Evening star., 1933-12-04
BY C.. Could Lincoln,

AeOOoCftAI CdUultI.
X X
These attacks have been so worded
and SO couched as to preclude, it seems
any reconciliation at any time between
Mr.. Smith and Roosevelt. Mr.. Smiths
ridicule of the Presidents "oppor-
tunlsm," his reliance on youthful col
lege professors and his willingness to
treat the American people as though
Iney were 900 900 guinea pigs upon
Whom the administration Wa6 to expert
menu were about as rough criticism aS
has ever been ladled out by an attacker
WllO WILI on Dtm0CnQtlC regularity il
not likely to keep Al Smith in line with
the Roosevelt leadership in any cam
Paign or any contest. even though that
regularity was sufficient to bring about
the semblance of a reconciliation during
the campaign Of 1882.
What this means for the Democratic
party remains TO be seen. It may make
Mr.. Roosevelt many friends in the South
and the West, where Smith has NOT
been so popular. On the other hand. il
may ALLEVIATE many of the Democrats
in the populous States of the North
and the East. Mr.. Smith has a widely
read organ through which to deliver hi:
attacks-an organ which promises tc
become more widely read as the attacks
upon the Roosevelt administration in
crease. The newspapers have made
much of the strife between the two mos
prominent members Of the Democratic
party OF the day They are likely Il
make more. The situation is likely tc
require some careful consideration, Il
nothing more, by the administration
leaders. 1t is pososible that the Presi-
dent may be strengthened by tht
violence Of the attacks made upon hin
by Smith and by a series of such
attacks. On the other hand, If the
policies of the administration do not
brlng the measure of relief hoped from
them, then the attacks by Mr.. Smith
VIII be felt all the more keenly by the
administration.
The latest barbS from the New Out
look were aimed at Secretary Ickes
and the public works program, which
Mr.. Smith declares has begged down
The civil works program. he said
had been devised to put lot of men
to work in a hurry and so to cover
up the failure of the Public Works
Administration to get people to work
Mr.. 1ckes came right back at Smith
with the fiat statement that he clearly
was venting his spleen because OF
disappointed personal ambition, and
he added that only knowledge of the
operations Of the public works program
and what it has done would give a
clear picture of the re-employment
drive of the administration. These
figures of employment have just been
announced by the public works ad-
mlnlstrator. Indeed, up until today nc
ngureS had been made public at all
ABOUT the number of men put to work
under the public works program.
4 x
Mr.. Ickes says in his statement
which was intended as a conclusive
reply to the charges made BY Mr.
Smith that the public works program
had been a failure, that the tota1
number of persons put to work through
the appropriations for public works
had been, up to November %, 2.ee3. $50
OF these. 1183267 are emploved by
the Civil Works Administration. and
347,623 under the Civilian Conservation
Corps. Both of these activities are
financed by the P. w. A. The tota]
combined figures for the civil works
and the Conservation Corps are /
430 800. 1t appears, therefore that
public works program, including its
Feoeral and State and municipal oper-
atoms, have put to work 1862 47C
persons. This is a large number
VI persons 70 put to work. The aim
OF the P. w. A is to get e0o OoO
men TO work under all its activities
including the civil works, by the middle
OF December That would mean an
other million at work within the next
two weeks.
1t remains now to be seen whether
Mr. smith will undertake to show thai
Was correct in his attack on the
FuDnc works Administration, or from
What other angle he will shoot at the
Roosevelt administration.
The President will have MANY de-
IenoerS, particularly for the monetary
Poicy which he is carrying forward
but many OF these defenders clearly
never had any very great love for All
omlth; even though they may have
gwen hlm support in 1923, when Smith
was the Democratic nominee for Presi-
gent: Senator McKellar of Tennessee
mas JUST come forward with a statement
charging that Wall Street has opened
battle upon the program and policies
OF President Roosevelt" The Tennes-
see Senator insists that it is "a death
struggle between the spectators in New
York City, who produce nothing and
the great wealth creating masses of our
people" He continues:
Inc sole question is whether the
fIle r-fi<
wrecked our country from 1929 until
1888" he said, "or get solidly behind
PRESIDENT Roosevelt in an effort to save
our country and restore the general
prosperity of all the people.
I'VE find the leading British finan-
ciers objecting to our reducing the
value of the dollar abroad, when it is
less than a year that the British gov
ernment did exactly the same thing
with the English pound.
'And yet they would fain make us
now believe that they do not know
what the Presidents plan Of buying
gold is.
'Echoing this criticism from London
comes France, whose franc went to less
than the American nickel, to Is per
cent of its pre-war value, and which
now holds the whip hand in European
finance through the restoration OF gold,
which she owes to the United States
and will not pay
X X X
BY midafternoon tomorrow the
eighteenth amendment to the Consti-
tuition in all probability will be dead
Three State constitutional conventions,
in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah, are
to take action on the ratification OF
the twenty-flrst amendment, repeating
national prohibition, by that time,
making up the requisite SO for final
ratification of constitutional amend
ment. The delegates elected to these
conventions are supporting repeal
There is no question at all about what
they will do when they assemble. The