THE ELECTION IN AMERICA

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21806, 11 June 1936, Page 13

THE ELECTION IN AMERICA

FRAMING REPUBLICAN PLATFORM CONDEMNATION OF LOWER TARIFFS i RESISTANCE TO MR LANDON NOW USELESS (UNITED PRESS .ASSOCIATION- COPYRIGHT.) (Received June 10, 8.30 p.m.) CLEVELAND, June 9. The Republican Convention, at opening sessions to-day, simply ganised itself, selected Senator Steiwer as temporary chairman, and made ready within the next 60 hours to ratify the decisions of the leaders and managers in the choice of candidates and the party platform. More than 15,000 persons crowded into the vast auditorium, which was ablaze with lights and noisy with-. ! the blare of half a dozen bands. The usual mixture of gravity and high spirits was displayed by the delegates. The gathering was opened by a Washington clergyman, who asked God “to protect us _ from greed and social irresponsibility, J and warned his listeners solemnly 1 of the consequences of allowing the ! poor and young to be ground down by depression;- but he was immediately followed by a quartet which sang medleys, the principal ingiedi cut of which was a bass which was so low that the floor of the hail trembled, and caused the audience to laugh. The crowd was colourful most state delegations wearing the article of raiment for which the j state is known. ' Women made up a great part of the occupants of the auditorium, but their presence in such large numbers only emphasised the diminishing importance of the role of women m party affairs. At this convention they have been absorbed increasingly into the administrative machinery of the narty, but apparently have less voice in the determination of pohcy. The inconspicuous part played by women in framing the platform is indicative of this, as is “the fact that the movement to get the Republican party to approve constitutional amendment to pev lit the regulation of the wages and hours of women and minors in industry is being led by linen. I I The Main Planks j The convention is apparently con(vinced of the ineffectiveness of' ef- | forts to defeat Mr Landon. The other leading aspirants, chiefly Colionel Knox and Senator Borah, are j now concentrating their strength in an effort to influence the platform, principally the five chief items— j monopoly' in industry, money, foreign affairs, agriculture, and foreign trade. It seems unquestioned that a plank strongly condemning monopoly will be agreed on. Extreme neutrality in foreign affairs, and the condemnation- of trade agreements which reduce tariff rates, are also likely to be accepted, and some form of general bounty for agriculture is expected. The money plank, however, is producing the greatest difficulty. Conservative banking interests of the east will have little say in framing this, for it was decided to-day not to allow Mr Ogden Mills, Secretary of the Treasury in Mr Hoover’s administration, a place on the resolutions committee which will draft it. Senator Borah has announced that I he will take the floor in the con-1 venbnji with his own drafts of the planks if those being drawn fail to satisfy him. j Colonel Knox, in a statement this afternoon, said that he did not want a “blank power of attorney.” He wanted a platform without a single I ambiguity. Anything else led to dictatorship. The “old guard” of the Republican party was fighting desperately to have- some voice in the pa: ty’s affairs this year, but the concerns of both candidate and platform seemed likely to he frustrated. New Deal Attacked The severest condemnation of any feature of the New Deal was the attack launched to-night by Senator Steiwer against Mr Roosevelt’s foreign trade treaty programme. The address was bitter and extreme, but nowhere bitterer than in its disapi proval of “trade bargaining rampant.” “Under this head,” he said, “one of the fundamentals of established national policy is tariff protection of efficient American production. America does not propose to destroy the opportunity of our citizens by surrendering this protection. The Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act has increased the sale in .our markets of goods produced by aliens, which our producers could have supplied. Agreements have been negotiated right and left with shrewd foreign traders, who reduced the rates on articles which they desire to import into their countries, whereas the Administration’s pretended good neighbour policy resulted in American reduction of duty on agricultural, dairy, and forest products, of which we already had a surplus. The net result is a downward revision of the tariff, which has seriously impaired our American system of protection. We must realise that the Administration’s hope of rescue in the world at our expense has injured American industries and agriculture, and has added to unemployment, destitution, and want.

“The combined effort of reckless and uninformed trade agreements, plus the Administration’s monetary policies,, are fast putting our nation in foreign control.”

Senator Steiwer was the last speaker. His appearance on the dais was greeted with tremendous cheering. He immediately cried: “Over three long years we have had a Government without political morality. ’ He then demanded honest money, a Government run in businesslike manner, no importation of goods which could be made or grown in the United States, prosperous agriture, competition in business, reduction in taxation, elimination of Government competition in business, and the avoidance of all foreign entanglements. There was brief applause at the conclusion, and the Convention promptly adjourned until to-morrow morning.