Evening star., 1938-08-12


tion, who will be disappointed that the
= President saw fit to introduce any
political flavor there.
For five years now the American
people have been asked to honor the
birthday balls given throughout the
country for the President by making
generous contributions to the sufferers
OF infantile paralysis who are gathered
at Warm Springs to receive treatment,
Just as has the President himself.
The supposition has been wide
spread that the Warm Springs Foun-
dation is not only a non-partisan
enterprise, but that the Republicans
and Democrats of prominence who
have allowed their names or their
. contributions to be associated with the
foundation would be the flrst to resent
any suggestion of politics.
Ready Alternative Available.
The circumstances of the Presidents
political outburst at the luncheon OF
Warm Springs patients are difficult
to understand. Mr.. Roosevelt has
access to the press every minute. The
reporters who accompany him are
ready and willing to transmit to the
four corners of the world any comment
from him whatsoever. 1t would have
been easy, indeed, to have called the
reporters together and to have intro
duced to them Lawrence Camp, whom
the President says, he now wants to
see elected Senator from Georgia in
place of Senator George. 1t would
have been simple to have issued a
statement explaining what Mr.. Roose-
welt wanted to say about the Georgia
primary itself, and this need not have
had any association with any function
at the foundation.
Mr.. Roosevelt knows all this better
than anybody else, for he is well aware
Of all the publicity tricks in the poll
ticians art. 1t may have been that
the President wanted his comment
about Mr. Camp to go out at a certain
hour over the radio, or that there was
some other political advantage in the
method chosen for the announcement.
But, whatever the supposed advan-
tage, it would hardly outweigh the
disadvantages. Millions of people will
read of Mr.. Roosevelt's indiscretion in
making a significant political state
ment at Warm Springs Foundation
luncheon, and their esteem for the
President will hardly undergo any sub
stantial increase on that account.
"Yes Men" Say YES"
The incident illustrates better than
anything else the fact that apparently
Mr.. Roosevelt has nobody at his side
to say him nay. He likes yes men"
IN Congress and Yes men" in his
encourage. Time was when the late
Louis McHenry Howe. private secre-
tary. would have made quite a fus
over any action which savored in the
least Of poor taste or bad political
sense. So intensively has Mr.. Roose-
velt cultivated the ''yeS man" idea
that he hears little, If any, criticism,
and. it is said, insulates himself still
further by reading very little, If any,
adverse comment.
Under such circumstances, redress
by the people is to be sought only
through an aroused public opinion,
which, in primaries and In final elec-
tions. registers its protest against one
man government. It is safe bet, for
instance, that the Presidents decision
to intervene in party primaries was
made wholly by himself, without refer
ence to the advice OF most of the
members of his cabinet. Certainly, it
is incredible that such experienced
political advisers as Cordell Hull
Homer Cummings and Jim Farley.
each one of whom in his time has
had the honor of being appointed to