Milford chronicle., 1936-12-04
ECONOMIC KIGHLlGHTS
Happenings That Affect Dinner Pals,
Dividend Checks And Tax Bills
Of Every individual

AooAA III HIS ODDOACHL6 10 DE DlLle
or his critics to cavil. It is so over
whelming that aiibis, analyses anC
explanations seem foolish. The only
thing to do is cheerfulIy accept thu
result with wonder that it was pos
sible to be so blind before the cleo
tion TO the irresistible nature of thC
combination of sentiment and forces
behind him"
So wrote Frank Kent, one OF the
most fortnight of Roosevelt critics
This view is generally held by the
professional publicists who support,
ed Landon. Those who supported
the President say with justice that
they anticipated the result, that il
was inevitable-though most of them
were surprised by the extent of the
victory.
For the sake of the record, here
is how the great battle of 1886 came
out: The President carried 46 states
for a total of 523 electoral votes
Governor Landon carried states
with 8 electoral votes. The popular
vote gave the President a majority
oil about 10000, ,000-26,000 900 to 49,
100000 for his opponent. It was the
most decisive electoral college vic
tory since the two-party system be-
came well established.
So far so good. But when it comes
to guessing why Mr.. Roosevelt
achieved the unprecedented, there is
considerable difference of opinion,
especially in the Republican camp.
Thus, Walter Lippman, who sup
ported Roosevelt in 1882 but turned
to Landon in the last campaign, has
written that the campaign was more
OF less normal-that it simply prov
ed the truth of the old adage that
an incumbent is unbeatable in a pc
riod of industrial improvement Mr..
Lippman also says that if the solid
south-which no Republican can
hope to carry under any circum-
stance-is eliminated from consider
alton, such Republican candidates
as Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover,
won just as handily.
On the other hand, famed William
Allen White, one of Landons closest
advisors, sees the election very diff
ferently. He believes that lit was
not Just an election which the coun-
try has just undergone, but a politi-
cal Johnstown food. The dam gave
way which has been slowly filling
for 40 years, fed by the waters of
Organism, of Theodore Roosevelt's
progressivisIn, Of LaFollette's Wis
consin insurgency, of Wilsonian lib
eralism, of the progressive bloc in
the Senate under the Administration
OF Harding, Coolidge and Hoover.
The waters of the New Deal cover
the earth. Republicans did not heed
the warnings"
Generally speaking, this view is
widely held. In addition, practically
all commentators agree that the Re-
publican campaign was inept and
badly handled, that the party organ
ization was about as bad as it could
be, and that Landon and his advisors
failed to make the best of the SIT
uation. By contrast, the Democratic
machine under Jim Farley was a
marvel of efficiency and effective
ness. There was no waste motion
everything worked with the precision
of a series of relay switches.
Furthermore, it is difficult to ex-
aggerate the political importance of
the Presidents personality. A nat
ural born speaker, he has the rare
faculty of establishing a personal
relationship between himself and
the voters. AS many point out, no
one in the political history of the
last century has had so great a grip
on the emotions of millions of Amer |
ican citizens.
The important question to be ans
future Roosevelt policies take? And
here again there is a wide difference
OF opinion, even in the Presidents
own camp. Supported as he is by
amazingly varied groups, no one but
the Chief Executive himself can ans
wer that question Thus, one New
Deal group is of the opinion that /
the President is likely to take
conservative course, now that bust |
ness has recovered much of the |
ground lost during depression, and
will refrain from new experiments.
This is a small group
Another group feels that the Presi-
dent will swing sharply to the left,
and go whole hog along the path of
a socialist or collectivist or fastict
program. This too is small
The largest group, and the one
which seems best informed and
closest to the White House, feels {
that the second Roosevelt Admins
tration will follow middle-of-the-
road course-that the President will |
the difficult job of holding ,
the balance between radicalism on !
the one hand and reaction on the ,
other. In other words. they feel ,
that he will try TO maintain gov
capitalism - and
at the same time keep the left-wing-
ers as cOntented as possible.
At this writing, the President HIM
self has given but one indication of J
future policy, that was his state
nent that the budget will soon be
step which, if achieved,
will naturally be regarded as con-
and will be lauded by in
lustfy. He seems to feel that bet
er conditions make it possible to {
'educe government relief spending
~ a considerable amount This saw
ng, plus the increase in tax income l
hat results from improved indus '
rial earnings and higher taxes, may {
10 away with Federal deficits.
Es% =
Not even in the boom days was |
here such surge of extra divi- {
ends, wage increases and employee t
onuses as this season. Corporate a
Industry is pouring out money to its 8
tockholders and workers in unpre- h