Evening star., 1932-10-21
Reed at Des Moines Turns
Attention to Personalities

As in other years, former Senator
Reed Of Missouri, replying in his speech
at Des Moines to President Hoover,
arouses the strong interest of both
parties, public expressions showing posi-
tive convictions for and against his
words. 1t is especially emphasized that
he has carried to the extreme the per-
sonal side of the presidential campaign.
In his long years Of public sery-
ice" says the Schenectady Gazette In
dependent Democratic), "he has earned
a reputation for frankness for fearless
ness and for the ability to act independ-
emily. whether he clashed with friend
or foe" The Gazette AYERS that after
three years of depression the Senator
shows that what has been lacking in
real leadership that any crisis de-
mands" That paper concludes: 1T
would appear, from an examination OF
Senator Reeds address, that he has,
possibly more clearly and concisely than
many other speakers, marshaled the
facts of the situation in an understand
able manner, refreshing the memories
of those who may have become con-
fused because of the many divergent
views put before them for consider
alton"
Reeds bitterness" according to the
Birmingham Age Herald Democratic)
should not affect the soundnesS of his
case. Through the skillful use of the
deadly parallel he made it quite clear
that the Presidents vaunted victory
over the depression consisted, first, in
closing his eyes to its seriousness and,
then, in constant reversals of what he
held to be sacred principles. The
,pf, fI,trc of od
ecutive. hoping against hope, until the
sheer pressure of national peril made
him the improviser of policies whose
value remains to be proved. is enor-
mously impressive. Nobody knows the
trouble I've SEEM the President cX-
planned in effect the other day. No
body but the newspaper readers Sena-
tor Reed comments. One Of the in
visible perils which the President had
to face in silence had to do with the
gold drain The fact that this was
going on was known to even super
ficially informed people. Not only that.
When the President said that this
process brought the country to the brink
Of being forced off the gold standard,
he failed to note that something like
s2,7c0.000000 in gold stood between us
and the catastrophe"
"The former Senator" in the opinion
of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Gn-
dependent Democratic), rs privileged
to claim the title of the worlds most
vitriolic prosecuting attorney" The
Texas paper remarks that there is no
manslaughter in the lexicon of his
prosecution; the culprit is guilty of pre-
meditation, whatever else the indict-
ment sets out" The TELEGRAM OBJ
serves that "he made specific CONTRA
diction to every utterance the Presi-
dent has made in defense of his ad-
ministration," and concludes: THE
President went to Des Moines for the
express purpose of accepting all pos
sible credit for ccomplishment-a most
human privilege-and to gloss over as
many as possible of the administrative
omissions and commissions that are
present reactions Of the campaign
prosperity actions Of 1928. The best
that could be hoped for the attempt
was that sympathy wave would be set
in motion for a most harassed occu-
pant of the White House who indubit-
ably has done his best within his party
lights and his governmental environ
ments. Former Senator Reed followed
him to Des Moines and removed all the
gloss by a ruthless sandpapering of
prosecuting attorney capability. About
the only hope the President may have
for any great value from his effort is
that the world-famous Woodrow Wilson
recalcitrant may have been unneces-
sarily ruthless in his 'sandpapering.
That, however, is largely hope pinch
hitting for probability. The voters Of
the suidI IlnlrAl areas A1o-in Amanne1