Evening star., 1938-05-01
BY Mary.Carfer Roberts.

ny W0vp.OUf NOOETES.
THE PUBLIC PAPERS AND AD-
DRESSES OF FRANKLIN D.
ROOSEVELT. With Special In
PRODUCTION and Explanatory Notes
by President Roosevelt. Compiled
and collected by Samuel I. Rosen-
man. In v Volumes. New York:
Random House.
"HE reviewer supposed. on re-
ceiving the announcement Of
this collection, that 1t would
L be merely a publication of the
Presidents speeches and state papers,
as indeed its title declares it. Ex-
animation Of the five very substantial
volumes, however, shows the work to
be subtly more than that. 1t Is above
all the Presidents own Interpretation
OF his administration. The documents
have not been left to speak for them
selves. They are slanted for public
approval by the attached notes, by
the explanatory introductions and
even by the titles of the separate VOL
umes, which are as follows: Volume
I. THE Genesis of the New Deal";;
Volume II, "The Year of Crisis;
Volume III, The Advance of Re-
covery and Reform; Volume w,
"The Court Disapproves' Volume v,
"The People Approve" Increasingly,
as one goes through the pages, one
has the conclusion forced upon one
that the publication of these papers
has been dictated by wish to defend
the administration from its current
critics and to enlist sympathy for its
future acts. The question of the dig
nifty OF such course when taken by
Chief Executive still in office must
be left to the public. Had the pub
lication been merely of the documents.
without the persuasive comments, such
a query of course would not arise.
However, since the collection has
appeared in this form, it is interest,"
ing to see what Interpretation Mr..
Roosevelt has placed upon the course
of his administration to date and even
more significant to note the manner
in which he wishes the public to view
his official conduct. Those points are
here made unmistakably evident. In
his general introduction he declares
that two great problems faced him on
his entrance to the Presidency-the
maintenance of that ideal of gov
eminent known as the democratic
process" and the securing of social
justice" The first volume of the group
is given over to Mr.. Roosevelt'S term
as Governor of New York and avowedly
Is included for the light which it sheds
on his background and philosophy.
Except to those who are unaware of
his origins, therefore, it will not be
particularly informative
Coming, however, to Volume II,
one finds his first statement of justifi-
cation for his course; in order to pre-
serve our system of national life, he
says, the administration had to enter
on a career of reform. Citing the
misery of the depression year, during
which the Federal Government, as it
stood, had been unable to achieve
anything for the general welfare, he
states the opinion that a far-reaching
program of reform had to be under
taken. The program, as it is now
revealed, rests largely on the theory
that 1t is the place of the Government
to assume responsibility for the pri-
Vate welfare of the citizens. and not
merely to provide freedom within
which they can work out their prob
lens according to their abilities. Mr..
Roosevelt, however, does not state this
implication. He only declares that
a need for reform confronted him,
and that he was determined to meet it.
His next volume is an optimistic
one. 1t covers the year 1884, and, in
his introduction, the President states
that that twelvemonth saw the Nation
well on the way to recovery. To
support this statement he quotes fig
ureS from leading economic indexes"
to show that unemployment was de-
creasing, that wages were increasing
and business picking up generally.
The rosy picture which he paints is
not unmarried, however, for he admits
that his course had made its critics.
Some Of these critics were, though
short-sighted, conscientious. Most of
them, however, were motivated by a
fear that the New Deal reforms would
deprive them of illy-acquired wealth.
The Nation at large, however, ap-
proved, as witness the congressional
election. With the feeling that the
people were behind him, the Presi-
dent was ready to press on.
Then comes Volume Nv, with its
ominous title, The Court Disap-
proves" All, the wicked court!
There was the stealthy old witch,
lying in wait for the New Deal prin-
cess. Or there, if you see it in
different way, the realistic monkey
wrench in the dreamer's gears. Any
way, at that point, the New Deal
came cropper. Mr.. Roosevelt is
clever in telling his side of the story.
He builds up, with seeming OBJ
jectivity, the now familiar story of
how early in our history the court
assumed its right to pass on the con-
stitutionality of acts of Congress, and
how various justices at various times
have uttered protests at the insincerity
of court judgments. of its disregard
OF its functions" and of its decisions
given at the dictates of its mem
bers' personal economic predilec-
tions." For his own part, he ex-
presses absolute readiness to abide by
court decisions. since it is his duty
to do so under the Constitution. How
ever. while expressing this spirit of
compliance, he unquestionably con-
trives to put the court in a bad light.
1t set up. he says, judicial wall"
across the road to national safety"
It. therefore, became his duty, he i'm
plies, to adopt "the quickest and most
effective constitutional way to break"
this barrier. The obvious incon-
sistency of his use of the word con-
stitutional" here is somewhat embar-
RAISING.
The collection does not reach the
point of dealing with the late court
bill, however, for Volume v covers