Evening star., 1936-03-15

, naClOn OF Lnelr course Win respect TO
the coming election. It simply must
not be, 1t would be too terrible O
calamity, that the public should lose
any faintest part of its confidence in
such man as Senator Carter Glass.
A democratic form Of government
functions largely through symbols,
and Senator Glass is one of the best
we have.
Tydings Meets Problem.
The problem faced by men like SEN
ators Glass, Byrd and Tydings was
met the other day by one of them.
Mr.. Tydings He met it in formal
speech before State convention of
the Young Democratic Clubs of Mary
land
On the whole, Mr. Tydings met the
! dilemma well. First, he paid trib-
ute to the recently deceased ex-Gover-
nor of the State, Albert c. Ritchie.
That was rather ironic. considering
that If Mr. Ritchie had lived he, hav-
ing ended his political career and be-
ing in the position of party sage.
might readily have opposed Mr. Roose-
velt for re-election-in short, had Mr..
Ritchie lived. Senator Tydings might
not have made the speech he did,
might not have decided to support
Mr.. Roosevelt for reelection.
Next, Mr.. Tydings made a distinc.
! ton between two parts of the Roose-
| velt administration. For one part,
the gallant manner in which Mr..
Roosevelt took hold at the beginning,
Mr.. Tydings paid a tribute He said
| the President, by what he did during
| the early days Of his administration.
saved this Nation and its people from
a great catastrophe"
Then Mr.. Tydings turned to the rest
Of Mr.. Roosevelt's administration.
Some Of that. likewise, Mr. Tydings
approved He praised regulation Of
/ the sale of securities. the stock ex.
change control bill, some of the social
legislation and the reciprocal trade
policy.
! Next Mr.. Tydings turned to the ma
/ jor innovations introduced by Mr..
/ Roosevelt, especially N. R. A. and
Triple-A. These Mr.. Tydings con-
demned and recalled to mis- hearers
that he did not vote for them.
Coming to his personal position and
distinguishing himself from the Presi-
dent, Mr.. Tydings said: I believe it
! to be my duty as United States Sen
ator to vote in line with the traditions
of my party and my own convictions
and not to be a rubber stamp for any
/ one On this principle of inde-
! pendent legislative action rests the
! difference between democracy and dc
tatorship"
Three Courses Open.
! Facing the present condition and
his personal problem, directly, Mr.
/ Tydings said: I'VE come now to the
situation with which Maryland Demo-
Gratis are faced in the coming national
election" He said there are only three
courses open: we can support the
Democratic ticket; We can support the
Republican ticket; or We can take
walk"
AS to taking a walk" Mr.. Tydings
said that that will not solve the di-
lemma or discharge our duty as cit
izens-I do not propose to take walk
Such a course would serve no useful
purpose and would be evasive of the
responsibility of citizenship"
1T accordingly follows" Mr.. Tydings
said, that the next national govern
ment will be either Democratic or Re-
publican" AS for supporting the Re-
publican party, Mr.. Tydings dismissed
that. On this point he INDUCED in
a little of the familiar type OF denun-
ciatory partisan eloquence.
Coming in closer to the dilemma he
said: 1T is plain that President Roose-
welt will be nominee of the Democratic
convention in Philadelphia; for trained
political observers and most Of the re-
sponsible Democratic leaders agres
that he will be the nominee. :"
Here Mr. Tydings was apparently
limiting that if it we're practicable for
the Democrats to nominate some one
other than Mr.. Roosevelt. he would be
for that course.
Finally, coming to his declaration OF
position, Senator Tydings said: "As a
member of the United States Senate
I haven't been able to support, to agree
with and vote for a number Of the
recommendations and policies Of the
President. ! need not change my
position to support President Roose-
welt and the Democratic party.
Must Be Regular"
I have said that Senator Tydings
met his dilemma well. Mr.. Frank
Kent, a Maryland Democrat as emf
nent as Senator Tydings. is somewhat
qualified in his approval OF Senator
Tydings' course, but admits that:
"A man in party politics is caught
in a net. He can follow his convic-
tions up to the fence but not over.
He would have to be Of heroic mold
to bolt or take a walk He would
risk political extinction. That is no
easy thing to ask-particularly when
the Republican alternative is neither
comforting to his convictions nor
palatable to his taste. The les
son of all this is that anti-New Deal
Democrats in active politics are all
going to be regular From their
angle there is no choice. The
more intelligent dislike the New Deal.
distrust the Roosevelt judgment. de-
test his brain trust advisers, view his
reelection with apprehension. Yet
they will support him."
But as to the public, the voter, espe-
cially the Democratic voter who dis
approves the New Deal and disap-
proves Mr.. Roosevelt as its source and
symbol--that voter is under no COM
pulsion of expediency. For that mat.
ter, many Democratic leaders, some
major, some minor. while they will
give lip-service to Mr.. Roosevelt, will
not and cannot put great enthusiasm
into trying to re-elect him. AS Mr..
Kent puts it:
There is a difference between re-
luctant support tsr political reasons
| ond SIInrnrt frnYn the heart Mr.