The Grey River Argus THURSDAY, October 28, 1948 U.S.A. ELECTIONS

Grey River Argus, 28 October 1948, Page 6

The Grey River Argus THURSDAY, October 28, 1948 U.S.A. ELECTIONS

QN Tuesday next the voters of the United States will go Jo the polls. The contest on which reports would fix overseas interest is that for President, but an important issue is whether the Senate will have a Republican or a 'Democratic majority. Indications are that there will he a new President and that his party will hold its majority in the House of Representatives. For a key to these elections it seems prudent to recall the last one, which revealed a turnover of votes from the Administration to the Republican candidates. There has been meantime little indication, despite President Truman’s reported confidence, that the pendulum has swung back. Roosevelt probably went to the limit with the mandate which, for almost four terms, his party was accorded, and, in any case, there have been many signs that the New Deal is reckoned at least to require a re-shuffle. Moreover, a reaction from the Left, due to the European situation, has been evident in the United States. Governor Thomas Dewey aged 46, son of a newspaper editor, with a reputation for his campaign against racketeering in ■ New York State, when Chief Assistant Attorney, is an unusual i candidate in the respect that he already has been defeated in a ' Presidential election. It is six years since he was elected State Governor, and he since has been re-elected. His slogan is that “politics is the'life-blood of democracy”. and he is said to be a man of abnormal ambition. If elected, he certainly will face difficulties of such gravity as to give him his fill of work. President Truman, who has certainly exceeded expectations in his capacity, while not as forceful a personality as his opponent, has the drawback that sixteen years of Democratic rule at White House have naturally entailed electoral disadvantages. Dewey, whom Truman has described as a leader of reaction, will doubtless be the chosen of big business, and he has won other support by his guarantee that his party’s administration would be clean. Truman’s final resort to extreme criticism of the opposition may betoken much less confidence than he earlier professed. One thing certain, and calculated to tell for the Republicans, is that they are in general agreement on foreign policy with the Democrats. The result of the elections may somewhat hinge upon the size of the poll. While there are ninety-five million of voting age, it is anticipated that fewer than fifty-four millions may vote. A proportion arc not eligible to vote, while many are sure to neglect voting. The United States population exceeds one hundred and forty-six millions—--11 per cent, more than at the 1940 elections, when the voting was heavier than in the 1944 elections. The U.S. Census Bureau records 56.4 per cent, of the voting-age civilian population cast ballots in the 1944 race, making the total vote that year 47,976,263. The comparative percentage for 1940 was 59.4 for a total of 49,20,312. The 95,000,000 estimate for the

voting-age population on November 2 allowed for a population increase of about 250,000 a month over the Bureau’s estimate on July 1. The figure included all civilians and military service personnel—including those overseas —21 years old and more. For Georgia, it takes in 18-year-olds, as that State permits voting at that age. The Bureau figures that only around 2,000,000 of the 95,000,000 will be disqualified

from voting for lack of American citizenship. There are, in addition to Henry Wallace (whose support will be at Truman’s expense), several other candidates who arc not taken seriously. The Americans to-da\ are less taken up with academic democracy than formerly, and are inclined to question the great extension of, Federal authority under the aegis of Roosevelt and the New Deal. State rights are an issue no less than the racial antipathies of the South, lhe Constitution is a vital thing, and any powers which it does not definitely accord the central government are jealously retained by the States. Likewise the electors may be expected to be swayed more than normally by considerations of individual liberty, as compared with collectivist objectives. Such being the prevailing feeling, at the present, the Republicans are doubtless the more confident, and they may be justified in the event.