The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1938-04-14
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National Topics Interpreted - GIM4s9
by William Bruckart TTTFITTHEX
National D.

of Representatives or the senate tc
serve as their spokesman, their
leader. They don't want somebody
to follow somebody else, or at least
they should not want that type of
man. If Mr.. Clark feels that he has
better understanding of what is
needed in the state from which he
comes than does the President of
the United States, think he is only
exercising his capacity and his
right of leadership. Further, it is
test in the primary. The people
are going to decide it and that is
what commends it to me.
Using the Clark-Pope contest as
further Illustration, I think it ought
to be said Mr.. Clark must have dis
covered from keeping his ear to the
Idaho political ground how the peo-
pie of that state have been dis
turbed by some of the radical, pro-
fessorial policies that have been
sold" to Mr.. Roosevelt by his CO.
terie of advisers. His record seems
to indicate that such is the case.
On the other hand, Senator Pope
has never wavered. He has found
out first what Mr.. Roosevelt wanted
and has stayed with that through
thick and thin. It may be that a
thick-and-thin stand is good poll
tics; it may be that voters in many
states prefer that. But the thought
I am seeking to advance is the
necessity for members of the house
and senate to think sometimes of
the welfare of their constituencies,
the good of the country as whole.
In the campaigns of 1884 and 1886,
the bulk of the Democratic men,
bers of the house and senate went
out and campaigned intellectually
for Roosevelt policies. There were
fewer who sounded the tocsin in
that way in 1886 than did in 1884.
Which is to say, that some men,
bers found weaknesses in policies
which they had supported and they
admitted they were wrong. Well,
the result has been fewer nit wit
laws.
In addition to his other activities,
and the President of the United
:, States is probably
fresIdent as busy as any
Causes Furor man in the world,
President Roose-
welt is now in competition with the
hundreds of men and women who
make their living by writing. I re-
fer, of course, to the publication in
newspapers and magazines of his
state papers and the serial story
publication of his notes and COM
ments and the questions asked in
his regular semiweekly meetings
with the newspaper correspondents.
The Presidents action in selling
this material has created quite a
Juror. It has brought home to
many writer's fact that has agitat-
ed me in a serious way. For the
first time, many writer's realized
what has been happening to pri-
vate business where the federal or
state governments, especially the
former, have entered into fields of
commercial endeavor that hereto
fore had been reserved for private
effort. Of course, the President is
not "the government" as one might
say in the case of running electric
light plants or building houses or
serving as a banker, but the ma
terial he is syndicating and for
which he receives money is of the
same fabric. 1t is so because it
represents a record of an official in
office. I find difficulty, therefore, in
distinguishing between the two
types and am rather glad that the
lesson is so pointed.
have no idea how many thou
sands of dollars the sale of press
conference notes will yield. My OBJ
lection to their sale rests on an
other reason than the monetary re-
turn. That is, another reason in
addition to the belief I hold that
government should not enter into
competition with private individu-
ais. Let me state my objection by
a review. 1t has always been re-
quired of the newspaper correspond
ents that the President could say
anything he desired in the press
conferences and it must be held in
confidence and never printed unless
the President gave permission for
it's use. Included in the records
now being published, however, are
many items never before published.
They were held in confidence by
the correspondents heretofore.
Another thing: a shorthand writ
er always sits at Mr.. Roosevelt's
left during the press conferences.
He takes every question and every
answer. The record is complete.
But the correspondents always have
been denied the privilege of re-
examining those shorthand notes or,
rather, the transcribed records.
They were held as the President
personal property. Nevertheless,
the syndicated newspaper stories
and the magazine articles and the
volumes of state papers now in
process of publication use those
very records in a most complete
form. The President has added his
comments to many of them. It
makes a most interesting record
but the three or four hundred Wash
ington correspondents who make
their living as professional writer's
have had no chance to increase
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