The Nome Nugget

"Liberty vs. Socialism; GOP Campaign Issue"

(By Jack Bell)

WASHINGTON, (AP)—Republicans picked "Liberty vs. Socialism" as their top 1950 campaign yesterday in a platform which Democrats promptly accused them of stealing from the administration.

In a 2,000-word statement of party policy for the Congressional campaigns, the Republicans held themselves up as the last hope of those who oppose "an all-powerful federal government with unlimited power to tax and spend."

On the domestic front, they called for a balanced budget, reduction in spending, repeal of wartime excise taxes, "improvement" of the Taft-Hartley Act, continuation of farm price props and expansion of social security benefits.

In the international field, they promised cooperation on foreign policy if they are consulted in advance on major decisions. They denounced "secret agreements" at Yalta and Potsdam, demanded Congressional checks on foreign commitments and pledged support for non-communist countries "within the total limits which the American economy can afford."

With an eye on the Alger Hiss and Klaus Fuchs cases, the Republicans deplored "the dangerous degree to which communists and their fellow travelers have been employed in important government posts and the fact that information vital to our security has been made available to alien agents and persons of questionable loyalty."

The policy declaration, approved by Republicans in the Senate and House and by members of the party's national committee, bore down on the Truman administration's Fair Deal with these words:

"Basic American principles are threatened by the administration's program for a planned economy modeled on the socialist governments of Europe, including price and wage control, rationing, socialized medicine, regional authorities and the Brannan plan with its controls, penalties, fines and jail sentences."

Bosh, Democrats replied generally, with Senator Humphrey (D.-Minn.), accusing the Republicans flatly of trying to steal the administration's program.