Evening star., 1936-09-27

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stipulation limiting the amount Of
hogs to be raised. Right now, during
these very weeks when enormous
quantities Of wheat are being i'm
ported from abroad, Triple-A is pay
ing out money to farmers for not
planting wheat which, II it had been
planted, would have been harvested
last July or June. Up to June so last
the amount paid out by Triple-A for
not planting wheat last Fall was
| $45. .424 900.
Triple-A did make it crime for
any farmer to raise more potatoes
than the limited quota which Triple-A
said each farmer should raise. (This
potato part Of Triple-A did not really
take effect, for the Supreme Court in
validated the whole of Triple-A be-
fore potato control got under way)
Triple-A did buy up and kill 222.-
| 149 sows about to bear young; and
in addition 6,l88,7l7 little pigs; and
converted most Of the little pigs into
fertilizer. True. this hog killing op-
Grafton took place in 1888. True,
Triple-A claims that since the hog Is
. quick-breeding and quick-growing
animal the slaughter Of more than
5000, 900 in 1888 did not necessarily
reduce the hog crop Of 1896 and did
not necessarily affect the present
quantity Of ham and pork chops, nor
the price Of them. Whether to ac-
cept this assertion by Triple-A Is
matter Of Judgment. The stark fact
is that the number of hogs in the
United States today Is the smallest
at any time in this generation.
| Defense by Anticipation.
The most striking illustration Of
the administrations defensive psy-
chology, the strategy of defense by
nticipation-counter- attack in ad-
vance of attack-came directly from
the White House.
Late in the afternoon of Saturday,
September 19, newspaper correspond
ents at Washington were given a
statement by Mr.. Stephen Early. sec
retary to the President. Mr.. Early
made himself authority for the state
ment: it goes without saying, Of
course, that the authority Of Mr..
Early had come directly from Mr..
Roosevelt.
The statement said, in effect, that
my attention has been called to q
planned attempt" to make 1t appear
that the President passively accepts
the support Of alien organizations
hostile to the American form OF gov.
ernment. The President does
not want and does not welcome the
vote or support Of any individual or
group taking orders from alien
sources"
Such q statement from the White
House was, of course, sensational.
The explanation appeared the follow
ing morning, when Mr.. William r.
Hearst printed in his many news
papers excerpts from what was de-
scribed as report to Communist
party chiefs at Moscow from Earl
Browder, Communist candidate for
President and executive secretary Of
the Communist party of America.
With the material published in the
Hearst newspapers most OF the pub.
Lie Is familiar.
The White House advance repudia-
tion was carefully and accurately
phrased. It said that "the Presi-
dent does not want and does not vel.
come the vote or support of any in
dividual or group taking orders from
alien sources"
But the question-at least one Of
the questions-is: Are the Com.
munists In America supporting Mr..
Roosevelt for reelection? The fair
answer seems yes. I listened, with ex.
ceptional care. to an address Of .
tional Press Club at Washington by
Communist Candidate Browder. My
recollection Is that he said, in the
plainest possible words. that as re.
spects the present campaign the prin.
cipsl objective Of the Communists Is to
prevent the election Of Gov. Landon.
That Is, Of course, the same as saying
that the Communists principal OBJ.
jective in this campaign Is the re-
election Of Mr. Roosevelt. I do not
think Mr.. Browder will object to this
Interpretation Of what he said In
fairness, it should be added that Mr..
Browder was careful to say he did
not regard Mr.. Roosevelt as a Com.
munist or as having Communist
ideals; on the contrary he regarded
Mr.. Roosevelt as-I think this was his
phrase-"capitalist-minded" But Mr..
Browder said, as recall, that he felt
the Communist program in America
would be helped and hastened by re-
election of Mr.. Roosevelt. He felt
that II Mr.. Roosevelt we're reelected,
there would come about, by 1910, q
farmer labor party, and that upon
this the Communists could build their
own party.
The words and spirit of Communist
Candidate Browder on the occasion
when I heard him, are borne out by
much other evidence. 1t seems abun-
dainty fair to say that the Com
munists in this campaign wish re-
election of Mr.. Roosevelt. Not, re-
peat, that Mr.. Roosevelt of his own
intention would deliberately or for
mally promote the Communist cause.
It Is rather that the Communists, OBJ
serving Mr.. Roosevelt, what he does
and the forces to which he appeals,
think that the cause Of communism
would be advanced by reelection Of
him.
Incidentally, the White Houses
rather excited reputation, In advance,
of what Mr.. Hearst was about to pub
lish, must have given the publication
the utmost Of sensational publicity.
One wonders whether, as political
strategy, the Administrations cefen.
sive psychology Is the best for its In
terests.
(Copyright. 1850
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