Evening star., 1934-10-22
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

President Roosevelt's first things
first" speech at Roanoke was a par
ticuiarly effective bit Of craftsmanship
because it rang the bell in three dis
tinct directions, all of unusually
timely Importance. Outstanding was
the deft but definite manner in which
Mr.. Roosevelt disposed Of the bonus,
as far as his attitude toward that is
sue is concerned Then there was the
passing but highly significant declar-
alton that Federal spending must take
place on rational scale and always
with due regard for the Government S
credit. Finally. Mr.. Roosevelt re-
dedicated himself to his program of
relief for "the forgotten people" not
only in towns and cities, but in the
back eddies'' of the more than 5000
counties of the land. Seldom has the
President covered so much vital terri
tory In 20 minutes. 1t was not CAM
paign speech, yet for the New Deals
F. D. r. could hardly have struck
more telling blows If he had been ad-
dressing a prediction rally in Mad
ison Square Garden. The Roanoke
address stamps the President afresh
as a master politician.
X Il *x
Mr.. Roosevelt emulates Calvin Cool
idge In turning thumbs down on the
bonus on the eve of national election.
With 1924 just around the corner, the
Vermonter, in a message to Congress,
uttered his famous dictum: "But do
not favor payment of the bonus" Mr..
Coolidge's attitude had no effect
whatever upon his subsequent candi-
dacy for nomination and election to
the presidency, and no one expects
that Mr.. Roosevelt's anti-bonuS views
Efll make any appreciable dent in
Democratic prospects in the impend-
ing Congressional elections. In that
connection, many politicians will tell
you that the veterans vote is by and
large an exaggerated factor. 1t can
never be delivered en- bloc either To-
cally, State-wise or nationally, be-
cause ex-service men are far from
being unit on the bonus proposition.
Candidates have wholesome respect
for the veterans and their community
influence and would rather have the
soldiers With them than against them,
but the occasions on which their vote
by itself was the determining factor
are believed to be exceptional and few
in number.
Representative Clifton A. woodrum,
Democrat, of Virginia, who presided
over last weeks ceremonies at Roa-
noke, in which President Roosevelt
participated, has found 1t necessary
to issue a public disclaimer that he
will seek in 1886 the senatorial seat
now held by Carter Glass. Recent Vir-
ginia newspaper articles connected
Judge Woodrum's name with possible
opposition to Glass, and limited at
administration backing for the Roa-
noke Representative in such a contest.
Representative Woodruni has now
stated that lin the unlikely event Of
any opposition to Senator Glass two
years hence, shall be then, as have
always been, in the front rank Of his
most enthusiastic supporters"
Ralph william Close, K. c., South
African Minister to the United States,
is still reveling over the recent vaca-
ton he spent in the Catskill Noun
tains. Since boyhood a Fenimore
Cooper fan, Mr.. Close got an unfor-
gettable thrill out of the atmosphere
in which Cooper's tales of early Amer
ica were written. He accounts drive
over the Mohawk trail as one of the
most pleasurable experiences of his
whole life. While Mr.. Close repre-
sents in the United States country
in which Dutch political influence Is
potent, he himself is Of English origin.
Both he and Mrs. Close are members
Of pioneer British families in South
Africa. The Minister, a barrister by
profession, Is completing his first year
in Washington.
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Becaiise of the saliantry Of the