Evening star., 1934-11-08
BY WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE.


ton and their implications.
BY WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE.
EMPORIA, Kans., November g.
| Speaking from the standpoint Of A
Republican viewing the debris where
once a proud party stood, 1t Is evi-
dent that the Democratic party is
united as a militant liberal party
under Franklin Roosevelts leadership
and that the Republican party must
be an organized critical minority.
Now. for the first time in a gen.
erstion the two parties have real
division.
1t is also evident that the Ameri-
can people are ready for whatever
revolution. under fundamental Dem
ocratic forms and sanctions. Presi-
dent Roosevelt may care TO inaugu-
rate.
These two unQuestioned facts loom
, large as the result of the election.
Still other questions remain unsolved.
will the Republican party. In Its po-
!
as a mildly conservative party or as
q deeply reactionary party?
G. o. p. Face. Crisis.
In two fields, the position of Roose-
velt's Republican antagonists and of
his secret Democratic adversaries. will
be found the most important ques-
tions that will engage the politics of
America for the next two wears.
Discussing this matter as a Repub-
lican. l am not interested in Roosevelt
and his own party troubles. But a
serious decision confronts the Repub.
licans. The heart and strength of
the Republican party are In the West,
| the partys birthplace. In the West.
| only Kansas and Michigan and pos
sibly New Mexico stand true to the
Republican party Landon of Kansas.
Vandenberg OF Michigan and Cutting
of New Mexico are New Dealers with
the old deck. But. in Ohio and Indi-
ana. Republican leaders like Fess and
Robinson. being too resctionary went
down. In the East. reactionary Re-
publican leaders were swept aside, ex-
cept in Vermont. In Wisconsin and
Minnesota. the Republican party
shriveled up and resppesred as La
Toilette Progressives and the Farm.
Labor party. In the further North
west it's results make it obvious that
the Republican party can hardly
stand as a resctionary minority.
ReaetiOnaries Doomed.
1t seems fairly we'll indicated that,
until the Roosevelt program itself
blows up and destroys its leaders the
Republican party is likely to survive
as minority critic attacking the ma
jority. not from the right. but from
the middle left. Leaders like Reed of
Pennsylvania. wadsworth OF New
York, Watson, Robinson and Fess OF
Indiana and Ohio apparently will
have no status or standing in the, Re-
publican party if the party survives.
1t must offer q definite program. 4
liberal platform, not radical Repub-
licans should criticize the President s
New Deal, not from a reactionsry
standpoint. denying every phase of it.
The Republican opposition must
translate the evident rebirth of Amer
lean ideals into specific plans, definite
offerings, a reliable program A re-
dictionary party cannot do this. The
Republican party Is not dead. 1t has
retained a foothold in the court house
in a thousand counties. Parties do
not die from the top. but from the
roots, and the roots of the Republican n
party in the East and Middle West are
still full Of court house sap.
Calls Roosevelt Lucky.
Now about the New Deal: The sec
ond phase of the election, from Re-
publican standpoint. is found in the
splendid testimonial 1t gave to Frank
lin D. Roosevelt. 1t is largely per-
sonal. But the acclaim of the people
is somewhat due to his adroitness as
| well as his wisdom ass leader. He
is smart politician. His uncle Ted
dead these Is years. must have left
Franklin the family goose bone for
prophetic wisdom and the family rab-
bits foot for luck
But the President Is more than a
shrewd, lucky guesser. The America n
people are beginning to sense his fit
nesses. They are getting on to his
curves. and, on the whole, the people
admire the science with which he
puts the ball over the plate.
AS, for instance, consider the way
he dropped Upton Sinclair. exactly
as he dropped Jimmy Walker-f1ne
technique. Dropping Walker three
years ago and Sinclair last month
helped him with the Nation. They
are different types of men, but their
association with Roosevelt was dan
gerous to his cause. So he gave Sin
clair the buns rush with the easy
grace OF a languid queen waving her
perfumed peacock feather at a wan
ing favorite. 1t was a gorgeous spec
tacle In the pageant OF the New Deal
Objective Still Elusive.
No one knows exactly what the
New Deal Is, probably least of all
Franklin Roosevelt. But 1t seems to
be a new way of life under democ-
rscy, some readiustment of national
gross income, taking away from the
rich and giving to those who are
not rich a fair share of the earnings
OIL tfiiS ISdtlUU. oO lbI ~ i1uS IIOt
worked. The rich are growing
poorer. but so are the poor. Unem-
ployment Is mounting The forgot
ten man is still forgotten. but evi-
IDENTIFY the President is scratching
his head trying to remember the
forgotten man and just where he
left him.
Under Roosevelt's leadership, the
Nation is tinkering with the job.
He has absolute control Of his party
| and the party has absolute control
| OF the two houses OF the Congress.
Death or a resignation. in all proba-
bility, will give him the Supreme
Court in the next 18 months. And
all this without assuming dictatorial
powers. yet giving the President the
| authority Of despot-with Demo-
cratic sanctions. One would have
said 1T could not happen, but here
| it is.
And so long as Democratic forms