Affirmation by Denial?

Both before and after his 470,000-vote win over Democrat Richardson Dilworth for Governor of Pennsylvania, Republican William Scranton denied that he had any national ambitions for '64. Yet such is the contradictory language of politics that the more one denies, the more one is thought to affirm. In that sense, Scranton last week seemed to some to be heading hell-bent for '64.

"Looking Backward." On Meet the Press, Scranton criticized G.O.P. criticism of President Kennedy's action against Cuba: "I don't think it makes a lot of sense to be belittling the Cuban efforts of the President at this juncture because, at least so far, it has been successful." He was worried about his own national party: "We are always looking backward instead of looking forward." He said that as Governor he will not try to influence the votes of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation: "I, as a Congressman, rather resented it, frankly, when Governors and others told us what they thought we ought to do."

Scranton said he would not even try to control Pennsylvania's delegation to the 1964 Republican National Convention: "I feel very strongly that one of the mistakes that we have made in the past is to try to tell everybody how they should vote at a national convention." Could any Republican beat Kennedy in 1964? "I don't know about '64. I don't think any politician does, or anybody else, but if the election were today, I would say no." As for his own presidential prospects: "I think I am a practical politician, and I think anybody who wanted to be nominated should start up an organization and make an effort about it, and I have no intention of doing that."

As if to prove that he has no notion of starting an organization, Scranton also repeated his campaign promise to attack the patronage system that has made national figures out of so many past Pennsylvania Governors. This came in the course of a speech to Philadelphia's Union League, in which he outlined his general philosophy of government.

A Quart for Every Pint. "Too many," said Scranton, "simply take the line of least resistance, looking to Washington for solutions to every problem. They do not seem to realize that for every pint the national government gives in solutions, it takes a quart in authority and power. Today, for every three dollars sent by Pennsylvania to Washington as our contribution to federal aid programs, only one dollar comes back. One of the primary needs, if we are to save the federal system and permit the states the revenue to meet their own obligations, is the need for a fresh look at the division of tax revenue between the national government and the states.

"But, equally important, the states must begin to more effectively and more efficiently use the revenues they now have. Unfortunately. Pennsylvania stands today as a prime example of outmoded and inefficient state government. One item alone stands like a millstone around our neck. I refer to the mammoth spoils system--the worst in the nation. Pennsylvania must clean its own house before she can stand as a bulwark against the monster bureaucracy that daily swells larger in Washington."

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