Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-07-07
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

plains much. HUllllf|' t-aS DeCOfna Ille
art of causing the people to feel the
way the politician wishes them to
feel, of starting waves of popular
emotion. Sometimes, as has hap
pened now in Washington, when a
wave gets started against the poll
tlCian, the arr is to start a counter
wave
Here are 12OOOOOOO people; the
game is to get majority of them
going the way the politician wants.
1t is a game in which the emotional
impression, the superficial appear
ance. counts everything. principle
very little. More and more politics
has come TO be that. 1t is not merely
IN the White House that the game is
played that way: it is played by the
priest in Detroit and by the King
fish in New Orleans, 1t is played in
Europe even more successfully than
in America, lol in Germany. Russia.
Italy, the player who is at the head
of state has the immense advantage
of controlling the radio and the press,
AMI of being able to exclude his
critics.
Wide Powers Cut.
The recent series of events at
Washington began with Mr.. Roose-
velt's irritation against the Supreme
Court decision which killed the blue
eagle. and the one that deprived the
President of the right to remove at
will members of such commissions as
the Federal Trade. the Federal
Reserve Board and the like, thereby
making it impossible to pack such
commissions with New Dealers Cuntil
the statutory terms of the present
members eXpire)
1 Think say Il think" because in
all this one much depend in part on
inference about what is in the
Presidents m!rd-I think there is no
doubt the President was so serenely
confident of his power with the
country that he took it completely for
granted he could start a wave of
public feeling adverse to the Supreme
Court; that, IS between him and the
Supreme Court he had only to speak
to win the country to him, and set
question of whether to make his
speech over tie radio. or to use his
familiar device of giving out his
views indirectly through the news
paper conferences.
Newspapers Important.
Because politics has come to be the
ert of starting waves of public
emotion, Mr. Roosevelt. it is ap-
parent regards his newspaper con-
ferenceS as one of the most important
details of his technique. Except when
he is away from Washington. he
never cancels one. The period as
signed to then is half hour; some
times the President continues them
much longer. on the occasion of his
criticism of the Supreme Court he
kept talking for nearly an hour and
half, and stopped only when one OF
his secretaries reminded him it was
lis daylight saving time. and there
fore getting late for the correspond
entS to get what he was saying into
the evening newspapers.
Of what went on in the Presidents
inner circle of intimates after the
Supreme Court decision. when he was
deciding Just how to start the wave
of public feeling he desired. there is
en- account in the Literary Digest, an
account coming obviously from one
who was close to the inside, and
agreeing wholly with what was seen
from the outside. This account is a
most Illuminating glimpse behind the
scenes, a picture of the degree to
which the technique of moving the
crowd figures in present-day politics:
Criticism Plentiful.
presidential confidantes realized
that the criticism of the Supreme
Court was a tremendously important
move for Mr.. Roosevelt to make Once
the President had decided to make it,
the only question that remained was
whether to express himself by radio
or through the press. There had been
growing criticism in the press that
the President has been leaning too
strongly toward the radio Members
of his own secretariat joined in the
effort to convince him that he could
get better results, in the case in point |
by stating his case to the press # =
Mr.. Roosevelt decided in favor of the |
press and has been quite unhappy
about the result Now there is a con-
troversy whether the fault was that |
Of the President or of the press.
The President feels that if he had |
gone on the air with his statement of |
views it would have been in the eve !
ming. He would have talked direct to |
the Nation and the people would have |
begun to form their own conclusions /
before their morning papers arrived |
with their editorial reaction. In the |
Presidents view, the pressure of
public opinion favorable to a con- |
tnuance of the New Deal would have
been on the newspapers before they |
knew it. He believes that this. in !
turn, would have tempered the natural |
tendency of newspaper editors to take |
an antagoniStic view. AS it was, the |
President had his background talk
with the press in the morning. The |
public got snatches of it in the after |
noon newspapers and the full report |
IN the morning papers, wrapped up in |
the same bundle with a vigorous edi-
toriS attack throughout the country. l
-. To the President it was like start /
ing off on the wrong foot with a pro- |
posal of great Importance to his
philosophy of government"
Fails to Hit Court.
When the attempt failed to start a
wave Of feeling against the Supreme
Court, when indeed wave started in
favor of the court. the question be-
came one of starting counter-wave,
or rather a wave about something
else, which would smother out the
rising feeling in defense OF the ST.
preme Court and the Constitution.
For this purpose the message to
Congress about distribution of
wealth" seemed a sure device, a per-
feet white rabbit. But that went
badly, too. There is hardly the faint