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Show Bruckart's Washington Digest War Is Likely to Be an Issue In National Political Campaign President's Projected Trip at Time of Republican Convention May Provide Chance to 'Air' U. S. Foreign Policy. By WILLIAM BRUCKART WNU Service, National Press BIdg., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. Whether we like it or not, it is now almost certain that the national government policy with relation to Europe's war will become an issue in the forthcoming national political campaign. None can measure yet how great or how small a part this issue will have in the electioneering on the hustings, but I am afraid everyone has to agree that the subject is going to 'figure in the campaign. I If proof were needed of the state-Iment state-Iment above, one has only to look into the announcement that President Presi-dent Roosevelt has chosen the lat-jter lat-jter part of June for a trip to the 1 Pacific coast and return. He said, in making the announcement of his plans, that he was going to talk generally on "conservation." A wag in the press conference that day asked: "conservation of what?" The answer was a hearty Roosevelt laugh. The Roosevelt announcement quite naturally set political tongues to wagging at a great rate. Whether it was so planned or not, the early part of Mr. Roosevelt's projected trip and he says he is sure to make the trip unless the European war conditions or failure of congress to adjourn serve to prevent will put him Into the newspaper headlines just as the Republican national convention con-vention gets into full swing at Philadelphia. Phila-delphia. Of course, I would not accuse ac-cuse Mr. Roosevelt of trying to steal the show, but I do recall that he shared front-page space with a Republican Re-publican convention once before. The President's planned trip which he says was carried over in the nature of a postponement from last year when international conditions condi-tions were hot includes a visit to, and dedication of, the Great Smoky Mountains National park in North that whatever the purposes of the President's Western trip may be, he is likely to talk about foreign affairs to some extent; and whatever what-ever he says will be snapped up by opposition. The Republican leadership seems to sense the trend of events. None of those with whom I have talked are certain just what the President will do with the opportunity he has made for himself by injecting the Western trip into the midst of their convention. They do not know what to expect, but they are looking for something from the Roosevelt leadership lead-ership that will have to be met as a campaign issue. This uncertainty may be one of the real reasons that the Republicans are planning a pre-convention meeting. meet-ing. They are going to have some of the important figures meet in Philadelphia a week ahead of the convention and these fellows will try to iron out a lot of differences. How far they will get depends upon the willingness of the bigwigs to make concessions to each other. For instance, Alf Landon and Colonel Knox, the 1936 presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively, re-spectively, broached the idea of a preconvention meeting. Colonel Knox came into Washington, talked with quite a few Republicans around the Capitol and offered the idea of a pre-convention meeting. But Colonel Knox happened to miss John Hamilton, the Republican national chairman. The chairman and the bombastic colonel did not share secrets se-crets on the proposal, as far as I can learn. Hamilton Wants Delegations Picked Early as Possible Scarcely had the Landon-Knox idea been blazoned across the sky when Mr. Hamilton announced that he had written all members of the Republican national committee and Carolina and Tennessee; a dedication dedica-tion of the Natchez-to-Nashville highway high-way and a visit to Natchez, Miss.; a visit to his son, Elliott, in Fort Worth, Texas; a visit to the San Francisco exposition, and then a dedication of the Olympic National park, in the state of Washington. President May Visit Alaska If War Condition Permits In addition, Mr. Roosevelt may go to Alaska. Whether he makes that trip depends entirely upon conditions condi-tions in Europe, he has explained. There was no mention of the plans for the trip back to the Capitol. The return journey, however, obviously will take the President through the Middle West. It is in those areas that his conservation and trade agreement program have had the hardest sledding. The farm vote in those sections is admittedly in a position where it can upset or reestablish re-establish New Deal control in the forthcoming elections. Since there is no politics in the trip only conservation con-servation and a vacation for the President it must not be assumed that the President has an eye squinted squint-ed to see what the situation is. To get back to the foreign policy question, however, it ought to be recalled that Mr. Roosevelt has asserted, as-serted, time after time, that the United States is going to stay out of the wars in Europe and Asia by "policies short of war." What those policies are have not been put out in too much detail, and there are people peo-ple who want to know more about them. It is never to be forgotten that the American people are easy to arouse. Their sympathies are quick. There certainly has been an earnest, an unqualified demand, that the United States stay out that the war is Europe's war and must be kept over there. On the other hand, there are a substantial number of people who think that Europe's war is America's Ameri-ca's war. They believe that if Hitler Hit-ler wins this war, the Western hemisphere hem-isphere will be the next on his list I think that school of thought is wrong, but anyway that is the nature na-ture of some of the talk. 'Policies Short of War' Should Be Defined It appears unthinkable that Mr. Roosevelt, or any other person, would dare to propose measures that would take the United States into the conflagration. But these "policies short of war" may be only steps not deliberate steps, but mistaken steps. There are differing opinions all ready on what has been done. Thus, it seems fairly clear JOHN D. HAMILTON The bombastic colonel 'happened to miss him.' all state chairmen about a preconvention precon-vention meeting. He urged the state delegations, especially, to elect their members of the convention resolutions resolu-tions committee the platform committee com-mittee ahead of time. He wanted them to assemble early and save "an appreciable amount of time" of the convention by working out the platform in advance. These plans are similar in intent. Moreover, they are grounded largely large-ly in the same soil, namely, uncertainty uncer-tainty about the meaning of the Roosevelt "policies short of war." For instance, "policies short of war" might include loans to the allied powers if Hitler gets them backed up against the wall and their need for money forces an appeal to this country. The Republicans, as far as I can figure out, do not wish any part of any further loans because it was the Wilson administration that made the loans in the first World war and those loans have not been paid. But whatever the Republican position, there seems no reason at all to doubt that the weather eye of the Republicans is going to be set on the Roosevelt policies. There will be other things, too, about which they obviously will complain, but every move of the present administration is being closely watched and will continue to be watched right up to adjournment of the Philadelphia convention. All of these factors have a bearing, bear-ing, as well, upon the third term question. Most people will recall Woodrow Wilson's campaign slogan of "he kept us out of war." That campaign slogan is being recalled more and more as the heat of the 1940 campaign increases. The Roosevelt western trip has added fuel to the flames in a really big way. I have taken the position consistently consist-ently that it is Europe's war and that we have no reason whatsoever to get into it. But the changing events the lightning strikes by Hitler Hit-ler the desecration and destruction of entire nations by the German armies are affecting our nation's foreign policies right now. It is unfortunate, un-fortunate, but true. Affecting our policies as the situation does, those conditions apparently are going to influence our domestic politics, much as most of us hoped the circumstance cir-cumstance could be avoided by some means or another. |