Marching Jumbo

"Republicans-on-the-march" was the title thought up for a series of informal monthly dinners begun last week in Washington by the national G.O.P. committee.

Object: pre-season training for the 1940 campaign. Chosen to speak at the first tryout were new Senator Clyde Reed of Kansas, new Governor Ray Baldwin of Connecticut, new Senator Robert Taft of Ohio. Of these, Governor Baldwin did the best job of speechmaking but Senator Taft got the biggest headlines: in slightly better oratorical form than the night of his Gridiron Dinner fiasco (TIME, April 24), he took the bold political risk of accusing the President of the U. S. of using foreign policy as a curtain for his domestic difficulties. Excerpt:

"In the last three months we have heard little of the New Deal, but every member of the Government, whether it lies in his province or not, is ballyhooing the foreign situation, trying to stir up prejudice against this country or that, and at all costs take the minds of the people off their troubles at home. One thing is perfectly clear--no denouncing of dictators or eulogies of democracies can improve the condition of the people of this country by one penny of income."

>In Washington last week for his second visit in a fortnight was Senator Taft's neck & neck rival (so far) for their party's main 1940 prize. District Attorney Tom Dewey of New York put in an evening last fortnight getting acquainted with his fellow Michigander and No. 2 rival for the nomination, Senator Vandenberg. Last week he put in some long hours with Joe Martin, Minority Leader of the House. Joe Martin agrees with Minority Leader McNary of the Senate that unless the Republicans feel in 1940 that they can win with anybody, Tom Dewey is the glamor boy they will pick. Vandenberg, Dewey and Taft all appeared beaming at a dinner of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (see cut). Dewey and Taft both spoke (off the record) and of the two, suave Tom Dewey went over best.

>Minority Leader Martin took advantage of the week's lull in foreign excitement to bring out a twelve-point program for Business Recovery. Amounting to a platform nucleus for 1940, Joe Martin's planks included: "Keep the U. S. out of war"; curb spending; revise deterrent taxes; curtail the President's monetary powers (see p. 77); amend the Wagner Act; rehabilitate the railroads. A major effort by Joe Martin's House Republicans last week to discontinue the President's power to decrease further the dollar's gold content was defeated 225 to 158. >Received last week by many a Republican politico was a "teaser" postcard setting forth magnificent qualifications for the "logical Republican candidate for President." It was followed by a card naming "the man who fulfills ALL requirements!!!!" The man named: Senator Henry Styles Bridges of New Hampshire.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.