Evening star., 1933-07-09

organize their campaign to re-
capture seats of Representatives
and Senators in the election
that is more than a year away,
In November 1884 1t seems at once
little premature and little obsolete.
Over -forehanded to begin campaign
Is months ahead of the election-and
obsolete to treat American politics. at
this moment. in terms of Republicans
and Democrats 1t is almost as obso-
lete as the terminologies of fifty and a
hundred years ago: Federalist and anti
Federalist, pro-Slavery and anti-SlaVery,
Unionist and Secession.
What is actually going on in Amer
lea, the basic reality of our politics. is
a type of struggle new to us. We have
been drawn. for the first time, into the
kind of conflict long common in Euro.
pean politics. expressed in terms OF
fright" and left
Our controversy is between one
group of forces and men which pulls us
toward collectivism. toward limitation
by the State of the individuals freedom
of action-and another group tending
to hold us to the old American concep-
ton of individualism. In this strug-
gle the Republicans tend to be on the
side of individualism, the Democrats
on the side of collectfvis:n. That is
pretty sardonic. BY tradition and
principle. it is the Democrats who
Should be on the side of individual
rights. the Republicans on the side Of
Capitalization. But the roles are re-
versed. chiefly by the fact that the
present leadership of the Democrats In
the White House has gone so far to-
ward enlargement Of control by the
Federal Government.
Fighting for Seats.
In the congressional election for
which the Republicans are now Or
canizing, they will win some seats That
is a foregone certainty The landslide
election of last year carried into ONCE
Democrats in districts that had been
Republican for generations. The pres
ent Democratic Senate majority. SO out
of a total of 90. and their enormous
House me jority 3l2 out OF ABS. will be
reduced somewhat. To the extent OF
some small margin or other. the Demo-
Gratis will lose some seats in the course
Of nature How much farther the shit
will go depends on conditions a year
from now. AS to that. who can guess?
AS of TODAY, in anv doubtful district.
under ordinary conditions. any can
didate in either party running on
platform of avoWed. specific opposition
to President Roosevelt and his policies
would have little chance. 1 lately
spent some time in one of the most
rcck ribbed Republican communities
of PENNSYLVANIA A local Republican
leader told me that 19 out of every
20 people would today oppose can
didate for Congress who proclaimed
resistance to President Roosevelt as
his issue. 1t is not that the Republl-
cans have gone over to the Democratic
Co. hot
that the Republicans or the people
generally have embraced all President
Roosevelt's policies permanently. Dis
tinctly the new President is still on
trial with them It is rather that Mr..
Roosevelt has begun certain steps and
the people think the steps should be
carried on until We see where they
arrive at. To oppose the President now
they consider to be rocking the boat at
q peculiarly unfortuitous time.
The new administration is identified
with a change of the times for the bet
ter. The people are more cheerful more
hopeful; the whole spirit of the Coun-
trv has changed The last thing they
would be patient with is trouble
maker. and in that category they would
consider any candidate for Congress
who should propose to hamper the
President.
No Excitement About Gold.
In the rural districts in Pennsylvania
where I visited lately there is not the
faintest debate about the Country going
of the gold standard. Let no one sup
pose that the rural folks don't know
wnat going off gold means. They are
capable of passionate interest IN de-
bate over currency. Old-timers told me
in
when William Jennings Bryan ran on
a bimetallic free coinage -of-silver plat
form, every village store, school house
and post Office was focus OF blazing
argument. Farmers discussed silver
and gold across cornfleld fences. Every
body knew the effect of deprecated
dollar on debts, wages and prices; and
argued it violently. Today there Is
nothing of that Announcement Of a
speech in the local hall about currency
wouldn't draw 20 listeners
How explain the change from the
passionate convictions of 1896 to the
Indifference CT 1888? It lies in how the
thing was done Bryan announced that
if elected he would dilute the currency
and thereby he preclpltated argument,
which resulted in his defeat. Mr.. Roose-
welt ran as a sound currency man on
pldllOlH III SuppOl tLl5 q ootiiiA SoA
rency to be preserved at all hazards"
Elected. and confronted by what he
regarded as a justifying emergency. he
took the country off the gold standard,
and combined with the inflationists in
Congress to get for himself authority to
initiate the currency by all the ways OF
initiating there are. 1t was revolution
ary. If it was. as Democratic Senator
Carter Glass of Virginia says. bad faith
to the platform and campaign pledge to
the people. the people don't care.
Vaguely they have sensed that most OF
the world has gone off gold and America
might as we'll go too. More directly.
they have seen the going off gold CO.
incide with a period in which prices
rise, debtors are more able to pay, labor
has more work at rising wages. Even
the creditor-class tso-called, there is
no such thing really supposed to be
most injured by initiation Of the cur
rency. is for the time rather pleased
and relieved. They were so desperately
scared about getting their debts paid
at all that they are glad to be paid in
any kind of money.
1t all amounts to this: President
Roosevelt has made coed in the sense
that thc third and fourth months Of
his administration see what everybody
longed fer. the beginning of better
times. The Republicans can say 1t Is