Evening star., 1936-11-04
The Presidents Triumph.

Il uc L TcsIucIll triumph.
There is a sublime finality about a
national election that renders irrelevant
all but the result.
The result of yesterdays election is
another triumph for President Roosevelt
"a thunderous note of approval of his
administration and confidence in the
belief that what has been done and
what may be done under the Presidents
leadership is for the best interests of
the Nation.
To argue otherwise is merely to
bubble. The President has won as
great a personal triumph as any man
who ever sat in the White House before
him. His triumph takes on greater sig
nifcance by reason of the fact that his
leadership has been peculiarly personal
and the opposition and criticism of his
administration also has been peculiarly
personal. He has now won added honor
because his leadership has been sub
mitted to the acid test of a national
and positive-and the result is an over
whelming vindication at the hands of
his countrymen.
1t is well that the result, in both
popular and electoral majorities, is so
decisive-though the wine of such VIC
tory Is heady stuff. Because this cam
paign has produced highly emotional
ICED sentiment for and against the
President, a narrow margin of victory
for either contestant might have been
followed by unhappy evidences of bitter
ness that have no place in our form of
government, where the will of the ma
jority is the law of the land and our
ability to abide by the will of the
majority preserves our institutions of
government.
1t may have been better, in the
opinion of many who regard the good
of the country above all personal preju-
dices and preferences, had there been
substantial reduction in the size of the
House majority, thus interposing brake
on machine that in the past has shown
its proclivities for running wild and
which will doubtless show the same
tendencies in the future. But on the
basis of the returns available as this is
written, that will not be the case. The
Democrats will continue to enjoy great
majority in the House, with a possible
net increase in the already assured
Democratic control OF the Senate.
To the President, the completeness OF
his sweeping victory doubtless assumes
a solemn significance. A rough road,
indeed, lies behind him. In many re-
spects an even more treacherous road
lies ahead. Backed by national spirit
of desperation willing to try anything.
many of his efforts were marked by
easy victory in the period Of early re-
covery from the depression. From now
on there is the SOLDERING influence OF
realization that many Of the forces
loosed as depression dealing instruments
must be held in curb lest they outlive
their usefulness as servants and become
masters, tyrannical and alien in their
concepts. The President, more than
any other man, must realize the great re-
sponsibility that rests upon him now,
greater by far than that which he as
sumed in the beginning with never a
lack of real courage in its discharge.
Millions of those who voted for the
President yesterday were moved, no
doubt, by the thought Of the Nations
rapid recovery from the black depths
Of the depression under his vital-and
at times inspired-leadership. With
signs of recovery so manifest on every
hand, the question whether this s~fe-
covery is genuine or fictitious; the de-
bates over the wisdom or the error OF
past acts were more or less academic
as far as concerned their ability to
impress the people. To have voted
against the President, many must have
felt, would have been to exhibit deep
ingratitude indeed. Not necessarily true,
but a most convincing argument. At
any rate, it is over now. The President
will continue to lead for four more years.
Because of the sweeping nature of his
victory, the paths to be followed win be
largely of his own choosing.
For him, the prayers Of those who
trust him may well be prayers that
victory will find him humble even as
defeat would have left him unbowed.