Evening star., 1937-03-27

President. His great enemy, William
Green, is, hoWever-and he comes
to the front door when he visits, too.
Mr.. Lewis has seen the President
twice since election, and one OF those
visits was so carefully covered that
the reporters did not get it,
What johnson says on this point
can be accepted. The general knows
the President and the Presidents
mind-he was once "No. 2 man" in
the administration. He was called
the assistant President"
And johnson likewise knows Lewis.
They are cronies They are both ro-
mantics. they think of themselves as
two musketeerS of the time OF
D'Artagnan. l seem to recall Gen.
Johnson telling about one midnight
occasion when they rolled through
the Virginia countryside in an open
car ululating old songs together. Or
maybe the general recited Rienzis
Address to the Romans and Lewis
sang My Bonnie Lies Over the
Ocean" Anyhow the two were very
having a good time together.
Mutual WatchfuIness.
Yes, what Johnson says about the
relations between Lewis and Mr.
Roosevelt is inside dope. Besides. it
is borne out by palace gossip around
the White House and by other sources
of the low-doWn. 1t runs counter to
general supposition, but it's true all
the same. The real present attitude
Of Mr.. Roosevelt and Lewis toward
each other is one of--let us not say
suspicion, but mutual watchfulness.
Since the relation of Lewis to
President Roosevelt is not only a
matter of current surmise but also,
under present conditions, a matter
of public Importance, there is justi-
fication for amplifytng Gen. John
sons statement that Lewis has seen
Mr.. Roosevelt only twice since the
election. The beginning Of the story
goes back to several months pre-
ceding the election
A year ago. when Lewis was forming
his Committee on Industrial Oragni-
zation and Mr. Roosevelt was getting
ready for his campaign for reelection
the two were quite close. They were
more or less what the American
vernacular calls ''in cahoots." They
canoodled with each other. Probably
Mr.. Roosevelt was little cautious
about it, for he would not want to
give offense to Mr.. Lewis rival in
labor leadership, William Green,
president of the American Fedora
ton of Labor. Lewis declared re-
peatedly and loudly that Mr.. Roose-
welt was the greatest friend labor
Lewis, through his labor organiza-
tions, contributed s46966891 to Mr.
Roosevelt's campaign funds-the larg-
est contribution the New Deal received
Once the Fair Haired Boy"
While all this was going on, Lewis
so his friends say and observation
White House, the fair haired boy
Barring the fact that Lewis hair is
not fair but black and exceptionally
abundant) At that time Lewis could
drop into the White House whenever
! he wanted and call the President on
the telephone as informally as he
might call one OF his own assistants.
| After the election--this is the story
| of Lewis friends, and Gen. johnson
bears it out--LeWis felt a November
chill in his relations with the White
House During more than two month.
| ne was only at the White House once
| When he tried to get Mr.. Roosevelt
on the telephone, he was given the
run around by Mr.. Roosevelt's sec.
retaries.
! This was pretty irking to Lewis, but
| there was worse. While he could moi
| get to the White House, his rival ir
labor leadership, Green, could. Greer