Evening star., 1938-10-02


rr.nl,vn w.,,m.. failure OF a re-
cent column by
the publicity director of the Demo-
cratic National Committee to attract
any attention. In other days the COL
umn We have in mind would have been
front page news and would have
caused endless comment for days be-
cause he pulled the bed clothes OF the
New Dealers.
The Democratic publicity director In
this column undertook to defend Pres
ident Roosevelt's Endorsement as lib
erals of Candidates Downey and o.
son, despite their espousal of a crack
pot scheme to devise stamped script, or
what is called funny money" to pay q
pension of $50 every Thursday to all
over so years old. Senator McAdoo
characterized the scheme as "cruel
delusion of old and deserving people" "
Tongues in Cheeks.
The official Democratic spokesman,
however, refused to be excited about
the Downey- Olson crackpot scheme
He strongly indicated that the prom
ises of these two New Dealers would he
forgotten as soon as the two gentle
men We're elected. He thought it was
quite all right for a candidate to in
dorse such a plan with his tongue
in his cheek for campaign purposes. ii
obviously" he added, lit is not the
highest type of craftsmanship to es-
pouSe movement in which you dc
not believe for the sake of compass
ing an election" but he thought 1t
was quite in order for the President
to indorse candidates doing so.
Now, of course, that is according to
the established New Deal ritual as we
have known it for the last five years
But none in the Roosevelt camp be-
fore has so brazenly and blatantly
exposed it. Nevertheless it is good
New Deal doctrine, carefully set forth
in Assistant Attorney General Thur
man Arnold's The Folklore of Capt.
talism.' This book is the New Deal
Bible. 1t is to the New Deal what
Adolph Hitlers "Mein Kampf" is to
the Nazis.
Among his principles OF Political
Dynamics" Mr.. Arnold writes that in
stitutional creeds, such as law, eco
nomics or theology, must be false in
order to function effectively" and
he adds that this paradoxical state
ment means that they must express
contradictory ideals and must au-
thoritatively suppress any facts which
interfere with those ideals"
Must Be False to Be Effective.
"The creed of any institution" Mr.
Thurman writes in further explana-
ton, lis public presentation of q
drama in which the institution is the
hero. The play is spoiled unless the
machinery behind the scenes is care
fully concealed. In this lies the ex-
planation of the paradox that legal
and economic principles must be false
In order to be effective"
Mr.. Arnold specifically applied his
creed so that none might mistake
his meaning. Speaking of former
President Hoover he says that at
was his sincerity that wrecked his ad-
ministration" AS Frederick H. Stinch-
field, former president of the Amer
ican Bar Association, recently said
mo cause could die for a better re-
ligion."
Harry Hopkins with his famous wise
crack that the people were too dumb
to understand expressed the same
idea in subtler if more pointed Ian
guage, while Hitler in his book puts 1t
thusly:
1T is not the task of propaganda
to weigh the various rights. 1t must,
on the contrary, exclusively underline
the new position"
Mr.. Arnold and now the Democratic
publicity director are spelling the play
by failing to keep 'the machinery be-
hind the scenes carefully concealed"
Mr. Arnold may be excused, for he
committed his indiscretion while a
professor at Yale. AS for the Demo-
cratic publicity director, well, there
was time when he did regard Mr..
Roosevelt as hero. Those words just
probably slipped out.
Roosevelt Words Recalled.
In all events, since with this the
Roosevelt administration, creed
must be false in order to be effec-
tive" we can now understand what
was written and said in the last five
years. Now for the first time we can
appreciate Mr.. Roosevelt's 1882 dec
larationS:
Il accuse the present administra-
ton of being the greatest spending ad-
ministration in peace time in all our
history =.
Il shall approach the problem of
carrying out the plain precept of our
party, which is to reduce the cost of
current Federal Government opera
tions by 25 per cent =.
Il propose to use this position of
high responsibility (the presidency
to discuss up and down the country, in
all seasons and at all times, the duty
of reducing taxes, of increasing the
efficiency of government, of cutting
out the underbrush around our gov
ernmental structure, of getting the
most public service for every dollar
paid in taxation. That I pledge you.
and nothing have said in the cam
paign transcends in Importance this
covenant with the taxpayers OF the
United States"
But why go on? Similar quota
tions uttered during the last five
years by Mr.. Roosevelt and the New
Dealers fill book of several hundred
pages. They were just actors on the
stage, speaking their lines, with their
tongues in their cheeks. The sole
purpose was to be elected.
Just keep in mind, the next time
the magic voice comes over the radio,
that the New Deal proceeds on the
principle that creed must be false
in order to be effective"