Evening star., 1936-11-03

CleNelaIlQ COLI $33<z
vention when
"Old Guard" sII&z M n /
leaders insisted David I.wr.nc.
on inserting a
tariff plank that cost Gov. Landon
many votes. The Importance Of this
plank was that the Republicans were
seeking the votes of Democrats, and
in any fusion campaign it is long
: established principle to try to make
the platform or program conform to
. the wishes of the various elements
whose support is sought.
The past campaign was fusion
campaign in every sense, but 1t was
not so regarded by the Republican
high command. Except for an oc-
casional appeal to Democrats who
were deserting the New Deal and ex-
pressions of appreciation to Al Smith
and others who came over to the
Landon side, the Republican party
went through the whole campaign
from convention to election on the
assumption that this was Republi-
can party affair.
G. 0. p. Diffused Fire.
Another cardinal fault that will be
found by many critics relates to the
failure to concentrate on a single
issue. The Republican campaign diff
fused its fire. 1t banged away at a
lot of issues, but did not keep to one
central theme. Such theme was the
excessive spending far beyond the
needs of recovery. Hardly any of the
Iandon speeches, for example, stressed
the point that if recovery is here. as
the New Deal claims, why it is neces-
sary to spend in the fiscal year 1887
more money than in the fiscal
year 1896?
Landon's principal error, apart from
his attitude in reciprocity. which, of
course, was an embarrassment that the
was in his Des Moines speech. He
promised a subsidy to the farmers and
did not make it clear how he was
going to do it within balanced budget.
Had the Republican nominee pre-
sented an itemized budget of the major
items Of expenditures, there would un-
doubtedly be more weight attached to
his program. In fact, temporary
subsidy to agriculture might have been
forgiven by his Eastern supporters had
1t been possible to show that the budget
would nevertheless be balanced.
Hamilton Did Good Jab.
From an organization viewpoint, Re
publican national headquarters made
its mistakes-al headquarters do-but
on the whole the campaign was much
better managed than a minority party
beaten so badly in 1882 had right
to expect this year. John Hamilton
did a remarkable job with a defeatist
situation that stared him in the face
from the very outset.
Next, the New Deal campaign mis-
takes. They relate to the future con-
tests more than in the past. Commit
ments made by Mr.. Roosevelt during
the campaign in his speeches will rise
to plague him as both conservatives
and radicals attempt to hold him to
the pledges, actual and implied, in
his utterances.
The President never should have
made the campaign trips that he did.
His radio voice was good enough to
reach the Nation without the travelling
and stumping. The ordeal was risky
because the speeches opened up oppor-
tunities for the attack. The Madison
Square Garden speech was particularly
unfortunate in that it made after-elec-
ton reconciliation Of majority and
minority elements much more diff
cult than if the talk of master" had
been omitted. Mr.. Roosevelt's friends
will excuse it on the ground that he
is human and is bound to show his
Indignation and resentment against at
tack and that even Presidents cannot
be expected to repress their feelings.
Talk Leaves Scars.
When a campaign is over, the task
of reconciliation is important and
means much in the smooth working of
legislative machinery. The New York
speech will leave scars.
But the biggest mistake that the
President made was in his discussion
of the social security pay roll tax.
Either he was completely misinformed
as to what employers were doing or
he was advised by his lieutenants to
attack employers on general principles.
But when Mr.. Roosevelt said employers
were omitting to tell employees about
the tax to be levied on employers to
help pay for social security, he was
;y. Af1 iy,ct "a y,ro
the employers were making an argu-
ment out of that very fact.
In other words, the employers ar
eument Is that the tax they have to
pay is a burden which will have to
be passed on to consumers and the
latter are mostly working men.
The residue Of the campaign is the
social security controversy. 1t will
not end with the counting Of the
ballots. 1t will only begin when the
campaign aftermath is brushed aside
and laboring men really find out how
extensively the pay roll tax affects
them.
Had Wise Course Available.
The wise thing for the New Deal
TO have done-and it would have up
set the opposition strategists-was to
admit that the pay roll tax was i'm
posed on workers as well as employ
ers, but to insist that the principle
was more important than the form
in which the revenues would be raised
Emphasis might well have been placed
on the experimental nature of the
tax and assurances could have been
given that this feature would be open
to revision If business did not i'm
prove sufficiently to absorb the tax.
The New Deal will be compelled
to revise the act in some way. This