The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1938-05-12
THE PRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

Walter Lippman has discovered that
new dealers from the President and Sem
ator Minton down the line to the little
hangers-on are disgruntled at the press OF
the country. They are sore on the news
papers, claiming that all newspapers OPP
posing the new deal, or any of its schemes
and policies, are prejudiced and unfair, II
not Il number of other things which they
describe in language much worse than
these words.
Now the facts in regard to the new deal
and the press may be summarized briefly.
In Roosevelts first campaign he had the
support of majority of the country's
newspapers, in some eases regardless OF
the political party views and affiliations
of certain journals. To this majority sup
port after the election were added many
newspapers which made it plain that they
would support and cooperate with the adj
ministration on the basis of the Democratic
platform of 1882 and Roosevelt's pre-elec-
ton promises The press completely made
good this attitude and policy in the first
months of the new administration, or until
the true purposes of the President and
those with whom he had surrounded him
self in Washington were developed some
what and made manifest to the nation.
When it became clear to the country
that President Roosevelt was determined
to ignore the Democratic platform and the
promises upon which he had been elected;
that he had appointed to positions in his
administration radicals of all varieties,
shades and degrees of rabidness; and that
he was taking the nation upon unknown,
nntried (as far as this country has had
lead to schemes, experiments and govern
ment policies entirely foreign to the Amer
lean system, economy, social conditions
and ideals, and possibly result in extreme
ly dangerous substitution of foreign ideas
and systems for those which have existed
throughout the history of this nation,
when, in fact, his true plans and purposes
had somewhat developed, the press began
TO lose confidence, to disagree and criti-
else. This attitude of the press has, it must
be, admitted, continued and increased until
a large majority of the country's newspa-
pers are opposing the new deal, or at least
a majority of its policies.
This change in the attitude of the press
dates from the period of NRA in which
newspaper men had private as we'll as
public opportunity to learn the Presidents
views Of the press, his attitude to the
newspapers, and something about what
the American press might expect from him
II ne ever secured the power to control the
nations newspapers. The confidence of
newspaper men in the chief executive be-
gan to wane from that time.
However, the growing opposition of the
press to the policies and purposes of the
Roosevelt administration is based on prin-
clples and some understanding, the news
papers believe, not only of the fundamen-
tails of Americanism but the certainties of
the logical unfolding of the radcalism of
the President and the crowd surrounding
him and having more to do with the form
ing Of his thinking and the making of his
public policies than Roosevelt himself has.
The newspapers in opposition to Roose-
welt and his administration policies have
no personal quarrel with the man. They
have no personal feeling against him. No
doubt all, or nearly all, of them would be
as well pleased with Roosevelt as with any
other man for President, if he was trusted,
II they had confidence in what he is trying,
10 accomplish, or did not deeply distrust
the man and what they are convinced are