Evening star., 1934-11-05
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Democrats got the breaks Of the
campaign right up TO election day
Most useful of all of them were cumu-
lative signs of business improvement
Now that it can be told, what the
Roosevelt Farley high command chiefly
! feared was that conditions might be
so discouraging it would be difficult
if not impossible. to depict the New
Deal in successful combat against de-
preston. Then, as the campaign en-
| tered the home stretch. the economic
skies cleared. Industrial strife like
| the textile strike was settled in all
cases before it assumed perilous pro-
portions. The bankers came to Wash
| ington and made their peace with the
President Business generally did
not march forward with giant strides
but the trend was visibly upward
Gloom materially lessened and in
many cases vanished And then. on
the eve Of election, came Henry Ford's
proclamation that the depression is
over as far as he's concerned, and
| that he plans to build a million cars
| in 1885 The fly in the recovery oint-
ment is the 100000 still out of work
But the economic picture as a whole
doomed in rose tints as the New Deals
first test at the polls approached.
History will not record that the Re
publican campaign Of 1894 was waged
under conditions that ever promised
success. The main argument with
which the party sought to make head
way-alleged "vote-buying" by the
Democrats through expenditure OF
Federal funds for relief and public
works-proved to be pretty much Of q
dud. At least, in no community was
there any prospect that it could stem
| the tide flowing in Democratic favor
| Another weakness in the G. o. P.
| campaign was the absence of con-
Structive alternative to the New Deal
The Republicans were further handi-
| capped by the fact that many of their
own candidates either approved Roose-
| velt recovery measures outright or
praised them with faint damnS. And
| finally, along with uninspired leader
| ship and lack of program, there was
| the elephants shortage of money
When the worst is over the chances
| are that Republicans will be thank
| full, under all the circumstances. that
the party survived in sufficient
strength to fight another day. 1t will
| hope that much can happen in two
years. and that by 1886 the situation
may not be quite so bleak as it was
left in the crude ides of November
1884.
Political backgrounds of three oil
the seven lawyers appointed by the
American Bar Association to study
the effects of the New Deal upon
the rights and liberties of American
citizens" suggest that they may prove
to be pretty severe critics of the
Roosevelt evolution" The trio ir
question are Herbert Hoover's At
| torney General, William D. Mitchell;
| former United States Senator George
Wharton Pepper of Pennsylvania and
! Charles p. Taft, I'd, Of Ohio. son OF
the late President and Chief Justice
William Howard Taft. The outstand-
| ing Democrat on the committee Is
Owen D. Young, who is friendly to
the New Deal, though popularity sus-
pected Of not approving all of its in
novations.
X \ X X
On the eve of his election day
trip to Hyde Park. President Roose-
welt expressed surprise that so many
White House newspaper men and wom-
en- were still in town. II thought you'd
all be on your way home to vote
| chirped r. D. r. A reporter who
sympathizes with Washington's vote
less plight spoke up and reminded
the President that most Of the scribes
facing him live In the District oi
Columbia and therefore have no vote