U.S.A. PRESIDENCY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 64, 9 December 1936, Page 13

U.S.A. PRESIDENCY

Common Folk’s Support of Roosevelt ELECTION RETROSPECT Some first-hand impressions of the American Presidential elections were given in an interview with "The Dominion” yesterday by the Rev. J. R. Blanchard, minister of St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Wellington, who returned by the Makura from San Francisco after a three-months health visit to Canada and the United States. There were two things about the election that were of particular significance, he said. President Roosevelt had received the biggest majority any Presidential candidate had ever had. ■but he also had a big minority vote against him. That showed that there was still a very strong and critical minority. Then, several forecasts were made. by people competent at that kind of thing and they were unanimous that Governor Landon would get a sweeping majority. They made their forecasts on Press advocacy and the Press favoured Landon. The result showed that the Press did not appear to have the political influence it once had in America.

"The Chicago Press, or one paper in particular, is not playing the game with New Zealand,” Mr. Blanchard said. "It stated that New Zealand is a downright Communist country, and warned the people of America that if President Roosevelt got back again America would get the kind of Communism New Zealand had. It was a blatant piece of misrepresentation,” he said. Among President Roosevelt’s reforms were old-age pensions, and great surprise was expressed when Mr. Blanchard said that they were a very old thing in Australia and New Zealand. “I was in touch with a pretty good cross-section of New York culture, and I found it sharply divided between Roosevelt and Landon. One man’s point of view was that whatever Government came into power it would have to carry out the policy Roosevelt had initiated. Mr. Blanchard said that he formed his opinion that Roosevelt would win when he mixed with the people. “I would speak to the shoe-shiner, and he said, ‘But for Roosevelt I would not have my job to-day.’ . The taxi man would say the same thing. When you came down to the folk in the ordinary walks of life you found them heartily for Roosevelt.” What affected the Canadian attitude to defence was that the people knew that the United States would not allow any alien Power to attack Canada. President Roosevelt, in a speech just before he opened his campaign, had expressed this view. There was an element in the political .situation in Canada which was very interesting —the nationalist movement of French-speaking Canadians. This was purely a language movement and did not mean that the French-speaking population was disloyal to the Empire. They were absolutely loyal. The Roman Catholic Church was very tolerant of the Protestants and very loyal to the British Empire.