Evening star., 1936-10-09
On the Record
Politics and Candor and Hopes and Problems Over
the Breakfast Table.

tide. And the tide Is inevitable. Note
also the line Let us then be up and
doing with heart for ANY fate
That's us. Old America rushing gal
lantly forward with an eye to any fate,
no matter what that fate Is. Making,
IN fact, q rendezvous with It,"
Anti-Yoter's Interest.
"Since you feel so deeply, I pre-
sumo you will vote for the Repub-
ncans"
MY enthusiasm Is insufficient to
propel me to the polls. There are
fewer bees in the Republican bonnet.
but there are more moths. do not
suffer acutely from nostalgia. / do
not long for the good old times and
the eternal simplicities, particularly
when they are preached by as astute
and self-protective a crowd Of citizens
as we possess. Besides, the challenger
Is a mystery. Apart from two old
ladies who have been dug up to
testify that they taught him school,
and my old friend, Bill White, he
seems to have passed unnoticed for
Al years. And for some peculiar rea-
son that seems to be an asset. 1t does
not move me. Not to action"
Nonsense. He is Governor of q
great State"
Nonsense nothing. Tell me the
name Of the Governor of Nebraska"
Then I can only conclude that
you are one of those revolutionists who
will fearlessly risk 10 minutes of his
crossword puzzle time to cast a pro-
test vote for Browder. Lemke or
Norman Thomas"
Your instinct for error Is some
thing for Freud and Walter Pitkin to
investigate. Again, no. Thomas rep
resents social democracy, which how-
cred perfectly and got frost bitten in
Germany and Austria. Lemke Is not
q candidate. He is an actor in q play
written by Huey Long, financed by
Townsend, directed by Coughlin and
still ably press agented, although it
expired a month ago, by Gerald
Smith. And Browder, the Communist,
announces that Moscow no longer
intends to absorb us, but Is jealous to
support us as part Of popular front,
along with the Siamese nudist junta,
the Finnish bath cult, the interesting
movement for the independence of
Hollywood under Upton Sinclair and
Will Hays and all other forward
looking efforts. In fact. the Commu-
nists have become altogether too low
ing-as Zinoviev recently discovered"
Right Man Exists.
Just another totally destructive
thinker. suppose you think you
could have picked some better candi-
dates"
II do indeed"
so. And whom would you pick?"
Il would pick a man of learning; a
man of authentic learning. Some one
who has some time or other gone
through serious mental discipline and
has got out of it the kind of freedom.
courage and wisdom that such mental
discipline gives a man. Some one,
also, who is doer. An executive.
But not business man. Nobody with
the buying -and-selling mentality.
Some one who knows the world, the
big world, and has had to compete in
it. Some one who has had wide
experience in getting on with many
sorts of people. in conciliating and
adjusting"
II suppose you think the country
is teeming with such people"
mot teeming. But they exist. There
is, for instance. Mr.. Robert Hutchins.
A scholar. An historian. lawyer.
A gallant soldier. Dean of the Yale
Law School at 20. President Of the
University of Chicago at 80. Modern,
but not cracked. Turned a great in
stitution upside down to adapt it to
modern needs, and didn't break any
eggs in the process. Has to be a
financier. But not as an end in itself.
Understands the thought and the
Of the world. Has to get
on with all sorts of people. Genuinely
superior man. Now, imagine picking |
a President because he's just home |
body, Just a practical, common-sense |
fellow like you and me. no more
want an average man like me govern
ing this country than I want my cook
to make coffee just like mother used |
to make. If she can't do better than
that I'd fire her"
Nothing Wrong.
"You seem to me utterly frivolous.
Do you think there is nothing wrong |
with this country? Don't you think |
we need a program"
There is nothing wrong with this
country. 1t is Western mans best
break in history. But there is lots
wrong with us. We Americans have
delusions of grandeur. And the pro-
gram is to get us over it. All this