Evening star., 1936-11-22
BY Jay G, HAYDEN.


- ing to the Nation at large. but
1t Is a chief cause for gloom
Il among Republican party lead
ers. as disclosed in the consultations
that have been held over the ele-
phant's remains here this week.
AS one of the party leaders ex-
pressed it:
"The Republican party lived for its
first 40 years on the slavery issue and
for another 40 years on the full din
rer pail. Now 1t looks as though Pres
ident Roosevelt has stolen that pail"
The Republicans by no means have
given up the ghost. The signs are
that they will find enough contributors
am,og the 100000 who voted for
Gov. iSndon to maintain a skeleton
organiza con to await any swing in the
national pendulum that might be to
their advantage. But quite a few Of
the party leaders admit that, If Presi-
dent Roosevelt nov elects to ride the
prosperity wave rather than pursue
policies such as would tsnd to obstruct
economic advance. he may In the next
four years leave the Republican party
very little upon which to rebuild.
Must Revise Ideas.
These leaders are inclined to con-
= cede also that the Republican party,
If 1t is to stage comeback, must rad
ically revise its ideas One primary
cause of the present overwhelming de-
feat they agree. was that the party
smacked too much of entrenched
wealth. Gov. Landon realized this sit
uation and attempted to dissociate
himself from the ultra-conservatives,
but the latter were too strong for him.
Particularly in the East, the Old
Guard succeeded in maintaining its
hold on the party machinery, a fact to
which is attributed the sharp swing to
President Roosevelt in that section of
the country in the last days of the
campaign
The feeling on this latter score was
indicated in an editorial this week in
the news letter, official publication of
the Republican State Committee Of
New York. which said:
1T would seem obvious that, be-
tween now and January |, the Re-
publican position on social security
legislation. other social welfare bills
and labor bills must have definite con-
sideration. Having scanned the elec-
ton results. it should be apparent
that the people are thoroughly in SYM
pathy with the social philosophy and
policies of President Roosevelt and,
this being so, there seems to be little
point in continuing to oppose measures
which have popular support"
If present indications hold, the
policy of Republicans in Congress will
accord very closely with this editorial.
Certainly. there will be little opposi-
ton to any social measures President
Roosevelt may propose in the next few
months.
Must Win Over Democrats.
Stating the situation in different
way, 1t is obvious that the Republicans.
before they can regain control Of the
Government, must win over a large
number Of those people who now call
themselves Democrats. Which means
that creation of effective opposition
to the administration must await
split in its present following,
In the early stages Of this years
campaign there was much talk OF a
coalition of Republicans and con-
servative Democrats. This movement
failed to materialize in a big way,
largely, as 1t appears, because the
Republicans were unwilling to make
any material concessions to Demo-
cratic insurgents either as to policies
or party management. Quite few
people believe, for example. that the
turning point in the campaign was
Gov. Landon's speech at Mime
apolis, in which he attacked the
tariff policy of the conservative Sec
retary of State Hull. Certainly, this
speech brought back into the ad-
ministration fold many Democrats
who earlier had indicated they were
on the verge of declaring for Landon.
One question very much in the
minds of the would-be leaders of an
opposition to President Roosevelt is
whether this ever can be accom-
plished under the name Republican"
They have in mind particularly that
the loudest Democratic outcries
against the New Deal in the last
three years have come from the
South, but the expected revolt against
Roosevelt in that section failed to
occur. The belief Is that it never
will occur so long as the Southerners
are asked to play second fiddle to
Northern Republicanism.
Defeat Staggering.
The Republicans on November 3
polled more than 100000 votes,
which was approximately 40 per cent
OF the electorate. Specifically, it
would appear that this is a powerful
minority upon which to build, but,
actually, the Republican defeat was
far more overwhelming than the fig
ures indicate. The significant facts
are that the Republicans won the
electoral votes of only the two small
States of Maine and Vermont, and
their representation in Congress, even
IN name, was reduced to less than one
fifth of the total membership. Actu-
ally, about third of the LOG Republic
cans In the Senate and House are
Roosevelt supporters.
There is no instance in American
history where party has risen from
a defeat of these proportions. The
Democrats were showed under during
the Civil War years, but, even then,
when the Southern States were ex-
c1uded from participation in national
elections, the popular vote between
Republicans and Democrats remained
fairly close. The Democrats did
badly in 1900, 1904 and 1908, and
again in 1920, 1924 and 1928. But in
all of these, excepting the Hoover
Smith contest of 1928, the Democrats
could count on the mistaken loyalty
of the solid South, which meant m
irreducible minimum of almost one
fourth OF the electoral college and the
Congressional membership.