Evening star., 1932-10-06
How Press Viewed Speech
Editorial Comment Generally Agrees Hoover Made
Able Plea in address at Des Moines-President
Seen in New Light.

from future panics and depression,
what was it? Then Mr.. Hoover pro-
ceeded to outline and elaborate gov
ernmental program to save the farmers,
as II whatsoever Government has done
for the farmers in the past had not
increased their embarraSsmentS ana
sorrows.
Louisville Courier -Journal-It is the
desperate defense of a man at bay
which, in most particulars falls short
because those to whom it was addressed
know, from unhappy experience. now
short it falls 1t may be summarized
as flamboyantly preposte-ous in It's
claim of what the speaker has done
for the depression, as ridiculously pre-
posterous in its prophesies OF what
would have happened If he had not
done it. as recklessly audacious IN tell
ing the farmers that he proposed to save
them by continuing his farm rehel"
policy, which everybody knows has mis-
erably failed; its one striking feature
as a campaign effort being its no
quarter attack on the Democrats OF
Congress.
Arkansas Gazette-As a campaign in
strument, the speech lacked compelling
and dramatic appeal, because 1t was
encyclopedia in character and overly
exhaustive. The Republican candidate
is said to have been warned that ne
must take the ball away from his op-
ponent. He could have done that, II at
all, only by stroke SO clean-cut, SO
definite and so powerful that its mark
would have been plainly left for all the
Nation to see. His Des Moines effort
was. instead. general failing OF
Democracy-on the one hand. an ON
nibus indictment and, on the other,
a mail order catalogue Of auto-approval
and graduation.
MIDDLE WEST.
Detroit Free Press-Multitudes who
listened to the President on TUESDAY
evening must have confessed to them
selves then, if never before, that this
Nation has been singularly blessed py
fortune in having such man as her
bert Hoover in the White House at
time of unexampled storm ana penn.
The speech was revelation Of straight
forward, rugged and devoted states
manship. and of courage which meets
every issue squarely in two-fisted
way, chin up and eyes looking into the
face of the enemy Surely the Amer
ican people cannot be cold or umre-
sporsive to its appeal, its warning ana
its challenge.
Des Moines Register-The new things
in the Presidents declarations on agrl-
culture-the most important new things
were the promise to seek legislation
enabling the Federal Land Banks TO
reflnance farm mortgages with conslo-
erable freedom and the promise TO
trade of for farm markets part OF the
foreign war debts. 1t may take some
days to digest the full meaning of these
two new proposals. They cannot but
be considered as very important ones.
Omaha World Herald-He was par
ticularly impressive in his recital OF the
menaceS attending the depression and
the methods adopted to combat them
after the calamity had come upon us.
In these passages the President
was obviously at home with his sub
ject. This was by long odds the
most effective portion of his plea. When
it comes to its promises for the future,
Mr.. Hoover's appeal falls singularly
fiat. 1t is barren of promise SO
barren of effectiveness.
Kansas City Journal -Post-The jour-
ney of President Hoover to Iowa and
his speech in Des Moines should prove
beneficial to the Republican cause, not
because his pronouncements upon the
farm problem hold promise of imme-
diate solutions, but because the trip
revealed the President to the country
in a new light. The people admire
a fighter and the Iowa trip has shown
them Hoover, who if beaten,
will net take the licking lying down.
It is in this light, and this light
oJono thot EnOypr gnnpph must no
weighed.
Minneapolis Tribune-The President
revealed a tremendous grasp OF
those difficulties, domestic and interna-
tional, which lie at the heart Of the
farm problem as we know it today. He
evinced, beyond a shadow Of doubt. not
only deep and warm sympathy with
the millions of our agricultural popula-
ton who are held in the cruel wise of
depression. but an amazingly thorough
understanding of agriculture's pressing
needs.
ST. Louis Globe Democrat-On the
whole, this speech sets new tempo
in the Republican campaign. 1t re-
veals the President in fighting trim,
able and willing to attack as well as
to defend Moreover, he appeals
now to the emotions and to the SELL
interest of the people, and especially to
the farmers, in terms OF common un-
derstanding. He has made his per-
sonality more vivid and his conduct
and aims more clear. That all this will
greatly enliven the campaign from now
on is not to be doubted.
FAR WEST.
Los Angeles Times-The speech OF
President Hoover at Des Moines, con-
trasted with that of Gov. Roosevelt at
Topeka, gives the best opportunity that
has yet been afforded in this campaign
for a comparison of the capabilities OF
the two men, of their qualifications for
the post which both seek. The con-
trast is as sharp as between sunshine
and fog. In the Presidents speech
there is a plan, clear and definite, spe-
cif1c and concrete. already In operation