Evening star., 1938-09-17

polls. 1 A-"''"'''
When trend appears on the hori-
Eon, the politician is quick to perceive
1t. and often to be guided by it. The
New Deal has struck a snag inside the
Democratic party and while this is
far cry from assuring Republican sue
cess, it can by no means be brushed
aside as hardly of less importance.
The full significance of the pri-
maries may be obscured somewhat by
the autumn elections, but when Con-
gress meets, one tangible result is
bound to ensue 1t is the restraint
against radicalism. The day of ex-
treme change in social or economic
legislation would seem to be over. The
struggle now is to make effective the
laws that now are on the statute books.
differences Possible.
Such inferences may be drawn from
the primaries because in nearly every
case the Democratic nominee selected
for political slaughter by President
Roosevelt paid tribute to certain OBJ
jectives and in some instances could
port of various New Deal laws.
If the primaries mean that new
public opinion is rising which COM
mands the New Deal to seek more
practically, especially in the amend
ment of existing legislation, then the
peak of radicalism can be said surely
to have been reached and that from
l~o
to keep as much as he can of what
he has obtained in the way of So
called reform.
Leadership trends are sometimes a
product of elections. This years con-
tests show such definite approval of
what some people may call a middle
of-the-road policy-but which really
is support for practical idealism-
that there is bound to be a change in
the tone and temper of the whole con-
gressional situation when both houses
come back here in January.
Soldering Influence.
The defeat of certain extremists in
the party, the hard time some of these
extremists will have had in winning
reelection, is bound to be a SOLDERING
influence. The Republicans, on the
other hand. will be challenged to offer
programs of much more concrete
character than they have supplied
heretofore. For if there is one thing
clear, 1t is that the staunch Demo-
Gratis of the independent type have
won the center of the stage and are
much more likely to become the true
leaders of the next Congress than the
Republicans.
This Is partly because the Repub-
Hcan councils are SO confused The
practical politicians still think they
oan win elections by waiting for the
incumbent party to wear out its well
come with the people. or to make
Gnough mistakes for the country to
surn to Republican candidates in sheer
disgust. A substantial body of liberal
Republicans emphatically disagree with
that premise: This is one reason why
the deliberations of the Glenn Frank
committee have failed thus far to pre-
sent program sufficiently attractive
to the voters to earn it place in
the political conversation of the day.
Schism Sure in G. o. p.
1t may we'll be, of course, that the
liberals in the Republican ranks will
keep party friction at minimum and
avoid positiveness of program until
after the congressional elections as a
sort of gesture of expediency to the
old-timers. But such tactics can hard
~ be long-lived, and once the autumn
elections are over the party schism
In the Republican ranks is just as sure
to come to the surface as the fight
within the Democratic party. There
Is. however, this difference: The con-
hict inside the Democratic party was
between one-man rule seeking to i'm
pose sort of irresponsible benevolence
and the true liberals, whereas the
struggle inside the Republican party
Is between the standpatters, who think
everything economic will come out all
right ii you leave it alone, and the
liberal Republicans, who think that as
long as America has a political system
the maximum good for the maximum
number calls at all times for practical
formulas Of governmental action as
well as for the intelligent exercise of
what is known as freedom of private
initiative.
(Copyright 1889