Evening star., 1933-12-24
BY MARK SULLIVAN.
THE conflict between Prof. Rexford
G.. Tugwell. Assistant Secretary

pUobI, dllu VIC CULbL nobllIB luCdlS Va
government they represent, constitutes
an accurate epitome and illustration Of
United states and almost the whole Of
our politics that is fundamental.
The manner In which the controversy
erupted into public view after smoul-
dering for many months has itself
high Importance because it throws
light on the position Of President
Roosevelt as between the two schools
of thought; makes clear what many
have assumed, that Mr.. Roosevelt is in
ddle-of-the-road position.
During some two weeks preceding
December President Roosevelt had
been at Warm Springs, Ga 1t was on
the day he was due to return to Wash
sensationally into the newspapers.
The manner Of the emergence had
conspicuous significance.
The author of the original story was
Ernest K. Lindley, competent and high
minded member of the Washington
staff Of the New York Herald Tribune.
Mr.. Lndley is at once sympathetic to
the young intellectuals within the
Roosevelt administration, typified and
to some degree led by DR.. Tugwell;
and is also sympathetic to and close to
President Roosevelt personslly-Mr.
Lindley is the author of two books
about the President; one biography
published somewhat more than a year
ago and the other an account of the
Roosevelt administration up to date
entitled The Roosevelt Revolution"
Writer Found Despair.
In this situation Mr.. Lindley in
Wa ShipOtnn iilct praSident ponsa-
welt was returning from his vacation,
printed two stories to the effect that
the young intellectuals within the ad-
miniStration were In state Of rest
lesSneSs and despair" and that
1T was evident today that
unless the President promptly finds a
way directly or indirectly to reassure
the diScontented liberals he soon will
find himself without the services of
many of the young men. ="
Mr.. Ltndley estimated that the
| threatened "left-wing detection" might
quickly reach a total of rs or 100
(resignationS) unless the President in
! tervenes"
The episode thus far stated has one
clear implication. 1t is that the young
intellectuals do not in their own minds
regard President Roosevelt as firmly
sympathetic to them; that they think
of him rather as following a middle
of-the-road course, zigzag course, but
always without permanently taking
either side, and that the publication
of their plant was in the nature of a
threat designed to bring Mr. Roosevelt
closer to them. 1t may be added that
this implication that Mr.. Roosevelt
follows middle course agrees with the
observation of nearly everybody close
Z to
! dent is at times and on certain points
conservative, though at other times
and on other points liberal, or progress
sive, or radical-or whatever other
| term is to be used to designate the
, advocates of new departures, some of
which are extreme.
TugwelPs Social Philosophy.
The matter of Technology is at once
| important and intricate. The out
standing one among the radicals in the
| Roosevelt ADMINISTRATIONS is really
accurate to use the word radicals" for
some of their proposals and ideas cer-
tainly do go to the roots and if carried
out would work nothing less than a
complete revolution in the American
social structure and form of govern
ment-the outstanding one is Prof.
Tugwell. Just how he would himself
describe his own cast of thought
cannot say. In the attempt to classify
him it is fair to quote the author of the
Roosevelt Revolution Ernest K
Lindley, who is personally close to and
sympathetic in thought to both DR..
Tugwell and President Roosevelt. Mr..
Lindley says:
'Rexford G. Tugwell is the philoso-
pher, the sociologist and the prophet
Of the Roosevelt revolution. as well
as one of its boldest practitioners.
He has provided the movement with
much Of its rationale Ito use one Of
his lavorlte words -! Dr.. nugWell
| IS usually quite distance ahead of
Mr.. Roosevelt in his exploration of
the potentialities of the new regime.
In the vicinity of the White House
he is affectionately known as Dol
shevik' The country will prob
ably never catch up with him; for
as soon as Dr. Tugwell gets his bear
projects lines farther into the future.
-. Or. Tugwell mingled freely with
Socialists of the League of Industrial
Democracy and the Civil Liberties
Union. In the Summer of 1927 he
spent two months In Soviet Russia
with a delegation of American trade
unionists and intellectuals. The
audacity and determination behind the
great Russian experiment stirred him.
But he became neither Socialist nor a
Communist. In nearly every situ-
alton DR.. Tugwell is the advocate Of
bold and drastic action. DR.. Tug
well does not expect business men to be
different from what they are until the
system in which they operate is
changed"
| Not Socialist.
While Mr.. Lindley says that DR.. Tug
well is mot Socialist" yet Mr.. Lind
ley's description of DR.. Tugwell is the
description of man who would make
most of the changes that Socialists ad-
deliberate in avoiding for himself either
the designation Socialist or any of
the other familiar labels of radicalism.
He understands what he himself calls
the revolutionary tactic; he has
studied 1t in Russia and has written
about 1t and q part of the revolution
airy tactic" Is an adaptation, for the
purposes of bringing about revolution
of that cynical saying of Talleyrand:
The business of statesmen is to find
new terms for institutions which under
their old names have acquired odium
with the public"
Whatever word shall be used to de-
scribe DR.. Tugwells theory of society
is not material It is hardly disputable
that he wishes for the United States
a change which the average American
would understand by the word 'revo-
luton a revolution to be accom-
plished by means other than force, oui
q revolution all the same. That DR.
Tugwel disavows and deplores violence
is fair to say for him; his repugnance
to force is made explicit in his book
entitled "The Industrial Discipline.
Force" he says, never settles any.
thing" For himself DR.. Tugwell pre-
fers what he calls "a process Of gradua
substitution" 1t Is just this "proces;
of gradual substitution" now undel
way, and not very gradual at that
which alarms those who distrust tbs