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Show Washington Comment Washington's applause of a week ago was for the phenomenon of a defeated presidential candidate: candi-date: Wendell Willkie, who liver-ally liver-ally filled the front pages of the local newspapers ! The personality person-ality and the accomplishments o" the dynamic gentleman, coupled with his undeniable soundness, has zoomed him into unprecedented unprecedent-ed favor with everybody from the top-flight officials to the so-called "men in the street". With everybody, that is, but a, handful of die-hards of his own party who are watching his performance with what the well-known columnist?., colum-nist?., Messrs. Alsop and Kintner, describe as "noses out of joint, teeth on edge, and thin, sour smiles"; adding further that, "When the campaign ended, it was generally agreed among Republican Re-publican leaders of the type of Willkie was to be treated as a nine-day wonder on the tenth day"! Mr. Willkie has brilliantly demonstrated to Washington (and the country) that he had no intention in-tention of conforming to the pre-cedented pre-cedented pattern. He was the "man of the hour" all over again last week in Washington. There have been many scrambles to view-celebrities view-celebrities on Capitol parade in the history of congressional functionings, buf never such n scene as accompanied Mr. Wlll-kie's Wlll-kie's appearance at the senate hearing on the lend-lease bill. We predicted, you may remember, that it would be an "occasion", but the reality exceeded our wildest wild-est expectations. It will be many a long day before people will forget for-get the spectacle of haughty foreign diplomats and society grande elames actually Hieeling in the aisles, because the jam was So great that spectators could not see at all, if the aisle standees remained re-mained on their feet. Morning Morn-ing coats and sables rubbed elbows with humble slickers and pelts of probable back-fence origin, but the wearers had a single and communal thought: to see and hear the man who, accross all party lines, dared think fcr himself and see for himself. The air was suffocating, the waiting interminable, ladies fainted, faint-ed, photographers perched on cornices, cor-nices, impressive dowagers inevitably inevi-tably threatened restraining police with instant dismissal "when Senator Whosis hears of this"! But the star witness, Mr. Willkie, was nonchalant, bland, and unruffled un-ruffled as always. Over and above all the substantial aid he has given to the lend-lease advocates, we in Washington have to thank him for a memorable field day! The ladies of the press, who (Continued on last page) Washington Comment 'j (Continued from first page) j entertained President and Mrs. ' Roosevelt at lunch a few weeks ago, snagged Mr. Willkie for tea over i'he week-end, and, at this writing, reports are that the indefatigable inde-fatigable gentleman is thinking of embarking on a trip to China, again to "see or himself"! While the senate is haggling over the lend-lease bill, our defense de-fense preparations are going on apace. New York will experiment shortly with practice "blackouts" over limite d areas, while army engineers watch from planes, and a Gallup poll shows that residents in other states on the eastern seaboard sea-board are in favor of similar tests. Washington residents are indicating indi-cating that we shall soon require some anti-abctage .' legislation, and an old World war act, providing provid-ing penalties for destruction or damage to war materials, premises, premis-es, utilities,, is being examined; examin-ed; already, heavy additional guards have been posted at the reservoirs and aqueducts supplying supply-ing Washington's water mains. iSecretary Knox has asked congress con-gress to make it a crime to take unthorized photographs of naval reservations, ships, or equipment, with a penalty of one year's imprisonment im-prisonment and 1,000 fine. The army, reviving a World war practice, has invited mem-! bers of the senate and house com-j mititees on military affairs and appropriations to attend weekly conferences at the war depart- i ment on the progress of the arms program. At these meetings, the congressional committeemen are furnished confidential data on arms developments. It is typical of the congressional attitude that, when the arrangement was pro-j posed, some of the congressmen! indicated that they might spurn j the war department' invitation, i contending that the army officials offi-cials should come to Capitol hill , to keep congress informed of j what is happening! j |