The Stew Is On

The political pot boiled higher, noisier.

P: Multimillionaire G.O.P. Oilman Joe Pew, political promoter who usually lets his money talk, made the first political speech of his career last week in Philadelphia. Said he: "We are going to see the greatest Republican sweep in history, from one end of the country to the other." He put doubtful Pennsylvania solidly into the Dewey column, adding: "President Roosevelt is not campaigning for himself, but for Senator Harry Truman, who he hopes to make the next President of the U.S. We will never stand for this."

P: Vice President Henry Wallace paid $1, joined the C.I.O.'s P.A.C. at a Democratic rally in Indianapolis. Said he, waving the receipt: "Now I hold . . . a membership in the great order of the common man."

P: The New York Times, which opposed Term III, this week declared for Term IV--"with deep reluctance and strong misgivings, and solely as being justified by the alternatives actually presented to us in a year of war and crises." But, added the Times "The great prestige and personal following among the plain peoples of the world which [Franklin Roosevelt] has won with his war leadership might easily prove in itself to be one of the most important cohesive forces binding together a new world organization in its first experimental years."

P: The Beverly Hills Citizen came out for Dewey. Publisher of the Citizen: New Dealing Will Rogers Jr., who resigned as a Democratic Congressman to go overseas with the Army.

P: The New York Age, a conservative Harlem newspaper which in 60 years of Republicanism has only once supported a Democrat for President (Roosevelt in 1932), declared for Roosevelt. Said the Age: "Negroes have made too much progress in their fight for first-class citizenship under President Roosevelt to trust the future to Thomas E. Dewey."

P: In Manhattan, George Herman ("Babe") Ruth, 50, intending to vote for the first time in New York, hastened to P.S. 9, passed his literacy test, said he would vote for Dewey. Said the Babe, who played baseball 21 years: "I don't think anyone is good enough for 16 years."

P: Roosevelt continued to be the betting favorite: bettors backing Dewey risked $1 to win $2.50; those backing Roosevelt risked $3 to win $1-- with actual wagering light, and Roosevelt money in greater supply.

P: In Cleveland, P.A.C. Boss Sidney Hillman praised the late Wendell Willkie, added: "Had not Wendell Willkie been eliminated by the Old Guard Republicans, we would not have endorsed Mr. Roosevelt for the Fourth Term. The P.A.C. would not have made any endorsement." But Hillman scoffed at charges that P.A.C. wants to take over the Democratic Party. Said he: "We not only would not take it over, they could not force it on us."

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