Evening star., 1936-08-16
ROOSEVELT SEEN LOSING
MOST TO UNION PARTY
To Feel Brunt of Coughlin and Gerald
SmitlfAttacks, Sullivan Says-Louisi.
anan Called Master Orator.


party and Father CoughIin and
Rev. Mr.. Smith are hazard on Mr..
RooSevelt'S course. They are more
than merely one hazard, they compose
a mobile opposition army which will
meet Mr.. Roosevelt every step Of the
way.
1t is possible that distant history
may give Mr.. Roosevelt credit for
holding Huey Long and Father Cough
lin and the other extreme radicals to
him during the early stage Of his
administration. His friends claim he
| did 1t to hold them in line until the
worst danger of the depression was
over. to keep them placated in order
to prevent violent revolution and
give him time to conduct moderate
one. Be that as it may, the fanatic
fringe Of Mr.. Roosevelt's original body
Of support are now his bitterest enc
mics.
Calls Self Symbol"
have said that Rev. Mr.. Smith
represents the new Union party, and
within that party represents the
Townsend clubs, the Share-t1e-
Wealth clubs and the National Union
for Social Justice. But those are
merely titles of organizations. What
Rev. Mr.. Smith really represents he
told in his own words, and his way
of telling it was good.
Il am symbol. I am a symbol
Of state of mind. When politicians
and practitioners on the gullibility of
the population everyday their hand
certain nerve centers in the national
population begin to scream-and l
am one of the yellers." More ex-
plicitly he stated: II have lived for
many years with the masses. know
the people of America. under
stand certain section of the great
forgotten group of middle class people
and poverty-stricken people in the
United States of America, and be-
cause of my understanding of these
people I am interested in this CAM
paign. We come as symbols
from a group. We know how our
people live and We know what our
people want. say to America,
hear my cry, for it is the cry of
75,O00,000 poor people in America"
In short, with due allowance for
oratorical exaggeration. Rev. Mr..
Smith speaks for, and to, the forgot
ten man-the real forgotten man.
Mr. Roosevelt's forgotten man" was
largely a figure of speech.
Rev Mr.. Smith says he represents
the masses Of forgotten men. What
does he promise them? What Is
his thesis, and the thesis of Father
c. ;ghlin. Candidate Lemke, and the
Union party?
AS I gather from Rev. Mr. Smiths
speech, it is something like this:
He thinks the Roosevelt administra-
ton is taking America into COM
munism. and he thinks of himself
as leading a counter-revolutionar
movement to hold America to its old
form of society and government. AS
a part of the communism which he
charges the present administration
is taking us into, he sees religion men
aced. 1t is in behalf of religion that
the Protestant Rev. Mr.. Smith and
the Catholic Father Coughlin have
united. Certainly religion figures
large in their thesis. There is a dis
tinct consciousness of defending re-
ligion, all religions. Mr.. Smith calls
attention to what communism. and
also fasciSm, have done to religion in
Europe They fear for religion in
America. Russia is oozing over into
the United States. Spain is splashing
over into America. Church-burning
PHILOSOPHERS are in our midst" Mr..
Smith described President Roosevelt
and the brain trust as being sympa-
thetic toward Russia He saw to it
that Russia was recognized in a way
that made America feel that we
looked upon Russia as a iustiflable
form Of government, and then he
surrounded himself with every pink
half-wit I" /" We find these little pale
eyed fellows sitting arovnd saying.
oh, how lovely-you mustn't feel
that way toward Russia If you
think the humble Catholic priest and
the humble German Lutheran preach
er and the old-fashioned Baptist and
Methodist preacher-if you think
these old pulpit-pounding boys are
going to keep still in :he presence of
their Cthe administrations Russian
flattery, you have another guess"
Yes, Rev. Mr.. Smiths speech is
what we call "rabble rousing" But
under the spell of his oratory one
felt there was something fine and to
some extent justified, in the indig-
nation with which he answered those
who call him a "rabble- -rouser."
"If you say the flag you are a rab-
ble-rouser. The very first reference
to the Stars and Stripes makes you a
rabble -rouser. And never refer to the
Bible; never refer to the Constitu-
ton. That makes you a demagogue
and a rabble-rouser."
He is passionate against commu-
nism, passionate against Mr.. Roose-
welt and the brain trust, because he
thinks they are taking America toward
communism. What he Is for. what
ever Is his constructive philosophy
did not clearly emerge in this speech.
I gather he would make farmers Sc
cure in their possession of farms.
His philosophy about money seems to
be that the money-changers juggle 1t.
that there is some hocus-pocus about
the creation of credit money which
small group Of the powerful manipu-
late to their advantage and to the det-
riment Of the mass. One gathers that
he makes distinction between money
wealth and tangible wealth in the
form of land and goods. And one
gathers he is conservative in the sense
of preserving the right to own private
property and be safeguarded in the
ownership.
But there was really very little in
this particular speech of Mr.. Smith
to reveal the philosophy Of the Union
party. 1t was mainly bitter attack
against Mr.. Roosevelt. And I OBJ
served that when. after listening to
the speech I read a stenographic re-
port of it in the quiet of my Office, ]
found the written words less moving
opd o1fooether laSs tnpresSivn than