Evening star., 1938-04-29
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY C. GOULD LINCOLN.


consequences of the progressive meeting
held in Madison. Wis, last night at the
bidding Of Gov. Philip La Toilette. If the
Wisconsin movement actually leads to q
third party, obviously that will not ben
eft the Democratic organization in a lot
OF the States, and probably in the Ma
tion. The left wingers have been a'big
factor In the victories rolled up by Pres
1dent Roosevelt and great many of the
Democratic members Of the Senate and
House in the last five and half years.
It Is OF particular moment, therefore,
to those Democrats who wish to remain
Democrats and not jump the fence into
the progressive pastures now opened up
by the La Follettes, to ascertain just how
Tar these progressives are preparing to
go. II the third party threat Is merely
to be held as weapon over the head of
the next Democratic national conven-
ton, to force the nomination Of left
wing Democrat for President in 1910,
1t is one thing. If the progressives are
intent upon organizing new party no
matter what the Democrats may do, it
Is very much another thing.
One thing the Democrats would like
to know. They would like to know how
far the National Progressives of America
the name given the new party by Gov.
La Follette-is prepared to 60 in the
elections Of 1888. OF course, the pro-
gressive party will go the limit in Wis
consin-as it has for fou1 years. But
how many candidates in other States
will it back for the House of Representa- =
tives, how many candidates for Senator
and fnr CynVQrnnr0 II ic QYcopTiny1U
clear that If the new party puts in the
field candidates for these offices, the
New Deal apple cart may be considerably
upset.
They way in which Gov La Toilette
has attacked the New Deal philosophy
of curtailment of production gives con-
siderable hope that the policy of scarcity
may be abandoned It will give en-
couragement to the farmers of half a
dozen States who have recently organ
ized against the Roosevelt Wallace plans
for crop control
*t+4
There are several ways of looking at
the La Toilette move. First, there is the
possibility that the La Folettes Gov.
Phil" and Senator Bob" have come to
the conclusion that the Roosevelt admin
ident has failed to bring back prosperity
and the people will leave him. In that
case, the time to get going is now-and
to seize the progressive leadership. Sec
ond, there is the possibility that Gov. La
Toilette is feeling the need of bolstering
the Progressive party in his own State
this year. Hope has been held out to the
Wisconsin progresSives for several years
thaf tho prnCroCcivo uro,11H ho
tended and made national in scope.
An amazing part of the La Toilette
drive has been the attacks leveled at the
President and his policies, first by Gov
La Toilette and then by Senator La Fol-
lette. The Governor and the Sanator
have stood by the President ever since
he first became candidate for Presi-
dent There was talk at one time of a
place in the Roosevelt cabinet for Phil
La Toilette, but it did not materialize.
It was whispered that lesser Offices were
offered to him but declined The Presi-
dent gave his blessing to Bob La Toilette
the last time he ran for the Senate Not
only did Gov. La Toilette refer to the
Roosevelt program as "tinkering and
patching" and as tending to restrict
rather than increase production, but
Senator La Toilette has insisted that the
new billion dollar naval construction bill
IS child, not Of the Navy Department,
but Of the President. The Senator inti-
mated that the President had dug up
scare over foreign affairs in order to dis
tract the attention of the voters from
the slump which has set in. Such a sug-
gestion is scarcely chubby.
X
There are other focal points of pro-
gressivism outside of Wisconsin, where
leaders are leaving the President, for
example, In New York. There Mayor La
Guardia, who is now member of the
American Labor party. is giving his
blessing to the La Toilette movement
La Guardia is potential thorne in the
side Of the Presidents own party in his
own State. No one knows what the fiery
F1orello has in mind. He could cause
lot OF trouble for the Democrats if he
became candidate for Governor, for
example. on the American Labor party
ticket. He could aid and abet other labor
candidates in contests for seats in the
National House of Representatives. Such
maneuverlng would make it very difficult
Tor the Democrats to elect their candi-
dates.
In Pennsylvania, John L. Lewis, head
OF the c. I. O.. whose relations with the
President are not what they used to be,
is seeking political domination. OF
course, it is true that Senator Guffey of
Pennsylvania. ardent Roosevelt man. is
the head and forefront, the window
dressing. for the ticket which Lewis is
seeking to nominate in that State. head
ed by Thomas Kennedy, Lieutenant
Governor and secretary treasurer of the
United Mine Workers. But If Kennedy
Is nominated for Governor and if later
he is elected Governor, Mr. Lewis and
not Senator Guffey will be the power be-
hind the throne in that State. Senator
Guftey has leaped on the Lewis band
wagon in order to defeat, If possible his
own foes in the Democratic party in the
State. 1t was either take Lewis and
Kennedy or be denoted from leader
ship-and Guffey chose the first course.
President Roosevelt's leadership has
been under fire for months now, at the
hands Of many of the more conservative
democrats in Congress and out. If the
left wingers, as represented by the La
Follettes, are to jump the Roosevelt
reservation, and La Guardia and others
are to follow suit, the troubles of the
administration are really becoming grave.
Ihe administration in recent days
has had Its spokesmen busy in Dixie
land. Postmaster General Farley, who
is also chairman of the Democratic Ma
tlonal Committee, is on speaking tour