A “BEA T ROOSEVELT” CRY RALLIES THE REPUBLICANS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20653, 29 June 1935, Page 10

A “BEA T ROOSEVELT” CRY RALLIES THE REPUBLICANS.

Slipping of Present Administration: . Light Breaks on the Opposition.

By

H. J. Haskell.

(Editor of the “Kansas City Star.”)

“ The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them

hath the light shined.” Thus spake the prophet Isaiah long ago to the encouragement of the people of Judah, who had been left, the prophet said, “as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.” His words might apply with equal force to the Republicans of the United States to-day. Until the opening of the present Congress they certainly had been left as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. They had been Walking in darkness, and dwelling in the land of the shadow of death.

But in the last few weeks they have begun to see a great light. On them hath the light shined. So they are all cheered up.

'J’HEY ARE STILL blinking their eyes, however, and wondering whether the light will last, or will go out, leaving them still in darkness. The writer has no prophet’s license. All he can hope to do is to examine as objectively as possible the situation as it exists to-day, leaving the reader to guess along with the Republican leaders at Washington. The present Republican cheerfulness so soon after the debacle of the November elections is based primarily on the noticeable slipping in President Roosevelt’s popularity, as shown in certain minor elections in Michigan and Maine, in Democratic dissension in Congress, in open criticism of administration policies, in the growing interest in such radicals as Iluey Long and Father Coughlin. In particular the Long-Coughlin portent gives hope to the G.O.P. It figures on the thirteen and one-half million Republican votes cast in the gloom of last November, without leadership, without funds, without organisation, as the “ irreducible minimum ” of Republican strength. If there should be some accession of disaffected Democrats, and especially if a radical third party could nip off 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 left wing Roosevelt supporters, the Republicans believe they would have a swell chance next year. The Democratic reply is that there is no certainty a third party will be organised; besides, in the face of a left wing threat the moderate voters would flock to Roosevelt as the surest way to defeat a radical third party movement. The Republicans generally discount this argument on the ground that New Deal policies are alienating the moderates and they will turn to a rejuvenated G.O.P. Broken Crockery on the Floor.

Some slipping of the administration in the middle of its term is not unusual. As one observer has remarked, by that time there is so much broken crockery on the floor and so many fellows have got their feet cut, there always is a rumpus. In the case of the Roosevelt administration this sort of trouble inevitably has been accentuated. The President’s spectacular achievements, the ending of the banking crisis, the relief to debtors, the war on child labour and sweat shops, the restoration of the nation’s shattered morale, the jarring of the country out of bad ruts, have faded into the past. Small business men are contemplating what has happened to them under the N.R.A/ The South is uneasy over the loss of foreign markets for cotton and the expansion of cotton growing in Brazil. Industrialists are worrying over the extent of Government interference in business and over the possibility of inflation. Labour leaders are not happy. Grave abuses in the administration of relief are becoming apparent in many communities. People are beginning to pay attention to the vast spending programme and are asking how it is to be paid for. The cumulative effect of this disaffection is showing itself in Congress and has put fresh life into the G.O.P. The President has set for himself an extremely difficult and possibly hazardous task. A moderate liberal—or a liberal conservative—he has attempted, as he has said,

to follow a course a little left of centre. He has attempted to keep both sides happy, the moderate rights and the moderate lefts. A Dangerous System. The danger of this middle-of-the-road system is obvious. The President risks alienating the left without really reassuring the right. So long as the President retains the confidence of the great mass of the people, so long as they believe his leadership promises to bring the country out of the depression, they will make allowances for mistakes, even for major blunders. But, suppose there should be little recovery after three years of the administration. Suppose the number of persons on relief should remain at its present height or increase. Suppose, especially, there should be an inflationary rise in prices that would bring home to the public that it must pay for costly experimentation through a higher cost of living. Then Mr Roosevelt might find himself in real danger. In this situation what have the Republicans to offer? Obviously they have no outstanding leader. Ex-President Hoover, the most conspicuous member of the G.0.P.. insists to his friends he is not a candidate. If he were, he is too closely identified ill the pul tic mind with the disaster of the depression to be available. There is a general feeling, even in the East, that the party must be reorganised from the Middle West and the candidate should come from the same region. The three most conspicuous Middle Westerners are Vandenberg, Landon and Knox. Just now the odds favour one of these three. Beat Roosevelt. Considering its weakness in leadership, the G.O.P. is consoled with the reflection that an overturn next year would be due primarily to a tremendous swing against the present administration. It would be a “No” vote against Roosevelt rather than a “Yes” vote for an opposition candidate. This happened conspicuously in the election of Harding in 1920 and of Roosevelt himself in 1932. Essentially the G.O.P. 193 G platform will be embodied in two words, “ Beat Roosevelt,” just as in 1932 the Democratic platform was “ Beat Hoover.” On the “ Beat Roosevelt ” platform all Republicans and many outside elements would agree enthusiastically. Right here lies a danger. The big utility interests and the reactionary influences of Wall Street might all come whooping in with a big noise and so alienate the mass of moderate voters who sympathise with Roosevelt’s purposes, but believe his policies have failed. There is the added difficulty that the New Deal has developed a vast political machine of alphabetical employees, and the President will have two billion or three billion dollars to spend next year. Can the millions of voters now on relief be persuaded to vote for an opposition that pledges itself to strict economy in Governmental spending? In the light of all these hard facts the G.O.P. can only hope against hope that the present great light shining upon’ it may not flicker out in 193 G. (N.A.N.A. Copyright.)