"Whose Yea is Yea . . ."

In 1940 the Christian Century came out against President Roosevelt. Dr. Charles Clayton Morrison, quiet, bespectacled editor of this liberal Protestant weekly, wrote that the basic issue was Term III. Last week, the Christian Century came out for Tom Dewey, again seeing one basic issue. The issue, said the Century, is the "comparative moral stature of the two candidates."

Said the Century: "We regard this issue as the one which undercuts all political issues, because it concerns the moral health of the nation. . . . The spirit of cynicism is undermining the moral foundations of our democracy. And we have suggested that any searching diagnosis of the numerous sources from which this poisonous infection has spread would have to include the success of a policy of dissimulation by which one man has kept himself at the head of our government for twelve years. From the very beginning Mr. Roosevelt has used deception as a major political strategem, until today he has lost the moral confidence of the nation. Even in the ranks of those blocs which represent his followers his support rests, not upon their confidence in their integrity, but upon the cynical assurance that he will serve their interest."

The Century feels that this "poison of cynicism" can be eliminated only by new leadership, thus supports Dewey, who "has already given high promise that he matches this crying need of the hour."

Concluded the Century: "The nation . . . at this juncture desperately needs a president whose yea is yea and whose nay is nay."

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