Evening star., 1936-07-02
Member Of the Associated Press.
Hamilton Attacks.


The campaign is on, the issues have
been Joined by the adoption of the party
platforms in Cleveland and Philadelphia
and the nominations of Landon and
Roosevelt John Hamilton chairman OF
the Republican National Committee IN
his first political address since the con-
clusion of the Democratic National Con-
yention, delivered last night in Colum-
bus, undertook to compare the platforms
and the presidential candidates OF the
two major political parties. In his COM
harrison he made the charge that the
Democratic platform was "Mr. Roose-
yelt's personal document" Whether 1t
be or not is not so material as the con-
tent Of the platform.
Into their platform the. Democrats
or Mr.. Roosevelt-wrote a declaration
that only the Federal Government can
deal effectively with the social and
economic problems which confront the
people of America today. They tossed
aside the old philosophy Of Thomas
q
that the best governed country is that
which is least governed. They said, as
specifically as they said anything, that
the Federal Government was to be-
come more and more the administrator
of the affairs Of the people. Nothing
could have been more indicative that
the Democratic party, as dominated by
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New
Dealers, has abandoned its old antag-
onism to centralized government in
Washington and its support of the doc
trine that the individual States shall
deal with the problem of the people.
Mr.. Hamilton, speaking of the Demo-
cratic platform, said that there is no
confidence shown by Mr.. Roosevelt'S
document in the ability Of the citizens
to solve their own problems; every one
is invited to look to Government, to the
Roosevelt administration and particu-
larly to Mr.. Roosevelt himself" And
Mr.. Hamilton added that "the platform
written in Washington and adopted at
Philadelphia seeks chiefly to hypnotic
the voters into returning a particular
political individual and his clique to
power"
The Republican party, according to
Mr.. Hamilton, prefers to mobilize the
self-reliance that has for $50 years in
every generation built and rebuilt Amer
lea" He added that the Republican
party insists that the Government must
keep open the door of opportunity, al
though it recognizes a broad field in
which Government regulation is both
needed and salutary.
Mr.. Hamilton is developing a tech
nique in his political speeches. He
praises Landon. the Republican nominee,
for failing to have qualities or for fail
ing to act along certain lines. The i'm
plication is Immediately apparent that
Mr.. Hamilton is accusing President
Roosevelt of having these qualities and
of having done the things which the
Republican chairman is attacking. Yet
Hamilton does not use the name of the
Democratic candidate in making these
comparisons. For example, discussing
Landon last night, Mr.. Hamilton said:
HE does not believe in elaborate
phrases for he has nothing to hide; he
does not engage in personal abuse, for
there is no bitterness in his nature; he
does not seek to divide men into classes,
for, like the majority of our citizens, he
does not admit the existence, in this
country, of the foreign creed of class"
The Republican chairman had few
words to say about the Democratic Ma
tional Convention just closed and that
of the G. o. P. The two conventions
we're different" he argued, which was
fortunate for the Nation" He said that
II the Republican National Convention
had been composed of professional poll
ticians, holding Government or party
jobs, it would have been just too bad
for the country. And he was critical
of the order OF business" in the Phila-
delphia convention, "mummers' parades,
vaudeville skits and bathing beauty con-
tests" Mr. Hamilton might have criti-
cised the Democrats for taking five days
in Philadelphia to do what they could
have done in two at the outside; he
might have spoken also of the ordeal of
the fifty-odd seconding speeches made
from the convention platform for
Roosevelt. The Democrats will have to
live down the effect on the country of
that spectacle, If they can.