The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1936-02-27

In connection with the Roosevelt
Business Mems League now being
Matched in the White House incubator,
but which, at the proper time, will be
sprung as perfectly spontaneous
proposition designed to convince anti
New Deal business men of the error of
their ways, there is certain interest
in the recent White House visit Of Mr..
Owen D. Young.
$50
Mr.. Young is the very able and dis
tinguished gentleman whom quite a
lot of people, some time back, would
like to have seen President. In those
days he was rather an idol of the big
business world and, to lesser extent,
still is. Also, he was Democrat. While
no one ever thought there was much
intellectual kinship between him and
Mr.. Roosevelt, after the latter's nom
nation, Mr.. Young in an admirably
reasoned statement came out for him.
In the light of the subsequent Roose-
welt policies, then unsupported even by
Mr.. Roosevelt, the reasons given by a
great many for supporting Mr.. Roose-
welt then seem rather ridiculous now.
To appreciate this all one has to do is
recall that magnificent speech of SEN
ator Glass the last month of the cam
paign, every word of which Mr.. Roose-
welt wired him he Endorsed, but every
word of which has been repudiated by
his financial policies.
But to return to Mr.. Young-for the
past three years he has been on the
outside looking in. There was at the
start some idea that Mr.. Roosevelt
might ask him to be in the Cabinet,
but that evaporated when the person
mel of the Roosevelt intimates was re-
vealed. Mr.. Young distinctly has not
been one of the Presidential advisers.
If, until last week, he has been called
to the White House for advice, it has
escaped the vigilance of the press.
Broad as is his tolerance, to think thai
Mr.. Young has been sympathtic with
the New Deal as a whole is to be
absurd, With various of it's objec-
tives-particularly it's "social security"
detectives, he has been of course. So
has everybody else. That is like being
for health and happiness. There is no
alternative.
But to believe that the enormous ex-
pansion of the Federal bureaucracy,
the great extension of the Federal
power, the grandiose Tugwellian
schemes for the More Abundant Life,
the late AAA, the unlamented NRA
and the numerous other futile and
foolish alphabetical monstrosities have
not checked him as an American and a
Democrat is in conflict with both the
public and private conception of the
man. The best evidence is the COM
pleteness with which his counsel has
not been sought. Additional evidence
is the fact that one of the closest polit-
ical friends and strongest supporters
of Mr.. Roosevelt is Senator Norris,
father of IVA. To Senator Norris,
Mr.. Young typifes the Power Trust.
Mr.. Norris is pledged to war until
death against the Power Trust, and his
faith in Mr.. Roosevelt is largely foun-
ded upon the belief that they feel the
same way on the subject
However, this is election year, and
Mr.. Roosevelt is disturbed over the
formidable solidity of the business in
terests against him. Accordingly he is
sending privately for various infu-
entail men from whom he has been
practically cut off for three years. Mr..
Young is just one of them. There have
been quite a few others. The fact is,
astonishing-in some cases, shocking
is not too strong a word-overture
have been made to various Democrats
of recognized antagonism. Some of
these have gone to the White House
and been captured; some have gone
but come away unchanged; others have
actually declined the secondhand sug-
gestion that the President would like
to talk with them.
***
None of the last class have been bus
mess man. The business men invaria-
bly, go. Despite previous painful ex-
periences with Mr.. Roosevelt and
warnings of both instinct and intelli-
gence, the potency of the White House
dose directly administered is such
that it has an effect upon all save the
most hardy. It is aimed directly at the
three qualities with which so many of
our Big Business leaders are heavily
endowed-to-wit vanity, timidity
and credulity.
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