Evening star., 1937-05-30
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

nu and himself because of his
wv court plan, are in a jam, a
4 most serious one. He under
took coup d'etat. II the country at
first did not recognize it as an at
tempt at coup d'etat that was because
1t had not the element OF force-the
public thinks that coup d'etats must
be marked by force. -. The country
did not understand that In some over
throws OF forms Of government force
is supplanted by artfulness. Some
where in the recent literature Of revo-
luton in Europe I read a sentence
which wish I could find I think it
was in the writings OF either Trotzky
or Lenin: 1t was to the effect that in
some maneuvers Of revolution, force
Is unnecessary and undesirable-art-
fulness must take the place OF vio-
lence
Mr.. Roosevelt undertook coup
d'etat. BY his court reorganization
plan, added to his executive reor-
ganization plan. he meant to bring
about form Of government in which
the President is supreme. I quote
Mr.. Walter Lippmann.
THE little group of bold and reck-
less men, who have been setting the
pace for the President in the last
few months . purpose to become
the masters Of the courts in order
that constitutional limitations and
judicial restraint may no longer check
their own authority :. the dominant
New Dealers today are men who
believe that there must be no limits
upon the power OF the New Deal
majority what they want is
plenary authority for the President
and controlled congressional major
ity; they want this authority to be
unlimited by the rights Of the States
or by the checks and balances Of the
Constitution"
Too Clever.
But coup d'etat must go with
rush, or it Is no good; it must es-
tablish itself quickly, or not at all.
II it fails, it not only fails Of itself
bus varnishes the gilt Of the un-
successful attempter, arrests his
momentum.
Mr.. Roosevelt's attempt did not
push through to success with enough
drive. 1t faltered, slowed down and
is now apparently at an enj 1t
failed. among other reasons, oecause
of the very excess Of Mr.. Roosevelts
art. Within q week, watchful minds
warned that Mr.. Rooeevelt's court
plan was, in the words OF Dorothy
Thompson, "a trick; in the words
OF the Baltimore Sun, devious,
deceptive; in the words Of the
Scripps- Howard newspapers, too
clever-too damned clever" in the
Army words Of Gen. Hugh johnson,
too damned slick"
In the terms of Mr.. Roosevelt's
favorite picture Of himself, he, as .
foot ball quarterback, tried con-
cealed pass. That went all right
nobody on Mr.. Roosevelt's White
House team dropped the ball. But
the pass went too slowly, the grand
stands saw the ruse and did not
like lit seemed in the nature Of
4Vui AZ dSSClNO AAA oPPCA1SAV AAA .
game may be within the rules; to
deceive the country in order to
achieve an undiscloeed purpose
that, as the English say, IS not
cricket.
Yet Mr.. Roosevelt continued the
same strategy. AS late as March 4,
in his victory dinner speech, full
month after he had given out the
court measure, he blatantly told the
country that the opposition to it
came from substantially the same
elements Of opposition" that had
opposed him in the presidential CAM
paign last Fall
"Not In Accord - ="
Mr.. Roosevelt would not have said
that had he thought the country
would think about it. Either he
must get by" by the sheer momentum
Of his violent vociferation or he must
be found out as having tried to
mislead. He was saying, If he was
saying anything, that the Senator's
and others opposing this plan were
Republicans and economic royalists.
He was saying that Democratic Sena-
tors Wheeler and Walsh, and Tydings,
and Van Nuys, and Clark, and dozen
others-are Republicans and economic
royalists. That was too much for
even the New York Times. To the
indictments for misleading that had
been made by many others. the Times
added gentle euphemism. Mr.
Roosevelt's charge, the Times said
was mot in accord with established
facts"
BY this time the strategy OF artfulness
had fallen down. An increasing pro-
portion of the public had begun to get
glimmerings Of what the Presidents
court plan B. Because the subject is
complex, understanding has been slow
to seep through. But, beginning with
patient study the members Of Con-
gress, journalists and college teachers
and through their analyses the coun-