Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-07-14
BY MARX SULLIVAN.

Is SLlll SaIeSG 10 assume LnoL Mr.
Roosevelt VIII get denomination
from the Democrats. For tense few
hours last week il seemed possible he
might not. The split between him and
his party in the House was not an
ordinary division within. a party. Be-
hind it lay recognition of the fact
that Mr.. Roosevelt, his advisers and
his policies are rs far removed from
the Democratic party as from The Re-
publican-that they are indeed far
removed from any political party that
America has ever known.
1t Is still possible Mr.. Roosevelt
may not be renominated. To express
it with some refinement of words we
might say that The Democratic party
will not renominate Mr.. Roosevelt,
but that Mr. Roosevelt, because of the
patronage at his disposal, because OF
the obligations OF appointive Office
holders all over the country 70 him,
because of his coltrol of the relief
funds, which compose what Cemo-
cratic Frank Kent has called 1.-The
AdA sou campaign 1ltlO III y,
and because of some ether reasons of
leverage and neutrality-suspicious. of
these factors M Roosevelt may be
able to get himsel: renominated. The
possibility of dropping him will recur
and grow.
One Of the shrewdeSt politicians in
Congress, who happens to be not a
Republican nor a Democrat, but a
representative of the small third-party
groups, offered recently to oct that
the Democrats will no. renominate Mr..
Roosevelt. Willingness of one man to
make comparatively small bet is, of
course, slight as i sign of the future.
Changes Occur Daily.
The situation changes from day
to day. At the time this article is
written it may be stated thus: The
Democratic party leaders would greatly
prefer TO renominatc Mr.. Roosevelt
if that course is practicable at all.
They are as reluctant as the leaders
OF any party always are to drop a
President serving his first term. Mr..
Roosevelt may be abe to force his
own denomination even against the
wishes of the leaders. In the mmost
minds of most Of the leaders, their
mood is one which would deny re-
nomination to Mr.. Roosevelt unless
he is willing 20 be Democrat un-
less he is willing to get rid Of the
coterie who now initiate his strangely
assorted policies, and unless ne is
willing to make up his policies in con-
ference with the regular party leaders.
Until the Democratic National Con-
vention actually meets next June, it
Will be in1prudent to dismiss the pos
sibility that the Democrats may re-
fuse denomination TO Mr. Roosevelt
His policies include an immense re-
cuction of the rights of the several
States to exercise government within
their own borders. The aim of the
New Deal includes making America a
"totalitarian" nation, of the type
common to Germany, Italy and Rus
STA. a nation in which power is CEN
tered in one national capital Tc
achieve that in America would mean
wiping out most of the areas of power
in which each of the 48 States now
governs itself.
This purpose Is no longer merely
latent in the New Deal program.
With the Presidents expression of re-
sentiment against the recent Supreme
Court decisions, the purpose of taking
away rights Of the States became
clear The President is still indis-
posed to state this purpose plainly
and make it clear issue. If he and
the country were to face the issue di-
rectly, the New Dealers would intro
duce an amendment to the Constitu-
ton taking away rights from the
States and transferring them to the
Federal Government. BY this process
the issue could be fought out as
plainly in the eyes of the people as
the amendment setting up national
prohibition. and the later amendment
repeating national prohibition.
Court Action Resented.
This. apparently, Mr.. Roosevelt is
unwilling to do. His purpose seems
to be to create a condition in which
there will be widespread dissatisfac-
ton with the Supreme Court for deci-
sions in which it sustained the rights
Of the States. Some of the statutes
recently enacted by Congress under
pressure from the President, and
some he still insists Congress must
pass, are, In their existing forms, so
plainly unconstitutional as to leave
the Supreme Court no choice but to
declare them so.
One of these statutes, the A. A. A.
amendments, If declared unconStitu
tional by the court, may be expected
to create dissatisfaction among farm
ers. Another, the labor disputes law
may be expected to irritate organized
labor. Yet another, the bill for CEN
tralization of the coal industry, may
be expected to provoke all labor in
the coal industry and part of the
ownership interests. Yet another, the
public utility holding company meas
ure, may be expected to cause diSSat-
isfaction among all radicals, especially
those who wish to achieve Govern
ment ownership of public utilities as
a start toward Government ownership
Of industry generally. The sum of all
these dissatisfactions would make a
considerable body of support for Mr..
Roosevelt's project for changing the
Constitution and limiting the power of
the Supreme Court. 1t would also
make a large body of support for Mr..
Roosevelt in the election next year.
Then Mr.. Roosevelt, if reelected,
could proceed with the fundamental
changes he says frankly he has in
mind.
South Cherishes Rights.
Now the point is, all this means TAX
ing away many of the rights of the
States. And the further point is that
leaders of thought in the South are
aware of this, or soon will be. To the
South States rights is the most dearly
cherished of political principles. And
the South knows that the best place to
make their fight to retain States
rights is within the Democratic party.
I L