Steamroller in Texas

For two bitter days last week, the political eyes of the U.S. were upon Texas, where the G.O.P. was trying to decide whether the state's 38 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Chicago would be for Taft or Eisenhower.

To settle things, 12,000 Republicans squeezed into Mineral Wells (pop. 7,763) for the state convention. The resort town's motto, "Rest & Relax," mocked the tense and tussling delegates. Thirty-one of the state's 254 counties, including most of the populous cities (e.g., Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth), had sent two rival delegations apiece. In all, 519 of the 1,060 seats in the convention were in dispute.

Rout & Rump. The convention was the climax of a struggle between enthusiastic Eisenhower supporters and the pro-Taft Old Guard. The Ikemen, rallied by Houston Oilman Jack Porter, had turned out in record-breaking numbers for the precinct caucuses and county conventions. They had routed the Taftmen and carried the day for Ike. But the Old Guard, behind National Committeeman Harry Zweifel, had bolted, held its own rump sessions, and named slates of pro-Taft delegates in the 31 counties. Zweifel & Co. desperately wanted to keep their grip on their "private-club" Republican organization, which they had controlled for years. Although every Ikeman had signed a Zweifel-designed Republican pledge, the Old Guard charged they were Democrats and Independents in disguise, just "one-night Republicans."

"The Right & Just Thing." Now, both sides were to tell their stories to the Republican State Executive Committee in the sunlit ballroom atop Mineral Wells' Baker Hotel. The Ikemen had their guard up, for the committee was known to be strongly pro-Taft.

Malcolm McCorquodale, an earnest lawyer from Houston, set the pattern of the Ikemen's plea. Said he: "For 20 years we Republicans have extended a welcome to all Democrats to join the Republican Party and make Texas a two-party state. On May 6, history was made. We had more people attending our conventions than the Democrats had, and you all know that we should be glad to get them. The struggle to exclude these newcomers is led by a few leaders who don't want them . . . The issue is simple honesty . . ."

Orville Bullington, executive committee chairman, was full of assurances. Said he: "This committee will give the most careful consideration to both sides, and it intends to do the right and just thing." With that, the committee went to work.

Mrs. Stearns1 Walk. The stories of what had happened at the precinct and county level fell into a definite pattern. Harris County (Houston) was typical. Among the pro-Taft rump sessions was one in the home precinct of the Zweifel National Committeewoman, Mrs. Carl C. Stearns. After a big majority of the 175 voters at the regular caucus went for Ike, Mrs. Stearns, her husband and 25 other Taft supporters walked out and held their own clambake. This and other rump sessions in the precincts brought about contests for 69 delegate seats at the Harris County convention. But 146 pro-Eisenhower and 19 pro-Taft delegates were not contested. Even if all contests were settled in favor of Taft, Eisenhower could still have a margin of 146 to 88. Republican County Chairman Joe Ingraham, a fair-minded Taftman, conceded defeat, joined in electing a pro-Eisenhower delegation to the state convention.

But Mrs. Stearns was still walking. She had run a newspaper advertisement inviting her friends to attend the county convention. When the Ike delegation was named, she, her husband and her ad-answering friends strolled out, held their own county convention, named their own pro-Taft delegation. Now Mrs. Stearns & friends were demanding seats in the state convention.

Barrelhousing. After sitting from 10:30 a.m. one day until 6:45 a.m. the next hearing Harris County's case and 30 others much like it, the state committee was ready to act. By that time Chairman Bullington, who had said he would conduct "right & just" hearings, expressed a different view to a reporter. Said he: "They'll barrelhouse 'em through. Whoever controls the committee can always barrelhouse 'em through. You'll see, it'll be the same at Chicago."

They barrelhoused 'em through. Of the 519 contested delegates, the committee seated only 30 Ikemen, gave the rest to Taft. That afternoon, the pro-Taft Credentials Committee went further, giving 21 more seats to Taft. Then the convention voted 762-222 to confirm the Credentials Committee's seating. Mrs. Stearns and the other 509 contested Taft delegates were permitted to vote to seat themselves; an equal number of contested Ike delegates were not allowed to vote.

With that, most of the Ikemen rose and marched out of the Municipal Auditorium. His steamroller-now racing along in high, Boss Zweifel seized the microphone and gloated: "It's wonderful to see you real, wonderful, outstanding, 100% American Republicans out there before me." The convention named an "uninstructed" delegation to the National Convention, but 30 members were for Taft, four for Eisenhower, four leaning toward General Douglas MacArthur.

In the community center across the street, Ikemen raised bitter placards reading "Rob With Bob" and "Graft with Taft." Then they opened their own convention with a prayer by the Rev. N. O. Carrington: "We like Ike. God likes Ike. We will nominate and elect him." Shouting Ike instead of aye, the Ikemen instructed their own delegation to the National Convention to cast 33 votes for Ike and five for Taft (from the districts that he really won). Before they adjourned, Harris County Chairman Ingraham shamefacedly walked in to say "I regret the type of campaign that has been waged for Mr. Taft in Texas . . . His Texas men have stolen, misrepresented, and have been dishonorable."

Unshared Disgust. The top men of the Taft organization didn't seem to share Ingraham's disgust. Campaign Manager David Sinton Ingalls, who with Southern Strategist B. Carroll Reece had been in Mineral Wells through it all, said: "We can't have Democrats telling us who to nominate." Bob Taft said the factional fight in Texas existed long before the

Taft-Eisenhower struggle began, but "we helped bring it to a head."

This week, as politicians and pundits mulled over what happened in Texas, many had doubts whether the points are that strong in Taft's favor. To seat their Texas delegation in Chicago, the Taft forces will have to drag a spectacle ^of machine control and backroom politics right down before the glare of television cameras and the eyes of 1,800 reporters. Taftmen control the Republican National Committee and probably will have a majority of the Credentials Committee (see box), but when the credentials fight gets to the convention floor, Taft will need a cast-iron grip on his delegates to keep some from repudiating the Texas steal.

-The term steamroller was applied in U.S. politics in 1912, when President William Howard Taft, with organization support much like his son has in 1952, rolled over ex-President Theodore Roosevelt in the Republican National Convention at Chicago. As the Taft machine crunched ahead, Clark Grier, a Roosevelt delegate from Georgia, rose and shouted: "The steamroller is exceeding the speed limit."

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