Evening star., 1937-10-31
By MARK SULLIVAN.
Y YHEN a person has as much
n ! power as President Roose-

moods, his traits Of mind,
have as much consequence as statues.
What flows from Mr.. Roosevelts tenn
perament has had, up to the present,
rather more weight on the course OF
events than the deliberations OF the
521 men who compose Congress. For,
up to recently, much that Congress
did was an emanation from the Presi-
dents mind.
Along with the Presidents traits go
in importance the traits OF the men
from whom he takes suggestions, the
men with whom he fraternizes. ABOUT
the Presidents associates and about his
own traits, glimpses come occasionally
from various sources. One OF the
most recent is from Prof. Raymond
Moley. who knows Mr.. Roosevelt well
for several years he was the Presl-
dents most constant and intimate
associate. Prof. Moley's contribution
of light is the more convincing be-
cause not directly intended. 1t is the
more convincing, too, because OF the
affection and admiration which Prof.
Moley shows toward the President. The
light appears in a brief editorial in
in the periodical News-Week. what
Prof. Moley wrote is printed here with
only immaterial omissions dictated by
lack of space:
"Those who find it significant to
study the operation of the Presidents
mind under various conditions will do
we'll to read with care his speech al
the Bonneville Dam in oregon on Sep
tember %. The speech is much more
important in its self-revelatory aspects
than in the light itsthrows upon specl-
fic policies.
Becomes Himself.
"Get the picture. The President is
5000 miles from Washington. He has
spent several days travelling through
a happy country in the most luscious
time of year. The local politicians he
meets are anxious to be cheerful
group of zealots who dogged the Presi-
dents heels in Washington, always
pressing him to make more and more
inf1ammatory declarations OF class
warfare, is far away. If ever the
President is himself, itNs under such
circumstances.
Add to this an equally important
fact. The public demonstration OF
carelessness or gullibility or bad Judg-
ment which followed on the heels OF
the Black appointment would naturally
move q sensitive man to little quiet
soul searching The resultant speech
was not f1abby, but sound, firm and
constructive.
There is story to the effect
that the Presidents young literary
and legal aides prepared elaborate
memoranda for a fighting speech
about reactionary lawyers, utility
octopi, economic royalists and the
like-memoranda which he consigned
to oblivion. Whether or not that
story is true, an examination Of the
phrasing of the speech indicates that
at Bonneville Dam, Mr.. Roosevelt
delivered an utterance completely his
own. out of a heart warmed by g
friendly countryside and made serene
by the bittersweet of adversely.
"The country might be better gov
erned from a White House trs Ter
far from the vexations of Washington.
There in Mr.. Moley's editorial We
have several statements. One is thai
Mr.. Roosevelt, to an exceptional degree
is a man who reflects his immediate
surroundings, gives out the color anc
tone he absorbs from those about him
This trait of Mr.. Roosevelt has beer
/ observed by others. 1t is extremely
strong in him. Much could be sale
about it, and its effects on Mr.. Roose'
velt's course, and therefore on the
destiny of the country.
| Even more specific is Mr.. Moley'!
picture of the Presidents habitua
advisers, and the effect they hav'
on him. There is in Washington
Mr.. Moley says, "a group of zealot'
who dog the Presidents heels, alway!
pressing him to make more and mor'
inf1ammatory declarations of a clas
warfare"
What Prof. Moley here says Is con-
| firmed by another. Gen. Hugh John
son, like Mr.. Moley. was an intimate
friend of the President, during tn,
period when the general was head o.
N. r. A., and he continues to have
close information about what goes OF
in the White House.
Play on Moods.
Gen. johnson describes a group o.
persons who at this time are in ant
out of the White House continually
persons who have the Presidents ear
who understand the Presidents tenn
| permanent and moods, who entertain
him when he wants entertainment
and on other occasions stir him up
and at all times influence him.
1t is these-so Gen. johnson says
who write the bills. filled with "adroii
obscurities." which Congress passe.
without detecting the trick clauses
and therefore without realizing what
the statutes will do in practice. Tht
general calls them "Machiavellis. Ht
says they are "cynically adroit." Ht
says that-acting through their in.
fluence on the President, but with.
| out Mr.. RoOSevelts realizing 1.-THE
Machiavellis are making over tht
American Government into "the mos
dangerous on earth" ITO them the
Constitution is a musty and useless
relic" The general "shudders to
think" of what these Machiavelli'
intend. "The stark cleverness of thi!
gang" says the general, 'is getting
away with murder"
1 print one more observation. Thi!
is from Walter Lippmann. While
Mr.. Lippmann has not had as much
opportunity to know the inside o.
the White House as Prof. MoleJ
and Gen. johnson, his information
and his views, agree with what many
others observe.
"It is a fact. denied by no one
that he president Roosevelt) wields