Evening star., 1937-07-31
By Lucy Salamanca.
T BELIEVE the trend is away
from the rigid restrictions Of
party that inevitably result in

SkY BELIEVE the trend is away
from the rigid restrictions Of
party that inevitably result in
4 diSSenSiOn within the ranks. to
the establishment of two groups
comparable to the Liberals and Con-
servatives Of certain other countries
All party dissension leads ultimately
to a split that separates the liberal
from the conservative element. and the
diverse opinions that characterize the
politics Of today may develop ulti-
mately into two such parties
The Democrats may in time be
called the Liberals and the Repub-
licans the Conservatives although
am not necessarily advocating it. but by
whatever name they are known their
adherentS will differ as markedly
from their original political group as
the ProgreSSiveS differed from the old
line Republicans back in 1912"
Secretary of the Interior Ickes.
ayed in his beautiful and spacious
room in the new Interior Building.
that is paneled IN white ash and rich
draperies, answered the inquiry of the
writer with spirit that seemed to
belle his very recent illness and long
sojourn in the hospital. A few days
before he had held the first press
conference since return to his duties,
and now he was granting an exclusive
interview in day carefully portioned
out at his physicians orders. Yet
there was nothing to suggest i'll
health in the vigorous personality of
the Secretary as he discussed the
changing times and their imprint upon
political parties.
"As matter of fact" he asserted
with relish, Il have always believed
the American people should have a
fair chance to choose between lib
eralism and reaction, and that, in the
past. the issues have been confused
What is taking place in the two mai
parties today is simply clarifcation
Of those issues. They are becoming
more sharply defined, and in the
process there are bound to be dis
senters. These dissenters fall naturally
into the liberal or the conservative
group.
What. for example, are your eco
nomic royalists', or your Liberty
Leaguers, but the conservative element
In politics? They may be called by
the name of Republican, or by any
other name, but they are still con-
servativeS. BY the same token. so
long as it has the present leadership,
the Democratic party, or that portion
OF it that follows Roosevelt, represents
the liberals, Just as Republicans who
follow Roosevelt represent the liberals
as we'll. That is why l say there is
trend toward merging into parties that
typify these two political PHILOSOPHERS.
THE same thing that is happening
today among Republicans and
Democrats has happened before There
have always been liberal Republicans
going over to the Democratic ranks
and conservative Democrats becoming
Republicans, members Of both parties
kicking over the traces Al Smith is
an example, when he took that un-
noticed walk of his: Bainbridge Colby
Raskob and Gov Healy of Massachu-
eetts are other examples And the
Pinchot brothers, Amos and Clifford
Pinchot, Bull Moosers, turning con-
servatiye.
Il myself have been Republican,
q Progressive and a Democrat. But
by whatever name you call it, have
adhered to the principles Of liberalism.
1t has not been matter of party.
That is why 1 believe it would elm
mate much dissension and confusion
II issues were settled upon such basis
and the parties frankly called Lib
erals or Conservatives.
do you think that will happen in
this country? That the old Repub-
lican and Democratic parties, as We
know them, are on the way out?'
That is difficult to say, for party is
almost religion with some people. I
would not say that the old-hne Re-
publcans and the party that repre-
sented them are finished. Rather,
they are coming to represent solely the
conservative element, and it is good
thing to have the conservative element
As check and balance I simply say
that the dissenting elements in both
parties will leave the party that no
longer typifles their liberal or conserv-
ative viewpoints and seek the ranks of
that party which does"
When asked II he considered the
present dissension in Democratic ranks
growing out of the Supreme Court
issue an indication of a permanent
split in the Democratic party, the Sec
eetary replied:
Not necessarily so, because both
liberals and conservatives were di-
vided in opinion on both sides #
the question in this particular issue.