Oldster v. Pundit

Dour, white-haired old Allen Towner Treadway has represented Massachusetts' First District in Congress for 29 of his 74 years. Banker, insurance-company director, hotel owner, Treadway has been an able peacetime servant of his constituents, has well served the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers as an unofficial watchdog on tax legislation. His knowledge of tax matters is profound and broad.

Last week a younger man, a scholar, editor, lecturer, challenged Oldster Treadway's right to sit longer in Congress, accused conservatives of killing the Republican Party. Pundit Raymond Leslie Buell announced that he would run on a one-plank platform: What is wrong with the membership of Congress and what can be done to improve it?

Wrong it is, said Chicago-born, Princeton-trained Ray Buell, to worry about X cards, pensions, pressure groups instead of trying to speed up war work, plan for the peace. "If the members of Congress continue to play politics, this war is bound to last longer than necessary. If the next Congress bungles the job of post-war recovery, unemployment will be greater even than in the '30s. Congress must become revitalized and strengthened. Many voters fear that the Republican Party is slowly dying. This argument cannot be met by the passage of resolutions. It can be met by sending to Congress a number of younger and more alert Republicans, with clear-cut convictions on world and social problems."

Buell has devoted most of his 46 years to foreign affairs, knows the world well. His background: Harvard teacher; president of the Foreign Policy Association; chairman of the FORTUNE Round Table; faculty member at Occidental, Princeton, Columbia, New School of Social Research; traveler; student. History in the next century, he believes, will be determined by U.S. activities in the next few years. Meanwhile, the histories of Messrs. Buell and Treadway, as well as that of the First Massachusetts District, will be determined in a ding-dong scramble in the next nine weeks. Last week Amateur Politico Buell seemed to have at least a 50-50 chance.

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