The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-06-04


the effects of the decision. alleg-
ing that everything the Govern.
ment has done or proposes to do,
is in danger. He even suggested
that he might abandon crop con-
troll, and that wheat and cotton
prices would tumble.
If he succeeds in stirring up
enough popular sentiment of this
sort, he will head a party whose
main plank would be grant of
greater power to himself, and
whose ammunition would be more
promises to give everybody more
abundant life"-or something.
But note this: Whether his new
move succeeds or not, he will soon
be putting through his must"
bills with but little change. He
will soon be claiming to salvage
much of the NRA. He will keep
on with crop control and the
general AAA program. and will
not let wheat and cotton prices
fall to any such levels as he
mentioned.
Something like this will de-
velop, and will show that his re-
cent bitterness and pessimism
merely represented chagrin and
design to find a new political
issue.
I think that the Presidents
course depends largely upon the
course of business, but is com.
plicated by the fact that it will
affect business. At present, the
gradual recession in business
continues, and seems likely to
carry through July. But many
observers agree that the chances
for fall recovery have been
bright. Let us consider the
alternatives which the business
situation presents to the politi-
clan.
If business were to stabilize
soon and to show prospects of a
good recovery toward the year
end, Mr.. Roosevelt could do one
of two things. Cd He could re-
main sulky, and assert that his
pet measures have been killed. In
that event, the people would well
come recovery just the same, and
forget the New Deal and its
leader.
CD He could yield, and come
along" He could conform to the
Constitution and still save much
of his program, and he could then
claim credit for business recovery
Though maybe the people would
decide that the recovery was
helped most by the courts de-
ciSion).
My guess is that he would
naturally prefer the latter role.
(And note that if he goes so far
as to inject an active anti-Constt"
tuition issue into the campaign, he
will greatly increase uncertainty
and thus endanger business re-
coveryO
Suppose that business recession
were to go further than now antici-
pated, and that much recovery
UAAAo 4d1 WC4G w oCC1AA ul4AAhCAJS
Then the question would be: Cd
Would the people lay the blame
upon the Supreme Courts de-
cision? Or ca would they lay the
blame upon the New Dealers?
Mr.. Roosevelt may try to
establish an alibi, nd to shift
the blame to the court and the
Constitution. But will he seek
to amend the Constitution? ID
That would tend to prolong un.
certainty and keep business
down. ~ 1t would subject Mr..
Roosevelt to the danger of being
the leader of "the party in
power" in an election year when
business is bad. ~ 1t would
bring the risk of new political
alignment and split party.
On the other hand, if he bows
to the court, and loyalty works
for recovery, he will ~ admit
serious errors of judgment, ~
run the danger that recovery
would be attributed to the courts
adverse decision, ~ reduce pub
lie interest in his reforms" az