Kefauver nomination would probably not be as bad as some Democrats think, although he would have a battle on his hands to get the election in November. Vice-presidential candidates are a dime a dozen this week in Chi- cago. Russell is talked of frequently. So is keynoter Paul Dever. Mi- chigan's abandonment of the unit rule, under which Governor Wil- liams could have controlled the delegation and laid the way to his own acceptance as Vice-Presidential candidate by shrewd vote trading, has hindered his chances for the second spot. -Harry Lunn #_ Pre-Convention Roundup AVERELL HARRIMAN .. . or too grassy green ALBEN BARKLEY ... or too old CHICAGO-If you want a sample of the peculiar atmosphere of the Democratic rally in Chicago, the following story is a bet- ter than average sample of high-level talk here. In brief, Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois - wrote a letter, a couple of months ago, de- scribing his attitude toward the Demo- cratic nomination which has been so often pressed upon him. This letter was either addressed to, or somehow got into the hands of Stevenson's friend, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Justice Douglas, for reasons best known to himself, proceeded to show the Stevenson letter to Harry S. Truman's great and good friend, Chief Justice Fred Vinson. Chief Justice Vinson in turn either showed the let-j ter, or related its contents, to the President. Stevenson had written that he did not want the Democratic nomination, and particularly did not want to be nominat- ed as President Truman's personal can- didate, because of the obligations that this would involve. He had also written that he was not sure he was a Fair Deal- er, because he was anything but clear in his own mind about what a Fair Dealer really was. These remarks, inevitably, were taken by the President as signs and symptoms of the darkest disloyalty. The moment when the Stevenson letter reached the ears or eyes of Truman is per- suasively said to have marked the turning point in the President's attitude toward the Illinois Governor. *s* * THE FOREGOING STORY happens to be well substantiated. There is very little doubt indeed that Gov. Stevenson did in fact write such a letter, the summary of which represents his known views. There is very lit- tle doubt, either, that the Douglas-to-Vin- son-to-Truman triple play really occurred. The really interesting thing about this story, however, is the way it symbolizes the quality of the oncoming Democratic Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views of the writer only. This must be noted in all reprints. NIGHT EDITOR: MARGE SHEPERD convention. The Republicans had big is- sues at stake, and big, easily discernible forces were engaged against each other. In the case of the Democrats, no candi- date benefits from the kind of factional fanaticism that sustained Sen. Robert A. Taft. No candidate is supported by the kind of popular surge that carried Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Instead of popular surges and passionate advocacy, stories like that printed aboveare the warp and woof of this session in Chicago. A few of these stories are true, like this one. Many more are false, or partly false. Their prevalence, which is the significant thing, means that the decisive factors at this stage are the relationships between group and group and between individual and individ- ual. Particularly, of course, the President's relationships and attitudes are vital. Arid in this sense the Stevenson letter is regard- ed as significant, as inclining Truman to block the draft-Stevenson movement that Truman himself originated. S C s IT IS THIS EMPHASIS on the essentially personal and trivial-on the deals, ne- gotiations, private attitudes and hints let drop-that makes the Democratic gather- ing appear, for the time being, like a large, jolly amiable loony bin. How else can it be, since at least five major groupings in the party, and at least two score leading per- sonalities, all enter into the picture? Even the President himself has multiplied his agents, secret and overt, until no one knows exactly who is speaking for him. Beneath the surface nerve warfare and maneuvering, however, two significant facts very plainly appear. The Democrats have two possible strategies. They can nominate a candidate who is thought to enjoy strong sectiona4 support, as Aver- ell Harriman does in the North and Sen. Russell does in the South. .But in that case, they must accept a more or less open and violent party split. Or they can seek a candidate who will unite the party. But in that case, they must choose between Sen. Kefauver, whom so many leaders detest; or Vice-President Barkley, whose age puts the "caretaker" label on him; or Gov. Stevenson, who has now annoyed Truman and does not want to run anyway. Copyright, 1952, New York Herald Tribune Inc.) ROBERT KERR . . . the pickings are poor ADLAI STEVENSON ... and the crop is lean -r I PHILLIP MURRAY ,.. I've looked the field over . te?IIPJ to (tle 611wo.. HARRY TRUMAN .. .and lo and behold! I I V. "How Aiont Ramih P. Pretwhittle ?" F y4 r.RSFI~ x "Nw Tlae~weA 0"1 igis Piak- Protest Meeting ... To the Editor: A WAKE of results followed the appearance of the un-Ameri- can Activities Committee in De- troit in March. On this campus, more speakers were banned--Ab- ner Green, Arthur McPhaul, Anne Shore-and an intense inquisition with attendant prosecutions for participation in a certain dinner took place. In Ford Local 600, lea- dership was displaced, a n d changes in policy were effected. All over the state, people whom Mrs. Baldwin casually mentioned,. people who were not even called to testify, were fired, intimidated by groups, attacked in =local papers, and in some instances forced to leave their homes. The un-Ameri- cans had chosen, among others, a musician, a teacher, a minister, a lawyer, and several labor leaders. They had concentrated their selec- Some people might feel that these men must be hiding some- thing, for if everything were above board, they should have no ob- jection to producing the records. But they should consider the pro- cedure and set-up of these hear- ings. Witnesses are interrogated in public; they are denied basic legal safeguards. They are not informed in advance of the nature of the charges against them, and are not confronted with witnesses who tes- tified against them (accusers are, of course, granted complete im- munity), or allowed to cros-exam- ine them. They are not allowed to obtain witnesses in their favor, to be represented by counsel, and to testify in their own defenses. The un-Americans make up the rules as they go along. To be cited is to be considered guilty. There are further ramifications to this case. People who are inter- ested might want to attend the The Pot...0 To the Editors THE EDITORS of any respon- sible newspapers display three qualities; literacy, lack of bias and accuracy. A short while ago we sent a letter to you which was re- printed in The Daily. With his shears the editor turned a pole- mic against Eisenhower into more or less incomprehensible series of sentences. We assume that the reason for cutting the letter was that it was too long. We have noticed, how- ever, that the limt on length is not always applied. Assuming, nevertheless, that the reason was valid, the method was certainly not. We submit that the editors of the Daily lack one of the above qualities, or perhaps more than one of them. The letter, as we y Sxty-Second Year Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under the authority of the Board in Control of Student Publications. EDITORIAL STAFF Leonard Greenbaum Managing Editor Ivan Kaye and Bob Margolin ....Co-Sports Editors Nan Reganall...........Women's Editor Joyce Fickies.............Night Editor Harry Lunn........,... .Night Editor Marge Shepherd. .......Night Editor Virginia Voss...........Night Editor Mike Wolff...............Night Editor BUSINESS STAFF Tom Treeger........Business Manager C. A. Mitts........Advertising Manager Jim Miller..........Finance Manager X h-If vapp, a N