Evening star., 1932-12-26

@RESIDENT HOOVER and the gr'
coast are shown in this photogra
The President is sitting second
other technical advisers were permanent
members of the Governors party. On
them had lain the duty of assembling
the data and furnishing memos for the
Governors major speeches. Experts on
subjects such as agricultural needs eco
nomic policies and the like also joined
the party from time to time.
Before the Governor left Albany he
had determined the general character OF
each ma jor speech. which made 1t pos
sible to consult with those particularly
informed on the subject next ahea3,
without trying to cover the entire field
in any one conference. In practice this
worked with the beautiful precision OF
well oiled machinery, and Gov. Roose-
welt was able to keep his mind\on the
one subject he was to talk about, leaV-
ing the next subject for discussion with
the new group Of advisers who would
join him after that speech was ended.
Never. in my belief, did nominee
have more or wiser advisers, and never
did q candidate SO definitely and finally
decide for himself what he thought
was best. irrespective of what any men
or groups Of men of his advisory group
recommended
Those who know Governor Roosevelt
we'll know he has an uncanny gift of
knowing good advice when he hears it,
and his judgment as to whether 1t is
good or bad is very little influenced BY
the importance or the character Of the
man who gives it. Time and time
again l have known the Governor to
sit in consultation with a dozen or
more important party leaders, and /
have watched him listen Interestingly
and comprehendingly but without en-
thusiasn to what sometimes amounted
to almost a unanimous recommendation
as to the proper course Of action. and
then, from a corner of the room would
come a suggestion from some one
scarcely known in his partv's counSels,
more or less in direct variance with
what the others had recommended, and
instantly the Governors face would
light up. his hand come down on the
desk. and with hearty that is the
thing to DO he would proceed to weave
it into the general structure of his
strategy.
Wrote Speeches Himself.
As TO the Governors speeches. no
them, bat on the other hand it can
be said that very many Of the sug-
gestions made by those consulted
formed part\ of tie shaping of their
general trend. Statistical data. as pre-
pared by Professor Moley and the
others, generally vent in with little
change. but the other portions of the
drafts. prepared. not only by his teen
n1cal advisers but by the others on the
train and occasionally forwarded to
him by his advisers at headquarters.
went through curious process Of
Transformation. After he had read and
reread them. in the great majority of
cases the Governor would call for
his own which bore little resemblance
to any one of tie drafts, but in which,
in addition to his own ideas, Woulo
always be found embodied the best
thoughts from all of the drafts that
had been submitted to him.
A clearly expressed idea. a telling
phrase. novel way of putting an old
argurcnt seems to sink instinctively
into the Governors recollection. my
self have at times presented him with
what thought was crcditsble para
graph or two. to find it entirely missing
in the finished draft, and then to my
utter surprise, months aftcrvard
would recognize the old friend embodied
in some other speech, where it was con-
si6erablv more effective.
AT all times on the Governors train
we're his daughter. Mrs. Curtis Dali. and
his daughter-in-lsw. Mrs James Roose-
velt, whose particular duties were to see
| that the women leaders, who in many
, cases cutnumbered the male visitors,
were properly received and lshered be-
fore the Governor. Whenever possible
these younger women were Joined for a
few days by the Governors wife, but
as Mrs. Roosevelt's experience as the
office manager of the women's division
in the campaign four years before and
her wise counsel were demanded at
headquarters as general adviser to the
women's division. it was not possible for
her to accompany the Governor the en-
tire distance on either of the two trips
he made
Lauds Women's Work.
And here I would like to express my
admiration at the competence and sue
cess of the work of the women's divi-
sion. In conformity with the Governors
general plan of having every one attend
to his own job, the work of the women
was turned over to the women them
selves. and no mere man was allowed to
interfere Thev were given their own
budget and told to spend it exactly as
they thought best. I am ashamed to
confess. as a member of the opposite
sex that t,sn1, on the ~ avsrage t s so far as i
money 60 twice as far as the men. II
I cannot write in detail Of their activi-
ties It Is because their work was so ef-
fpin icfa apf0 tn @.
ouire interference or direction either by
the national committee chairman or
any others Of the headquarters staff.
I know in a general way that Miss
Mary w. Dewson. in charge of the
women's division at headquarters, man
aged a correspondence quite as large
as that of Chairman Farley, who is the
most indefatigable of letter writer's next
to the Governor himself. know that
in every precinct of what We called
"the fighting States" there was at least
one active. efficient woman ceaselessly
touring the territory. distributing liter
ature and arousing the interest OF the
women voters. I know that during the
campaign the feeling of Skepticism as
to women's political sagacity and abil-
ity was completely changed in a great
ma jority of States, and that long before
election day, we men were receiving
letters from State chairmen saying
what wonderful work the women were
doing in their territory. I know that
Miss Lavinia Engle did a splendid job
in the Women's Speakers Bureau and
that <Ars. Henry Morgenthau, jr., con-
Quoted a remarkable radio program all
over the country.
know that Gov. Ross as vice
chairman of the national committee.
was ceaselessly travelling from State to
State streugtheujug the organization