The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-12
REPUBLICANS BEW ARE

matter above political partisanshlp. IL SO
happens that Mr. Roosevelt was elected Pres
ident on the Democratic ticket But it is hard
to conceive of his having been offered the
nomination if the powerful economic forces in
his party had possessed any inkling that he
would prove himself the resolute statesman
which he has turned out to be.
Imagine the Raskobs ct al putting up man
who would curb speculation, expose financial
pirates, regiment American industry, make
labor unionism not only legal but mandatory,
insist on decent minimum wage levels attempt
to give justice to the farmers and the like.
Thus far, Mr.. Roosevelt has conducted him
self as an American rather than Democrat.
So long as he does this Republicans will be
beneath contempt if they attempt petty parti-
san sniping
During the World war there was great in
sistence that the conduct of our part in the
struggle should be kept above all suspicion of
politics We are in the midst of far more
ominous conflict right now The American
order is in much greater danger from the
depression chan it ever was from the soldiers
and sailors of the kaiser. If Mr. Roosevelt is
hamstrung and his efforts made to fail, the
of things will be fare more disastrous than
German victory would have been.
Neither Mr.. Roosevelt nor anybody else can
be held to be above criticism provided such
criticism is based upon honest conviction of
errors in policy. But criticism which is de-
signed primarily to make political capital for
any party committed to the existing order is
not far short of treasonable-it is vertically
trading with the enemy"
The republican party in itself alone means
little to anybody It's real significance lies in
the fact that it is the most powerful political
instrument in the United States devoted to
saving the old-line capitalism-it is the great
agent of plutocracy in our land. Therefore,
the basic interest Of the Republican party
should be to save as much Of the old order as
it can. This is of far more moment to it's
members than the future of the Republican
party as an organization. Capitalism logically
comes before Republcanism
The failure of Mr.. Roosevelt's program very
probably would put the country temporarily
back in the hands of the Republican party
and of clique in that party more reactionary
than that which surrounded Mr.. Hoover. They
would, quite naturally, attempt some sort of
Fascist coup in the effort to suppress the acute
discomfort and extensive disorder which would
be found to follow the collapse of the Roose-
welt New Deal"
But Republican Fascism would be bound to
fail. One can not defy economic law and hard
facts for long, even With machine guns and
poison gas. There is no probability whatever
that Republican Fascists would make any con-
siderable concessions to justice and decency in
the effort to save capitalism The Roosevelt
program certainly represents the minimum
concessions which could be expected by the
most optimistic realist to preserve capitalism
even for a generation or so. If it fails it will
be because the President has not gone far
enough in his efforts to scotch the old piracy.
A group of Republicans who would battle with
him because of his so-calIed radicalism could
hardly be expected to go as far to the left
With the failure of the Republican Fascist
adventure would come the final collapse of
American capitalism. In this downfall the
Republicans would fare worse than Demo-
Gratis. There is certainly no longer anv diff
ference in kind between Democrats and Re-
pubhcans, so far as economic affiliations are
concerned But there is still a difference in
degree and the Republicans remain more def
nitely tied up with capitalism than do the
Democrats
The specific Republican attacks on the
new deal" do not command much respect If
1t costs lot. what about the staggering cost
OF the depression to the United States since
1929? Republican relief measures were costly
also. Consider the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation under Republican dominion It
tutllely gave away billions to the big bows of
the predatory stripe who had put us into the
mess. And Republican Fascism would GER
talnly be far more bureaucratic than the
Roosevelt administration will ever become
1t certainly is tough for Republicans to
have to sit by and see the country improve
with little dose of sense, decency, realism
and justice. But it is richly deserved torture
for them The Republicans had their chance
and failed miserably through cupidity and
stupor.
Had they capitalized on their opportun-
tiles and put the country decidedly on the
upward swing by the end Of 1931-as they
easily could have done-no power on earth
could have stopped Mr.. Hoover. and the Re-
publican party would have been safely in
stalled III power for a generation. Now they
will be wise 10 make the best of it and get
it through their heads that by making faces
at Roosevelt they are only biting of their
own noses