The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1937-01-28
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS.
By FRANK R. KENT,
Copyright by the Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by
special permission.
"Erring Brothers"

Mr.. Farley is one of the incest fell
lows in the world, and few people can
help liking him. Certainly no politi-
clan ever had better reason than he for
feeling happy and satisfied. INDICATED
as a prophet, if ever a party manager
rode the crest of the wave, it is he. 1t
is a genuine pleasure to see man so
full of joy.
However, isn't it about time for him
to stop his mo reprisals" talk, come
out of the pink clouds and let US look
at things as they are? For example, on
the eve of the inauguration he made
another speech literally dripping with
forgiveness, tolerance and good will.
The "erring brothers," by which he
meant those conspicuous Democrats
who voted against Mr.. Roosevelt, were
hidden "come home," by which he
meant climb aboard the Roosevelt band
wagon. eve have" he said, "no hates
to cherish, no enemies to punish. There
is room in the old homestead for the
wanderers of the night. Our motto is
"Charity toward all, malice toward
none.'"
Now, all that is perfectly lovely,
but there are one or two things which
somewhat interfere with completely
enthusiastic reception upon the part
of the "erring brothers" One is that a
good many of these "erring brothers"
who voted against Mr.. Roosevelt did
so from profound conviction that he
was the "erring brother" not they. 1t
was quite painful thing for lot of
them to leave the party in which they
were bred, but such was their distrust
of the New Deal policies that they had
no alternative. 1t was question Of
being a wanderer or stultifying them
selves. They chose to wander.
***
There were, of course, many tlml0
souls in the opposition who, awed by
the great majority, needed no urging.
but ran for shelter at once. However,
a good many others are of different
type. Self-respect keeps them steady
under defeat. To classify these as "err-
ing brothers" and ask them to "come
home" is, perhaps, funny once or
twice, but to continue to do it just
isn't. They want neither to be protect
ed nor patronized, and they will "come
home" without being called whenever
it is made possible by Administration
abandonment of things they believe to
be dangerous and bad and advocacy of
things they consider vital to preserve.
To ask them to do so under any other
circumstances is to ask them to con-
cede that the victor is always right,
that an election majority makes I'M
sound policies sound, thhat their con-
victions are affected by the size of
the vote, that majorities must be
right-all of which is ridiculous.
R##
But there are other reasons why
this "erring brother" appeal does not
ring the bell. One is because it does
not in the least harmonic with the
acts or attitude of the Administration,
either before or after the election.
A somewhat vengeful spirit has al
ready shown in the prompt stripping
of young Senator Rush Holt, of West
Virginia, of his patronage prerogatives
and in the treatment accorded Senator
Harry F. Byrd, of Virginia, who ques-
tons the soundness of the Presidents
reorganization plan and merely wants
to save the public money.
***
There is still another reason. With
out doubling Mr.. Farley's sincerity
Che really does not bear malice), still
he is an astute politician and this
"era of good feeling" propaganda is
good politics. The consistency with
which it is put out by the press agents
makes it seem a calculated piece of
strategy. If that is so, it is clever so
long as it is not seen through. It is
certainly designed to minimize criti-
cism and nullify opposition. The effort
is to make it appear unpatriotic to
raise an opposing voice or point out
an imperfection. The interesting thing
is that so transparent a game can be
played with so little comment. 1t il
Illustrates the degree to which the
country has been blanketed. To those
who venture to strike a discordant
note, Mr.. Farley, benevolent beaming
but nevertheless ready to administer
stout though kindly kick in the
pants, says ''Fie, fie, you are an erring
brother, but come on home. Well be
good to you" What can you do about
a man like that? Nothing, it appears,
except laugh and like him.
--O-
MI ~