The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-10
TUESDAY, APRIL 10. 1894.
WANTED: DEMOCRATIC LEADERS

I LEADERSHIP is the mark of President
- Roosevelt. That distinguishes him from
his immediate predecessors in the White
House. He has made mistakes. But he has
not made the mistake Of folding his hands
when things were to be done.
For year congress followed his leadership.
This was due in part to the Presidents per-
sonal qualities his awareness that new paths
were necessary his daring. and his ability to
think fast. 1t also was due in part of the
emergency. Because speed and co-ordinated
effort are essential in an emergency the ma
ton always turns to an able executive for
action and congress always responds under
That public pressure during a crisis
But now, for the first time in this ad-
ministration. the legislative program is get
ting into jam all along the line To the
degree that this is due to an inevitable transit
tional shift by congress back to normal de-
Lucrative procedure, there is nothing to worry
about. This is far better than the gag rules
which were in force a short time ago. The
result OF gag rules is to store up destructive
resentment in congress and also to destroy
pubic confidence in representative govern
ment. Therefore it would be shortsighted to
: criticize congress for returning to its de-
Lucrative function.
The danger-and there is a danger-in the
present legislative situation is to be found
elsewhere. 1t is not in the congressional ma
chinery or in the rank and file membership
but in the Democratic leaders They are sup
posed to be the Presidents commanders in the
field But they are not fighting. That is why
the prospects for Rooseveltian legislative
achievement, which were so bright month
ago, are far from rosy today
Failure of the Democratic leaders in con-
gress reflects a basic weakness in that party.
The party lacks unity, conviction, direction.
The old Democratic leaders are the same type
as the old Republican politicians-in both
cases they constitute conservative old guard
Today the Democratic party machine is
tripping up Franklin Roosevelt just as a gen.
Grafton ago the Republican party machine got
in the way of Theodore Roosevelt's reforms.
OF course the President has been trying for
almost a year and half to reorganze his
party on progressive lines. But the success
has been negligible Partly because party
organization is about the hardest thing in the
world to change, and partly because the
President entrusted this task to Jim Farley,
a smart but INSCRIPTIONS novice.
At any rate, the conservative old regulars
are still in the saddle on Capitol hill-and
they are not much different from the Jim
Watsons of the Coolidge Hoover regime.
All of which explains in large part the
unnecessary connivance with the veterans
lobby against the President, the sabotage of
the letcher-Rayburn stock exchange BILL
the attempt to lower taxes when more rev.
enue is needed to pay debts the deSertion Of
the Wagner labor disputes BILL the flirting
with the sixteen-to-one silver extremists the
the long delay in air mail legislation.
Day by DAY during the Presidents vacation
the administration has lost ground in congress.
If that trend is allowed to continue it will not
be easy to turn in the opposite direction. The
President can not regain that ground by let
ting his hostile or half-hearted generals in
congress go natural. Too many of them do
not believe in the Roosevelt policies.
Thanks to the Presidents leadership the
country is following him. But his own party
management is not. Unless the President on
his return to Washington can put fight into
the Democratic leaders, enemies of the new
deal are apt to capture congress and wreck
the Roosevelt program of recovery and reform.