The Dewey Week

At Albany Tom Dewey withheld comment on Franklin Roosevelt's acceptance speech. But he tossed a grenade at the President's most aggressive supporters, the C.I.O.'s Political Action Committee.

P.A.C. had charged that Governor Dewey deliberately made it difficult, even impossible, for New York members of the Armed Forces to vote by refusing to ap prove the Federal War Ballot. In reply Tom Dewey hammered two points: 1) the Federal War Ballot, which provides a place to vote only for the President, Vice President and members of Congress, would not be valid in New York because the State Constitution specifies that every candidate running must be listed; 2) it is easy for a soldier to vote under the Dewey-sponsored law. Federal law requires that each soldier & sailor shall be handed a postcard application for the bal lot. All he has to do is send this to Albany and he will receive his ballot.

Tom Dewey added: "This is the simplest application form of any state in the Union. . . ./- It is time this campaign of deceit was labeled and exposed." Not This Time. Then Candidate Dewey settled back to quiet, careful building of his campaign. He indicated that he was going to make reconversion a major issue by announcing that, on his way to the conference of Republican Governors which he has called in St. Louis, he would stop over in Pittsburgh for reconversion talks with businessmen and labor leaders.

Another Dewey campaign attitude was hinted at by able, internationalist Representative James Wadsworth of New York, who emerged from a long talk with the Governor to say: "We discussed methods of making this country strong and keeping it strong, in a military sense, after the war."

"Truman, Isn't It?" Candidate Dewey stayed noncommittal on two ticklish subjects. Eric Johnston, just back from Russia, went to Albany bubbling with enthusiasm over close commercial relations with Russia after the war. Tom Dewey listened intently, said nothing for the record. Asked whether the labor leaders he would see in Pittsburgh included

John L. Lewis (last week his United Mine Workers came out for Dewey), the candidate said: "My plans are not definite yet."

Then he was off for another working weekend at his Pawling farm. The only break for relaxation was his regular weekly 18 holes of golf (see cut). He shot a 94. The rest of the time was given to plans for the Governors' Conference, which he will go over with John Bricker this week. Just before leaving for New York, Candidate Bricker made the first comment of the Dewey-Bricker team on the Democratic Convention. Said he, scratching his brow: "Truman--that's his name, isn't it? I never can remember that name."

/- Equally simple: 29 other states.

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