Evening star., 1935-04-30
ROOSEVELT'S CHAT
SHOWS STRATEGY
Use of Radio Permits Flat
Statements on Disputed
Questions.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

already know through the news
papers, but to explain some of the
things they have read-to endeavor
to give them an impression.
Careful reading of the text OF Mr..
Roosevelt's address of Sunday night
will reveal that he recognized the
existence of certain widely held i'm
pressions about his policies, and he
sought, therefore, to offset those
impressions.
There were two ways Of doing this.
One was to present persuasive and
convincing evidence in figures. But
this might make the address too sta
tistical or uninteresting.
The other way was to make nat
statements, dogmatic observations,
and trust to the people to give
credence to anything President says.
Political Custom.
This method of "slanting" the news
from ones own favorable standpoint
is not new, of course. Other Presi-
dents have done it before. 1t is the
customary habit Of public men.
But they have never had such Dig
advantage as nowadays because there
is no comment or challenge to what
President says over the radio He
FATHERS his audience together-many
millions of people-makes definite as
sertionS to them, and for days, maybe
weeks. later. the same audience never
learns through the radio, at any rate,
whether the statements made to 1t
are matters of controversy or dis
pute.
The radio has been used repeatedly
bv Mr.. Roosevelt, who has found it
one of the most valuable ways to de-
velop public opinion.
1t is not so much what Mr.. Roose-
velt said last Sunday night but the
things that he selected to emphasize
which are matter of great significance.
He was conscious of his opposition,
something that has not appeared in
his other radio speeches as consplc-
uously as in this one.
Examples Cited.
Thus, for instance:
|, The administration and the
Congress are not proceeding in any
haphazard fashion in this task OF gov
ernment. Each of our steps has a
definite relationship to every other
step"
One of the principal criticisms di-
rected at the present administration Is
that it has been opportunistic. that 1t
has tried one experiment after the
other, that it has had no general plan
for recovery. but has trusted to ex-
pediency to develop whatever seems at
the moment to offer the widest popu-
larity or to placate the maximum
number of grievances. Mr.. Roosevelt
is trying to offset this impression by
stating definitely that everything was
worked out in advance and that he is
proceeding with definite plan in
mind.
2. THE objective of the Nation has
greatly changed in three years. Be-
fore that time, individual self-interest
and group self1shness were paramount
in public thinking. The general good
was a discount"
which make very deep impression on
listeners because it is obviously what
should be the objective of the Nation.
Lobbyists Forgotten:
But a single glance at the lobbyists
in Congress and the great drive that
is being made by organized groups
to get money out of Congress. big
ger and better handouts by the Fed
eral Government than anything ever
known in the history Of the United
States, makes one wonder whether
the President was really aware of the
extent to which self interest and group
selfishness are paramount on Capitol
Hill today
8. ut is true that, while business
and industry are definitely better,
relief rolls are still too large. How
ever. for the first time in five years,
relief rolls have declined instead of
increased during the Winter months.
They are still declining"
This is the kind of statement which
Is difficult to analyze because the
cost of relief is growing larger and
larger and the personnel on the relief
rolls is changing all the time. The
item of cost is the one thing that is
apt to be taken as the measuring
stick The fact that it is growing
larger makes the problem serious.
There was no reference in what the
President said on the radio as to the
question of the increasing relief costs.
He merely stated that the relief rolls
were too large" but that they were
declining"
The official figures are interesting.
They are authorized by the F. E. r. A.
In January, 1885, there were 20,670,-
042 on relief in February, 20,523, ,042;
in March. 2O,440,O00. This is a
slight decline to be sure, reversal
Of tine trend but, a year ago January,
there were II ,102,452; a year ago Feb
ruary. 11,621, ,637. and, a year ago
March. there were 13,539 352. And all
this despite $4,000, 100000 Federal ex-
penditures on public works.
Anticipates Criticism.
4. "It must, however. be recognized
that when an enterprise Of this char
acter work relief is extended over
more than 5000 counties throughout
the Nation there may be occasional
instances of inefficiency. bad manage
ment or misuse of funds"
Mr. Roosevelt is here adopting the
device of anticipatory rebuttal-
knocking down in advance the crit
icisms that may come throughout the
country as a result of irregularities in
relief work or perhaps the use of po-
iitical influence. He emphasizes, how
ever, that he expects only "excep-
tional instances of wrong doing" Mr..
Roosevelt Is right when he says that
his long experience in Government
has taught him that instances Of cor
ruption in Government are probably
less numerous than ''in almost every
other line of endeavor." But this was
true when the civil service was really
in charge of Government work and
when personnel was selected much
more on a merit basis than 1t Is