SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25548, 16 July 1948, Page 7

SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS

President Challenges Republicans

NEW LEGISLATION TO BE SOUGHT (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, July 15. Mr Truman electrified the Democratic Party’s national convention tonight, in his acceptance speech after his nomination as Presidential candidate, by announcing that he was calling a special session of Congress on July 26 to enable the Republican majority in Congress to prove its sincerity and back up its convention promises.

In one of the most forceful speeches of his career, Mr Truman attacked the Republicans, largely on domestic issues. Referring to foreign policy, he said: “The record of the Democratic Party is that it has turned the United Stz.tes away permanently from isola-

tionism and has converted the best Republicans from that policy. ‘ The United States has to accept its full responsibilities for leadership in international affairs. “I have said time and again that foreign policy should be the policy of the whole nation, and not the policy of one party or the other,” said Mr Truman. “Partisanship should stop at the water’s edge, and I shall continue to preach that throughout this whole campaign.” Mr Truman said that the Republican Party was the party of special privilege and favoured <r the privileged few and not the common everyday man.” Ever since its inception, that party had been under the control of special privilege, he said, and it had concretely proved this in the eightieth Cdngress. Mr Truman cited the Republicans’ opposition to price control and the subsequent rise in prices, and also blamed thj? Republicans for the lack of housing. anti-Labour legislation, the lack o£ an adequate minimum wage, and the failure to pass a proper tax reduction bill. Some of these failures were of major concern, such as the failure to do anything about housing and high prices, he said. It was for this reason that he was calling a special session of Congress. Mr Truman said he was going to ask Congress to pass laws to halt high prices and give aid to education. He would also ask for a national health programme, civil rights legislation, an increase in the minimum wage, and an increase in social security. “I shall ask for an adequate and decent law for displaced persons, to replace the anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic law already passed,” he said. “Now, my friends, if there is any reality behind that, the Republican platform, we ought to get some action out of the short session,” Mr Truman added. “They could do this job in 15 days if they want to do it. They're going to dodge their responsibilities. They are going to try to drag all the red herrings across the campaign. But Senator Barkley and I are not going to let them get away with it.”

CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF Report of Mutiny on U.S. Ship.— The report of a mutiny radioed by the American freighter William Carson while she was in the eastern Atlantic on Monday night was cancelled 25 minutes later, but her second message failed to reach -shore stations. 'There is no explanation why the first message was sent out. The American tanker Hampton Roads has advised that she intercepted both messages while she was near the William Carson. The tanker went alongside the freighter 35 minutes after the first message and found no signs of disorder.—New York, July 14. Attempted World Trip in Amphibian. —Major Ben Carlin, an Australian, and his American bride, have sailed from New York again in their 18ft amphibian for the Azores on the first leg of their proposed round the world trip. They made an attempt to cross the Atlantic last month, but defective steering gear forced them back. They plan to finish the trip in six months. —New York, July 14. Four Believed Killed in Crash.—The crew of four is believed to have been killed when a British Dakota from Malta crashed in the sea near Toulon. There were no passengers aboard. French aeroplanes and warships have begun a search for the Dakota, which was owned by the British Overseas Airways Corporation. Gendarmerie headquarters at Toulon said that the Dakota, which was flying in a thick fog, hit a 1200 ft cliff. Fire destroyed the aeroplane.—London, July 14.