The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1938-03-03
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS.
Copyright by the Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by
special permission.
Cashing In On His Job
By FRANK r. KENT

members of the Roosevelt family were
using the White House to make money
for themselves got little adverse COM
ment in the newspapers and almost
none from opposing politicians. There
was, of course,' great deal of private
talk-even among the Presidents
friends, many of whom deplored it
and almost none defended. By those
not friendly it was regarded as a
shocking commercializing Of the
Presidency, without precedent in our
history.
But until recently there was
strangely little public comment. There
were reasons for this. One was the
custom among his opponents, while
eondemning Mr.. Roosevelt's policies,
to laud him personally-to picture
him as high-minded though mistaken.
1t was a custom carried to extremes.
Partly, this was to avoid the appear
ance of personal attack and partly
because of the Presidents early pop
uIarity which made it possible for him
to do almost anything without public
resentment. A second reason was nat
ural reluctance to be publicity critical
of the members of the Presidents
famIy-particularly the feminine
ones. A third was because there were
so many great national issues pro-
jected by the New Deal that the fam
ly capitalization of the Presidency,
while indicative of bad taste and a
low ethical standard, was certainly
trivial by comparison.
#4%
Within the last few weeks, however,
there has come an end to this curious
immunity. In number of newspapers
satirical editorials and dispatches
about the way in which the family is
cleaning up have appeared. Various
columnists have dealt with the sub
ject and in Congress the comment has
been bitterly denunciatory. While all
this has been smoudering for some
time the Outburst was precipitated by
the announcement that the President
himself had written a series of thirty
articles which had been sold to a
newspaper syndicate, three for a
weekly magazine, and was about to
publish the first volume of his public
papers and addresses. The compensa-
ton for the newspaper and magazine
articles alone is estimated at 100000.
*~#
The price paid is clearly based on
the fact that the author is President
of the United States. OF this transac-
ton one paper-the Heard Tribune
which, though Republican, has con-
sistently avoided anything hike per-
sonal criticism, said, ''The country is
properly generous to its Presidents. 1t
begrudges them neither salary, eX-
pense accounts nor ample vacations.
But to cash in on huge scale on the
job itself by selling to the highest
bidder his own accounting of his stew
ardship is so unprecedented and steep
a descent for a President as to give
the whole nation a pause"
Other papers have been equally
trenchant in their comment. One wri-
ter recalls the Presidents recent crit
icism of the motor industry for "high
pressure craftsmanship" in connection
with the sort of craftsmanship used to
place his newspaper articles. The first
syndicate, to which they were offered
for 100000, declined them.
#**
Some commentators have presented
d standardization of the financial &C
tiVities of the Roosevelt family which
is certainly amazing. They point out
Mrs. James Delano Roosevelt, the
Presidents mother, recently indorsed
a baking powder in a series of news
paper advertisements containing her
picture and facsimile of her sigma
ture. What was paid for this, of
course, there is no way Of knowing.
Then, a number of writers have dealt
more OF less candidly with the fact
that James Roosevelt, eldest son Of
the President and one of his $4,000
secretaries, is head Of the insurance
firm of Roosevelt & Sargent, which
numbers among it's clients many of
the greatest corporations and most
conspicuous economic royaiists in the
country, some of whom have close
contact with the Government, such
as the National Distillers Associa-
ton, the Transcontinental and West
ern Always, the Columbia Broad
casting Company, Armour and Com
pany, New England Power Company
and many others.
1t is not charged that young Mr.,
II I II Ill IL L.