Evening star., 1936-07-25


able rival to
President Roosevelt.
The criticism mostly heard was that
the speech did not offer any formula
or alternative that could be accepted
as concrete evidence of future policy,
though it was conceded that In a
3,50O-word address everything could
hardly be compressed that would deal
with national problems. 1t was re-
called, of course, that Mr.. Roosevelt
and his associates in the Government
have been expressing through many
hundreds of thousands Of words on
the radio and in press statements the
many details of governmental policy
and that an articulate opposition did
not in reality appear until Gov. Lam
don accepted the leadership OF the
Republican party Thursday night.
Some See Shrewd Speech.
Here in Washington, where there
Is an intimate knowledge OF Gov
ernment problems, it is probably nat
ural that the Republican nominees
speech should be scrutinized more
carefully than elsewhere. There were
some New Dealers who thought Lam
don had made shrewd speech. In
fact. some called 1t a clever kind OF
evasion of dominant issues very much
after the fashion of other candidates
who follow the theory OF saying as
little as possible that will offend and
as much as possible that will please
the listeners.
One interesting comment from an
administration official who is not only
fair minded but who has been paying
attention to radio somewhat was that
Gov. Landon had improved 100 per
cent in his radio delivery, but that
he was far from the finished speaker
that President Roosevelt is on the air.
Criticisms of the radio delivery
we're rather numerous. The Cover
nor was said to have failed to enun-
ciate words clearly, rather sliding
over important syllables. Also. it was
declared that the Governor did not
punctuate his speech with enough
pauses at the periods so that the lis
tener could carefully grasp the
thought. There was at times an
unfortunate quickening of the pace
and again a slower and more delb-
crate delivery. It is the latter which
is the more effective on the radio.
49,. Some See Earnestness.
Those who heard Landon speak
several months ago and also this
week declared he had improved his
delivery great deal. 1t is curious
how many who commented, spoke OF
the speech as perhaps reading better
than it sounded, whereas there were
several admirers Of Landon who in
sisted that the delivery, while not
spectacular, was as good as average
and that it reflected sincerity and
earnestneSs.
These points are important noWo-
days because they relate to the radio
personality of a candidate. Every in
tonation, every form of emphasis,
eveE pause and measured punctua-
ton gives the listener an impression
of radio speakers personality. While
the politicians may not like it, they
are going to be more and more con-
cerned With how the radio speaking
Is done than they ever used to be
about speeches made in big audi
forums. incidentally the speeches be-
fore big mass meetings were invart-
ably flop in the old days. Few can
didates could stand up before the
large crowds and hold them longer
than few minutes.
!. Survived Then, However.
Again and again President Wilson
was annoyed by the way crowds that
had gathered in large halls would
start moving away after he had be-
gun speaking. This was, of course,
mostly due to the absence of loud
speaking devices in those days. But
the point is that candidates survived
then their inability to impress large
audiences. Whether candidates speak
ing over the radio can today afford to
ignore the essentials of a proper elo-
cution and delivery Is doubtful. Mr..
Landon probably will improve his
radio delivery as the campaign pro-
gresses. Herbert Hoover was a poor
radio speaker in 1882, but he is much
better in 1896.
The sum total of the comments and
the discussion hereabouts is that Gov.
Landon made some gains by his
speech and that he aroused an even
greater curiosity as to what he will
say in subsequent addresses when he
takes UP labor, for instance, and de-
votes and entire speech to that sub
ject, or when he outlines in detail, In
. separate speech, exactly how he
intends to handle the relief problem
Il elected.
(Copyright, 1860