Show IN CONGRESS UNDER GUARD washington it has been done so q quietly that only a few officials know it but congress now Is being guarded by the most elaborate police system since Worl dwar days the legislators are protected almost a as s carefully as the president the first step was taken lost last fall wa when a detail ot of G men and detectives was assi assigned anid to reinforce the capitols regular police force which Is made up chiefly of patronage appointees poin tees students working their way through school 1 then in the spring a squadron of metropolitan uniformed police was sent to the HIU hill making a total of blue coats and plainclothes men guarding senators and representatives i last week still another prot protective active i measure was taken in the form of a et of drastic regulations under which the C capitol is closed to the public daily at except when congress is in session and admittance mit tance is only by special cards guards are stationed at the subway entrances of the senate 1 and house wings to scrutinize V everyone going in and out and to examine all packages the capitols power plant is guarded 24 hours a day plainclothes men accompany ev every ery group of sightseers all persons who summon members off the floor are kept under constant surveillance A constant police vigil Is kept in the public galleries in the restaurants and at night in all corridors inside and the grou grounds ads outside one reason for these elaborate precautions is to prevent a recur j rence of the bombing that took place in the capitol prior to american en try into the last wart wan planted in a senate reception room by a pad paci college professor the bomb exploded at midnight july 2 1915 and left the chamber a shambles earlier that day the washington times received a letter from the perpetrator announcing his intention to bomb the capitol as an exclamation point joint to my appeal for peace he was arrested several days later lateral M at mineola L I 1 he committed sui 10 f clde cide in his cell SPEECH that acceptance speech wendell willkie is is writing is one of the toughest jobs hes ever tack tackled ledl it can make him or break him willkie has got to crack two of the hardest political nuts ever hand fl ed a G 0 P standard bearer the power issue and foreign policy even under normal conditions the power issue Is pure TNT particularly in the west which is strong for public power for willkie with his wall street and utility background the handling of this issue so it explode in his face is doubly delicate perhaps even more difficult is the question of foreign affairs and its closely related problem of compol 4 B sory military service on the lat ter willkie has never declared himself and the republican platform also is silent roosevelt Boo sevelt has declared for universal training alth although ough so tar far he has not expressed a view on the pending bill but his leaders are for it and its generally considered an administration measure on foreign policy particularly on aid to the british the presidents record is an open book and so was Will kies kles until he be was nominated since that moment not one word has come from him on this all im topic though he has talked daily on various other matters it leak out at the time but when willkie visited washington early last month the G 0 P iso led by senator tried to corral the new candi date and give him a big isolationist pipes sales talk warning him to pipea down on aiding the british but willkie sidestepped the bloc and they get a chance to put on the pressure note regardless of what willkie says runn running ing mate sen charles mcnary Is isolationist and pro public power he intends to say so sola in his acceptance speech la late te this month THE LaFOLLETT ES in the current pre campaign jockeying for position both republican and democratic chiefs are warily watching ins famous brothers lafollette senator bob who is up tor for election reelection re this year and ex governor phil who since his defeat two years ago has been quietly promoting a fuehrer principle kind of organization which he launched in the spring of 1938 with a lot of f fan tare fare bob Lal lafollette La Pollette lollette faces a tough bat tle tie three key voting blocs in the state are the large german sc scandinavian andl and polish groups obviously playing for the favor of the first two bob was a very active isolationist last november but this stand boomeranged boome ranged when hitler invaded the unarmed scandinavian countries so with the poles already down on him hirthe the disaffection of the scandinavians was a se artous blow there is no question ot of lafal lettes personal hostility toward hitter hitler and nazism |