Evening star., 1936-03-12
ROOSEVELT CALI
DISCOUNTS UNREST.
Friction Held Due Chiefly to
,TemperatmentaI Attitude
of Young Crusaders.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

toward his tasks, developed out OF
three years Of hard work and out Of
basic feeling now that, irrespective OF
mistakes and criticism, the direction Of
the country has been forward.
Persons who have conversed with
Mr., Roosevelt say he shows little sign
of deep worry and that he has more
noticeable Self-aSsurance about the
ultimate working out Of his programs
and policies than at any time since he
took ofiice. ..-
This attitude is not described as
buoyancy, but rather as maturity and
potse. Any one who studies the presi-
dental function from year to year
cannot but be impressed with the null
tiphcity of detail that envelops the
Job, and yet Mr.. Roosevelt has seemed
to relish the detail. His retentive
memory on facts that have been
brought to his attention long ago
and which crop up in discussions of
pending problems is remarked upon
aS one Of his best assets.
Large Margin of Error.
Mr.. Roosevelt is, of course, still a
paradox to his critics He Is repre-
sented at times as resenting criticism
and again as being rather influenced
by it. His inconsistencies in public
policy are not explained by him either
to his associates or to the public. Pos
sibly Mr.. Roosevelt feels that the whole
period of transition from depression
to recovery permits him large mar
gin Of error.
The picture of what Mr.. Roosevelt
really thinks and does is somewhat
obscured by the partisan nature of the
defenses that are frequently offered in
his behalf. Those who have had an
opportunity to talk effectively with
him about the whole course of events
in recent years indicate that he has a
good deal more realization of where
he has made his mistakes than he is
generally credited with possessing.
For example, Mr.. Roosevelt now
shows considerable concern about a
balancing of the budget and fiscal
program that will insure confidence.
1t was no accidental comment by Sec
retary Of State Hull in his speech last
week about the fact that the dollar
had been kept steady in the last two
years. Significantly enough, Mr.. Hull
did not attempt to speak on currency
stabiliZation in any casual manner
He pointedly repeated a remark Of
Secretary Morgenthau to the effect
that the world would find America
ready to discuss Stabilization when the
rest of the world was ready to do So
- Carried Full Approval.
- The Hull address was carefully pre-
pared in advance, Notwithstanding the
fact that it was delivered before a
political gathering. Unquestionably.
the speech had the full approval Of
the President and the Secretary Of the
Treasury.
From this incident and from what
Is being said privately in administra-
ton quarters, there seems little doubt
that Mr.. Roosevelt would like to have
the business people Of America believe
that he is as anxious for stability as
fhey are, and that, while he would
Aever allow the impression to grow up
that some of his reforms were just a
sop to radical opinion in the depths Of
Expression, there can be no doubt
from what he has said lately about
his own administration that Mr..
Roosevelt would like to feel that he
had at least made a start toward the
larger programs of social reform which
he thinks must be undertaken by
America if we are to keep pace with
9ocial reform throughout the world.
Mr.. Roosevelt's primary difhculty, of
course, is that he has given much
thought to the broad perspective Of
social reform, but has not applied him
self to the winning of his opponents
and especially the large number OF
hbnest-minded citizens with positions
al business responsibility who do not
regard his reform measures at this time
as constructive, but as destructive. Mr..
Roosevelt's answer, to be sure, Is that
reform which is delayed never gets
started. But 1t may well be remarked,
on the other hand, that reform is best
achieved when it is put into operation
by the very people who are impatient
Va 40 CAAAb04 1 dSoSA14C41tos
Opposition Not Cohesive.
The Presidents composure and his
feeling about the coming election Is
said to be derived in no small part
from the fact that the political oo-
position to him is not cohesive His
friendly talk with Senator Borah re-
Gently was a gesture of approval of a
candidacy which Mr.. Roosevelt re-
CARDS as in line with his own progress
Sive ideas. The President likes to con-
vey the idea that the struggle at the
moment is not between parties but be-
tween those who want reform and
those who are blocking it because it
may deprive them of pecuniary advan-
tages.
Unfortunately, the President Is
more or less cloistered and he is un-
aware OF how much progress can really
be made toward social reform If his
administration were to be made up OF
men with a practical idea of how to
administer governmental tasks. To-
day the administrative side of the Gov
ernment is the weakest factor in the
Roosevelt administration.
The friction, lack of coordination
and feuds and jealousies have been
characteristic perhaps of some past
administrations, too, but the chief
dificulty under the Roosevelt regime &
that the administrative type is rare
while there is an abundance of young
crusading officials whose tempera-
mental attitude frequently makes i'm
possible the kind Of consultations that
would be most useful in seeking to
work out tangled questions that re-
quire a knowledge Of human nature as
mall oS q acfiial acnrnrnic nrnnra finnr