Evening star., 1936-06-26

tacularly will ac-
cept his renom-
ination before a
NJ. s-u,- vast crowd at
Franklin Field. in
a speech which, 1t is said, will be full
OF surprises. This plan of swing
ing the country of its feet in one wild
week of convention oratory, coming to
q climax with an eloquent and ring
ing appeal by the candidate himself,
originated, 1t is understood, not with
the practical politicians. but with some
Of the more advanced thinkers of the
inner circle who have great weight
as advisers and who are responsible
for some Of the more daring OF the
New Deal experiments.
Kent, while a lifelong Democrat, Is
a bitter critic Of the New Deal. OBJ
viously it would be unfair to take a
critics forecast of what the New Deal
was about to do and on that alone
build a fresh criticism of the New
Deal. But there Is supporting evidence
that this was the intention with which
the New Deal managers began the
convention. One reason for believing
this Is that it comports with what the
New Deal Is.
Something Novel.
No one win be able to think cor
rectly about what is going on in Amer
lea until he first understands that the
New Deal is not the Democratic party.
Nor Is it a mere successor to the
Democratic party. It is not merely q
political party at all. It is something
America has never seen before. It is
a new order of society and govern
ment. 1t is only our unfamiliarity that
prevents America from seeing this.
Mr.. Roosevelt has used the phrase
new order" and stronger phrases, and
other New Dealers have been even
more fortnight in saying what they
proposed to bring about.
The New Deal is the American varia-
ton of the new order that has been
set up in three great European coun-
tries and some smaller ones. The term
New DEAL is the American equiva-
lent Of the term 'Fascism" in Italy,
the term "Nazi" in Germany and the
term Soviet" in Russia. I hasten to
add it is only the terms that are
equivalent, not the things themselves.
Centralized Power Essential.
The New Deal in final fruit would
not be identical with any one of the
three variations of the new order in
Europe. It would include some basic
principles and devices common to all
three. 1t would include especially the
essential element of enormous concen-
tration of power in the central govern
ment and in the individual at the
head of government. But the new
order. as brought to completion in
America, would contain some features
arising out Of our special circumstances
and traditions, just as in the three
European countries it has been modi-
fed by local conditions.
The New Deal, when and II COM
pleted, would be a social revolution.
Bringing about a revolution always
involves some degree of coup d'etat.
The coup can be with violence or
without violence. If without violence.
the coup must include some kind of
overwhelming manipulation of mass
psychology, an emotional sweeping of
the country off its feet. For this pur-
pose the radio, combined with the
right kind of personality and the right
gift Of emotional oratory, is largely
what Hitler relied on in Germany.
This technique of revolution without
violence is familiar to the more radical
New Dealers.
May Be Effected Tomorrow.
If this convention had gone accord
ing to the intention, and if Mr.. Roose-
welt tomorrow night should make the
right kind of speech, America might
have been swept so far into acceptance
of the New Deal as to make it clear
the New Deal would win the election
in November: and that, as everybody
must realize, would make the new
order in America an accomplished
thing.
But certain obstacles have inter-
vened. The convention has not gone
fully as planned. True, the program
that everything must be accepted, that
nothing be debated, has been fairly
well carried out. But If there was not
much debate, there was and is opposi-
ton and plenty of it. When Senator
Carter Glass of Virginia and others
- IL fn fn1 Ia
the Committee on Resolutions, when
they as Democrats refused to partici-
pate in writing platform which
should be not Democratic, but New
Deal, that was a passive resistance that
carries its own potency. There's
kick in the old mule yet. The Demo-
cratic party may again be Democratic.
South Fears Passing.
The whole South-at least the in
tellectual part of it, the editors, the
lawyers and judges and others-have
become aware that what they know
and prize as the Democratic party is
threatened with utter extinction. That
feeling pervades many of the State
delegations from all sections, even
though the delegations are made up
of Office holders to the extent of more
than go per cent. The more intel
lectual of the delegates are alarmed
and the others have not not been swept
with emotion as much as was con-
templated. Finding themselves cast
as at once puppets and spectators in
drama, the drama has not enraptured
them. Many Of them are bored. For
the purpose Of cumulative drama, they
are asked to stay five days for pro-
gram, which, as respects formal busi-
ness, was cut and dried and could have
been performed in day.. They want
to 90 home. Since Philadelphia Is
within q few hours distance of those
who come from the populous East,
many will not stay for the climax on
Saturday night. The galleries are
even less enthralled. Tickets for
President Roosevelt's speech tomorrow
night are being given away in hand
fuls.