Evening star., 1938-07-05
The Political Mill
Primaries May Answer Question of How Far President
Can Go in Selecting Nominees

their part. they are asking no quarter
and are prepared to give none.
Just how far can the President and
the secret six" dictate to the Demo-
cratic organizations and the rank and
file of the Democratic voters in the
States who shall be the party nominees
for the Senate and House? That is
the question which it is hoped will
be answered by the primary elections
this year. The Democrats who have
acted independently in Congress in
sist the President and his advisers
will find they have bitten off more
than they can chew conveniently.
Defeats for the anti-court bill Sen
ators in Maryland, in Georgia, in
South Carolina or some of the other
States would be hailed by the New
Deal inner circle as clear evidence
that the President can go as far as
he likes in this matter Of deciding
who Is and who is not to run for
Congress. Furthermore, they believe
just few such victories will be a
sufficient warning to the members of
the Congress which will assemble next
January. The Presidents legislative
program-including the reorganiza-
tion bill-they say. can then be showed
through without the slightest doubt.
In other words. the rubber stamp"
Congress will have become a reality
the independence of the legislative
branch of the Government will have
become just a story out Of the past.
The New Dealers are taking stock as
never before. The coming congress
slonal elections. as we'll as the pri-
maries, are, they believe, vital. The
administration has armed itself with
vast sum of public money which it
will spend in the name of recovery
and relief. That it will have a pro-
found political effect-this money
spending-is the belief OF the New
Dealers, although they will deny
vigorously that politics is the primary
cause OF the money spending.
Insist Money Is Cause.
Opponents Of the President and
his program insist that were it not
for the money which the Roosevelt
administration is pouring out by the
hundreds Of millions of dollars, the
administration would be as unpopular
today as was the Hoover administra-
ton in 1882. They base their state
ment on the fact that there is q
vast amount Of unemployment, that
taxes are far higher than they were
in the Hoover administration, that
there is a colossal public debt which
may threaten the whole financial
structure. Take his spending pro-
gram away from him and what has
the President left?" these critics ask.
They insist the laws he has put
through have impeded rather than
aided recovery in this country.
There are Democrats who hold this
point of view as we'll as Republicans
Obviously they are not the New Deal
Democrats. however. But they insist
that sooner or later-and they prefer
sooner-the people will begin to
understand that it is the money
spending alone that is keeping the
administration popular-that until the
President received his recent big grant
OF money for spending and lending,
his prestige was going down and his
popularity was waning.
The New Dealers have not always
been particularly friendly to the stock
exchange-particularly when it was
going down. The recent llns,lrpe of
stock prices. however, is giving them
good deal Of quiet satisfaction. II
the market continues to hold strong.
the satisfaction may become vocal.
Indeed, there probably will be some
who will say, I'VE planned 1t that
way" And even today they are
predicting that the change in the
market will have its effect on both
the primary and the general elections