, 1935-01-15
The World
At Glance
By LESLIE EICHEL
Central Press Staff WRITER


Roosevelt easily could become a
dictator. Present congressional ma
jorities give him the power. :
He could obtain the power by will
OF the people. He would not have
TO vitiate or liquidate parliamentary
opposition. as III Italy. or Germany,
or Austria. Russia never had any
TO amount to anything.
But President Roosevelt is a DEM
ocratic a~ristocrat. Democracy, even
liberalism. lives longer in a true
a%riStocrat Of a republic than in
virtually any other person except
the man who Is a pure democrat for
the sake OF democracy alone.
Among those who seek the pure
democracy. we think OF Senator
George Norris Of Nebraska, or Nor
man Thomas. an intellectual who
towers far above the Socialist party
or Professor John Dewey Of Colum-
bia university. TO name q few.
President Roosevelt is eager to
maintain a status quo, in spite of
the New Deal.
He Is for the maintenance OF ~
vate profit. But he wouBl seek a
more equal division Of the under
privileged with the ver-priyileged.
Actual accomplishment. however,
Is not simple. First there Is COM
promise with n side. then the
other. That is TO maintain peace,
and to provide security" for "a re-
sumption OF business"
Thus. in effect, the New Deal be-
comes a cloak Of shreds and patches
and bitter cold seeps through Ia
chill the bones.
II is becoming increasingly diff
cult for President Roosevelt to find
a path.
That is not strange - in a nation
OF lbs. 100000 persons, in a world
torn by conflicting emotions.
But each day lost in the attempt
TO find a path makes the eventual
task all the more difficult. all the
more painful.
President Roosevelt may sense
that a w,Ik relief program is not a
solution. a way out. But what is
the way?
1t is not merely through old age
pensions. job insurance or health
insurance.
II is not through monetary tinker
ing, or initiation. or crop restrlc-
tion or bonuses.
The president. deep at heart land
he is a man Of deep understanding
realizes that there Is a more fun
damental clash in the United States
than all that.
He realizes that the father Cough
Inns and the Huey Longs have struck
the sensitive chord when they say
there must be a distribution Of in
come.
But he realizes, too, that this Is
a trick phrase. leading people TO be-
lieve that redistribution of wealth
Is a mere matter Of passing a few
laws.
President Roosevelt knows that
fundamentally. the whole profit Sys-
tenn would have to 90. and that the
state, not the individual. would be-
leone paramount. (True, students
say that the state would be para
mount for the benefit OF the peo-
pie as a whole rather than for a few
but the fact remains there would
have to be a revolutionary change IN
the concept Of American govern
ment.)
In a sease. President Roosevelt is
puttinF off such a decision. He en-
lows life SIS IL Is: he Is Tor peace
he would have a better status quo
Can He?
The question arises. Can Presi-
| dent Roosevelt. through vigorous
surface activities, postpone the Is
sue?
solidifying. on each side, to force a
test on this fundamental issue
Those groups will become increas-
inalv voluble. There are not only
the Father Coughlin and Huey Long
followers, but the National Manu-
I~facturers association, the American
Federation OF Labor, the American
LEGION. the Townsend old age PEN
sion advocates, the United states
Chamber OF Commerce, and scores
or others. -.
The A. r. Of L. believes that the
nresident's status quo course VIII
bring fascism and a complete en-
lslayement OF labor. IL cites a idrse
humber Of instances under the New
Deal in which 1t says rights not only
have not been strengthened, nu'
vitiated. 1t looks like fear upon re.
cent New Deal labor policies. Ano
Il fears, too, that labor Will con
limpatient with a too-tolerant a. =.
OF L. and organize a more initial
group.
The National Manufacturers asso-
citation Is equally vehement. IL calls
for virtually a cooperative state, Dy
which the employer and the state
govern. There would be no strike
THAT would be the fascism o. lIaiS'
Of austria.
lThey are quoted only because lhe
present the immediate problem.
Well-known protagonists, however,
Drohablv will not be the ones 10
rcrce the issue. In fact, they, also
shv from Il as too hot. W.
The issue IS more likely 10 DC
Drought to a climax through some
,rrular catch-phrsse uttered III .
moment CT sudden en- n essIacy
perhaps by a person :. does MOI
even know what he Is saying. or It's
signillcance-