Carbon County news., 1937-07-09
National Press Building

~ made the. very
<IeStdenr epigr a lnmatiC
on the Spot statement that 81
will take care oi
my enemies; but please save me
from my friends" The distin,
guished Democrat, Mr.. Cleveland,
recognized one Of the gravest dan
gers that besets politicians and il
was in this connection that he made
the famous remark.
Lately, I have been thinking that
President Roosevelt is getting into
the spot-if, indeed, he is not al
ready behind the eight-ball-where
he must have some protection from
his friends. He faces a condition
with which some observers fear he
may not be able to deal as success
fully as has been his record.
The thing that has put Mr.. Roose-
velt in bad political spot is the
outburst Of Gov. George H. Earle Of
Pennsylvania. Governor Earle, it
was, who burst forth recently with a
declaration that Mr.. Roosevelt must
run for third term. There are
mo men in the Democratic party
or any other party who reach knee
high stature mentally or morally
to Franklin D. Roosevelt" accord
ing to Governor Earle's appraisal
of the present Executive. Governor
Earle's record in Pennsylvania is
that of an avid New Dealer. He
has followed the Roosevelt footsteps
in every specification and he has
maintained a constant gunfire of
chatter in support Of the President
and his policies.
The activities of the Pennsylvania
governor have been so constant that
it led one observer to remark the
other day that Governor Earle ap-
parently wanted to be the first man
on the Roosevelt bandwagon for
1910. This, of course, had reference
to the priority given in political ap-
pointments after Mr.. Roosevelt be-
came President to those Democrats
who had been supporters of Mr..
Roosevelt before the Chicago con-
vention that nominated him.
But instead of being hattered by
the pronouncement by the agile
Pennsylvania governor, hear from
authentic sources that the President
was somewhat embarrassed. Ger
tainly, good many of the New
Deal wheelhorses are embarrassed
because they can see how, the Earle
declaration may be used to explode
various things politically as Mr..
Roosevelt goes through his current
term.
However that picture may devel-
op, the fact remains that no Presi-
dent ever has served a third term
in the United States. It is prece-
dent established by George Wash
ington and rigidly adhered to. Thus
to have my friend George de-
clare Mr.. Roosevelt in the market
for a third term at this particular
time constitutes a bad political er-
ror. This is true because at the
moment there are more cries of
personal dictatorship being voiced
in this country than has happened
since congress gave the President
all of the extraordinary powers that
he holds.
There is, however, another side |
to the story concerning Governor
Earle. There are |
Playing many who do not |
Politics believe Governor
Earle is stupid,
politically. These persons hold the
conviction that the Pennsylvania
governor knows exactly what he is
doing in promoting Mr.. Roosevelt
for third term at this time. Their
reasoning is to the effect that it will
be impossible to renominate and re-
elect President Roosevelt for third
time, however much the President
may want the job again. This same
group contends that it would be fa-
tai to the liberal movement for Mr..
Roosevelt to take any steps in this
direction although there are a good
y number of people who are con-
finced that he wants to break this
as he has broken many
)thers.
In consequence, according to this
inc of reasoning, Governor Earle
S playing his own game of politics.
Hoping that the lightning may strike
Governor Earle of Pennsylvania,
Governor Earle is promoting Frank
in Roosevelt for the job that Gov
.rnor Earle wants.
1t is plain to see that, by urging
enomination and reelection of
President Roosevelt, Governor
Earle avoids the barbs and bludg-
ons that would be certain to come
lis way if he were to admit that he
5 a candidate thus far in advance
+ 1910. Someone suggested that
he governor wanted Mr.. Roosevelt
D be the objective of the brick
ats until that happy day when the
resident would step aside and la
ell Governor Earle as the crown
rince of the New Deal.