Evening star., 1935-03-10
Long and Coughlin Cause Anxiety
In High Administrative Circles

as an answer TO prayer.
The father of the country's Blue
Eagle is a master of invective. AS a
phrase maker he has few equals. The
general is rough-and- tumble fighter
who rushes in where others fear to
tread and who makes an art of dress
ing down his opponents.
But the former N. r. A. admins
TRAITOR had left Washington and the
New Deal under trying circumstances.
He had been edged from the picture
by Donald Richberg and Frances Per-
kinS, Secretary of Labor. His going
was hailed by nearly all New Dealers
with great relief.
Today. when those he left behind
are beginning to shiver and wonder
what the future has in store for
them as a result of the attacks
launched by Senator Long and Father
Coughlin, Gen. johnson rides up TO
save them. He has become a hero
in the quarters that scorned him a
few short months ago.
The question now is: Will the
general from now on bear the burder
Of counter-attack against the forces
rallying around the wealth distri-
butors?
Many New Dealers hope he will.
Some of them believe he has precip-
itated the personal fight against
Father Coughlin and Huey Long too
early in the maneuvering. His at
tack will serve to draw the lines and
bring out the latent conflict between
the employer and the employed and
unemployed groups in the Nation.
Senator Long and the Detroit priest
now take on added Importance be-
cause of the attention they have re-
ceived.
Where is this battling to lead? What
does 1t mean to the country?
Answers vary with the viewpoint OF
the political experts who are ques-
toned. They are agreed. however,
that the President today finds himself
in a rather tough spot politically.
He is losing ground among the lib
eral and radical elements Of the
country. The voters on this wing
are turning to the CoughlinS and the
Longs, and according to present
plans, are to be offered a third party
candidate in 1886. 1t may be Senator
Burton K. Wheeler Of Montana. or
some other personality around whom
the left wingers can consolidate.
X X \ X
At the same time, it is questionable
whether Mr.. Roosevelt is gaining
ground among the conservatives of
the country. A solid bloc of $780,
900 voters stayed with the Republican
party in last November's election.
That number now is regarded by
G. 0. P. leaders as the irreducible
minimum. They are getting ready to
| lump into the fray and reorganize
their ranks for the 1885 battle.
Under those circumstances, the
President and his Democratic follow
ing find themselves in the middle.
Much comment Is heard about
moves made by the White House to
convince the conservative vote of the
country that its salvation lies in sup
port for Mr.. Roosevelt. But enough
other moves are made to keep those
same conservatives in fear of what
| the President may plan to do. Many
of them seem more inclined to trust
the Republican party.
In that case. 1886 could be an
other 1912, with the Democratic party
losing through radical Long
Coughlin third party combination,
Just as the Republicans lost as q re-
suit of Theodore Roosevelt's Bull
Moose campaign.
The possibilities in that situation
no longer are talked down in high
Democratic councils. Rather they
are believed to be causing worry as
far up the line as the White House
itself. Those worries would be dis
spelled by the sudden appearance of
a business revival. But that revival
Is not being taken for granted.
If it does not develop, Mr.. Roosevelt
will be called upon to do some fast
footwork to dodge the impact of a
drive to the left that readily could
open the way for a return of the Re-
publicans to power in November, 1896.
Copyright. 1887