Evening star., 1936-11-09
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Even though definite announcement
OF his plans Is not yet forthcoming, it's
a. good as certain that President Roose-
welt will attend the opening session OF
the Inter American Peace Conference In
Argentina on December !. He Is anxious
TO do 80 and earnestly hopes nothing in
either the domestic or the international
situation will crop up to thwart his de-
sires. Reports reaching Washington
from every quarter Of Latin America
reflect our southern neighborS' eagerness
to welcome the President, particularly
since his prestige and power were so
signally enhanced by his landslide re-
election victory. Mr.. Roosevelt would be
the third President to take part in an
international conference abroad. The
others were Woodrow Wilson, who went
to Paris in 1918, and Calvin Coolidge,
who opened the Pan-American Confer
ence at Havana in 1928. r. D. RS
presence in Buenos Aires will be par
ticularly appropriate because he Is 20
conspicuously identified with the good
neighbor policy which led him to con-
vene the 81 American republics for the
impending pow-wow. His attendance
would immensely crafty the pride of
Latin statesmen and their respective
peoples, who are especially appreciative
of such compliments and amenities.
Pan-American authorities consider that
the success of the conference would be
assured beyond all doubt by Mr.. Roose-
velts participation, however brief and
informal.
Postponement until after election Of
appointments to the unusually large
number of administration vacancies re-
quiring to be filled by President Roose-
welt heightens the probability that the
plurns will be bestowed for merit rather
than as political rewards. In the pat
ronage field, as in SO many other direc-
tions, the master Of the New Deal has
now immeasurably more latitude than
before November 3. He doesn't need to
take 50 seriously into consideration
claims for recognition" by party bosses
and other merely deserving Democrats.
Now that the Social Security Board has
swung into action in a big way, specula-
ton is lively regarding . successor to
John @. Winant, who relinquished the
Craftsmanship after Landon's campaign
attack on the act. Some there are who
persist in believing that the President
will bring pressure to bear upon the
former Republican Governor of New
Hampshire to resume the post he laid
down under such unusual circumstances.
- *
They're not saying much out loud, but
Herbert Hoovers friends are deriving q
lot of comprehensive consolation from
the fact that Landon suffered Q vastly
more annihilating defeat than the Cali
fornian ran into in 1882. There's no sug-
gestion among Hooverites that their
idol, or any other Republican, could
have beaten Roosevelt this year, but
many Of them feel that the former Presi-
dent might have made q far more i'm
pressive showing than Landon, not the
least Of whose fatal liabilities was total
lack Of experience with national and
international problems. No such charge
could have been leveled against Mr..
Hoover. but the depression stigma could
have been even worse.
49,
Tor air bring with them from the cyclone
cellar the cheerful thought that the
q. o. p. after all may make just as
sensational . comeback as the Demo-
Gratis staged, following three devastating
presidential defeats, successfully in 1920,
1924 and 1928. After AL Smiths record
in carrying only eight States, with .
total Of 81 electoral votes eight years
ago, the political welkin rang with
prophecies Of prolonged doom for the
Democrats. Yet only four years later
the donkey snsrged from the wilderness