Evening star., 1933-07-09
TRADITIONAL PARTY AIMS.
IN AMERICA ARE REVERSED
Democrats Become Champions of Col
lectivism as Republicans Defend
Rig hits of Individuals.

the end of depression was here anyhow.
But the voters don't care; coincidence IS
good enough for them.
But Mr.. Roosevelt will need to 90 on
making good, and in the same sense,
the sense Of rising prices and better
business He is as fully tied to the idea
of prosperity as Coolidge and Mr..
Hoover were. To the people that is
what he SymbolizeS, and he must live
up to the symbol If prosperity fails,
If even the present pace of 1t slows
down seriously, the people will be dis
appointed and will elect Republicans to
Congress next year.
1t is the same with the rest of the
Presidents extraordinary measures. For
the present they coincide with what
the common man calls better times"
and that is enough. Voters, even the
local pundits who know about such
matters, refuse for the present to get
excited about collectivism. regulation or
the other innovations. They don't re-
sent the spectacle of President elected
as Democrat but going straight
against all the principles Thomas JET
ferson believed in. They don't resent
party and President pledged to
lower tariffs now apparently about to
bring about higher tariffs. As one vii
lage Socrates put it. We were in the
ditch; Presidest Hoover tried every one
Of the old rules for getting us out:
they didn't work; it is all right to try
some new rules, and they seem to be
effective"
Everything comes down to one thing:
President Roosevelt is being judged by
his works BY his works in a narrow
sense. the sense of restoring prosperity
BY that test all his innovations, all the
details of his new deal will be judged.
The industrial recovery bill will be
deemed good if it brings and keeps
good times. And good times Of the
familiar kind; the people have no zest
for redistribution of wealth or any other
social innovation-what they wish is
simply what they have always known
as good times" abundant employ
ment. good wages, active business
profits
If the present tide of prosperity goes
on with reasonably sustained momen-
tum until November. 1884. the Demc-
Gratis should re-elect comfortable ma
jority in Congress. If. on the other
hand, prosperity should slow down
markedly, or blow up through excess
sive imitation, the Democrats may be
turned out
have-if they or any one can take sat-
isEaction from it. The organized vet
Grams will be largely with them. The
recent Democratic Congress. at Presi-
dent Roosevelts request, removed from
the compensation roll some 100000
veterans whose disabilities arose not
out of war but in peace time leaving
on the roll some 10000 Of this class
whose disability is complete). Further.
the Roosevelt administration made re-
ductions in the compensation Of all
t,;r
regard as a Democratic act Though
many Republicans voted for it,.
Veterans to Fight
To undo this. and in general to in
crease pensions all along the line. the
organized veterans will fight. Every
politician knows it. AS Congressman
Pou of North Carolina put it the day
Of the roll call in Congress. this is not
the end of this thing-there's going to
be another day coming" And as Editor
Harry M. Nimmo of the Detroit Satur-
day Night sagely observes. While the
President emerged with a major vic
tory the contest still RACES. the veterans
lobbies are at work
A veteran receiving compensation
from the Government is as much inter-
ested in keeping il as any citizen is in
maintaining his private income. With
out invidiousness. one may say that the
business of many veterans consists of
getting compensation from the Govern
ment, and he will care for and fight
for his business as sturdily as any citi-
zen will for his. Moreover, most vet
Grams not already pensioners expect that
some day, through age or otherwise.
they will become ones; they think of
themselves as having {. vested future
AtxAs- 49, @sr,<l l. ~
same.
If getting his compensation. or having
it raised. or prev ,:ing 1t from being
lowered-if that is the business of
veteran. the method of conducting that
business is to elect Congressman who
will vote for compensation and not vote
for reduction. Few ordinary citizens
realize this. All Congressman DO. The
citizen may applaud at the moment the
Congressman who supports the Presi-
dent on economy-and then forget. The
veteran continues to remember until
election day. And the veterans family
and friends as we'll. Veterans alone
constitute some 10 per cent of the cleo
torate; veterans with their wives md
other close relatives constitute at least
20 per cent and perhaps 80 per cent.
Democratic Congressman Thomas L.
Blanton of Texas voted for President
Roosevelt'S measure to reduce compen-
sation Of veterans Cincluded in the
measure which Mr. Roosevelt called IAN
act to preserve the credit of the United
States Government" Presently Con-
gresham Blanton received from an Off
cial of the American Legion post at
Stamford. Tex, letter reading in part
as follows:
Mr.. Blanton, permit me to give you
this tip. We veterans through our
organizations propose to fight any man
or devil who proposed an unjust act
against the veterans. We do not care
very much whether we are fighting a
popular President or an unpopular one,
we were born in fight and haven't yet
gotten over the tendency"
In Congressman Blantons case, and
that of many other Democrats from the
South who supported Roosevelt, the
fight will be in behalf of some other
Democratic candidate at the primaries.
Elsewhere veterans will tend to favor
Republicans as against Democrats. One
could wish Republican candidates for
Congress next year should have better
ground for their hopes. Possibly they
may. BY year from now some of the
large Democratic policies, after being in
effect some time, may have become real
issues. At present they are not-prac-
tically everybody is for them, as expert
mentS.