The Press TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1950. U.S. Election

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26263, 7 November 1950, Page 6

The Press TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1950. U.S. Election

The eighty-second Congress of the United States will be elected today; the eighty-first Congress will return for a short “ lame duck ” session at the end of this month to consider taxation legislation deferred when it adjourned on September 23 for the election campaign: and the new Congress will meet in January. Thirty-six of the 96 Senate seats will be filled, and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives. At present the Democrat Party has control of both Houses. If the Republicans are to win both, as they did in the mid--term elections of 1946. they need a net gain of seven seats in the Senate and 47 in the House of Representatives. After experiences in 1948.’few American political observers are keen to appear sure beforehand about the result* of another American election: but none sees signs of the abnormal swing away from the Democrats that would be necessary to give the Republicans control of either House. It might have been different had the war in Korea continued to go as badly as in the early stages. Criticism of the Administration cannot be expressed this time by a vote against the Presidency itself: but discontent about unpreparedness could have been visited upon Democrat Party senators and representatives. However, the ending of the first emergency in Korea has drawn the sting out of critics’ charges. Though the Republicans continue to attack the Far Eastern policy of the Truman Administration, their attacks have been blunted by President Truman’s adroit handling of General MacArthur. Further, though the action was necessary to bring unity to the Administration’s foreign policy, the President gained political points when he dropped Mr Louis Johnson from the Secretaryship of Defence and replaced him with the nation-ally-respected figure of General Marshall. The President's appointments to various offices have continued to support p bipartisan foreign policy on United Nations and European affairs, thus holding an Influential section of Republicans apart from the party’s isolationists. There is no issue between the parties either on defence or on assisting other democratic nations to defend themselves. Congress was almost unanimous in voting huge funds for these programmes; as it was in authorising compulsory military service and in giving the President powers to control production and to act against inflation. Thus, the close of the election campaign is more free of emotional and external issues than appeared possible at one time. Certainly, the party in power has little reason to fear a swing against it on these 'issues. On important, national issues the Democrats can expect to hold most of the ground won in 1948. A great deal of Mr Truman’s original programme of social legislation has still to be implemented, and there is no reason to think the bulk of the electorate has changed its feelings about it. The Republicans have fought on a necessarily negative policy; and if there is in the electorate any substantial feeling of resentment against the Administration the Republicans have failed signally, to give clear expression to it The Republicans are not a happy party, their adherents ranging from liberal internationalists to . fanatical isolationists and Commun-ist-baiters. The party’s efforts to woo the labour unions do not appear to have been very successful. It may typify the election campaign in its present state that main American interest appears to be in the Senate contest in Ohio, where Senator Taft is believed to be-in danger of losing his seat. To the 'Republican faithful he is the candidate who must win; but he is vulnerable on his foreign policy and labour relations records. It is a tribute to Senator Taft’s political stature, however, that during the campaign he , has been the chosen target of the Democrat Party’s best marksmen.