Evening star., 1938-01-12
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Gratifying from the administrations
standpoint as rejection of the Ludlow
war referendum is, far less joy is derived
from the fact that victory was snatched
from the jaws of defeat only by grace of
Republican votes. The 20 minority
House members who joined Leader Bert
Smell comprised the exact margin by
which the Hoosier peace panacea was
condemned to indefinite oblivion. What
actually happened is that only 1873 Demo-
Gratis out of the top-heavy. party strength
of 800, a fraction under 60 per cent, stood
by President Roosevelt. While the ref
erendum vote supplies fresh evidence OF
the New Deals slippery hold on its
supposed supporters in the popular
branch of Congress. it is no acid test of
party loyalty. 1t is rather an expression
of the deep-seatedness and wide extent
of pacifism and the peace-at-any-pr
cult Even, F. D. RS fervid eleventh.
hour appeal to kill the proposal, on the
ground it would do "the exact opposite
of keeping the United States out of war"
failed to hold Democrats in line. If the
LudloWites make good their threat to
ptchfork the issue into the congressional
campaign. there may be hard shedding
for New Deal candidates who are anti
referendum.
Not since organized persuasion
drenched the Capitol during the World
Court, public utilities death sentence and
Supreme Court controversies, has Con-
gress been propagandized as intensively
as it was on the Ludlow proposition.
House members were flooded with tele-
grams, letters and petitions, and driven
from pillar to post by lobby button
holers. It's the latest example of the
noise and effort that can be generated
by organized minorities. Although ma
tional referendum sentiment Is prob
ably pretty evenly divided, the opposi-
ton, as usual on these high-pressure
occasions, let the proponents do virtually
all the crusading. One of these days
some cynically-minded soul is going to
ask how and whence the American
pacifist movement is financed. Ever and
anon, there's q suspicion that yellow
gold-thats the color generally men,
tioned-is at work.
Representative Hatton w. Summers,
Democrat, of Texas is acquiring the
reputation of Jack the Giant Killer on
major controversial occasions in Con-
gress. It was the House judiciary chair
mans speech last summer, on the eve
of administration surrender in the court
fight, that did as much as any one thing
to doom the bill. Last week, several days
before the war referendum was sunk,
Summers precipitated a debate on 1t.
With that calm but deadly power of
analysis of which he is master, he
poured devastating broadside into the
Ludlow plan, aSsailing 1t as "a tragical
mistake" The Texan hammered on the
theory that it would be suicidal in
dangerous times like these to hamstring
the executive branch in its constitutional
prerogative to conduct foreign relations.
Asked by Tammanyite If "the cumula-
tive wisdom Of the President and the
Secretary of State is superior to that of
Congress" Summers frankly rejoined that
with reference to the job we've hired
them to do, think we'd better let their
judgment control" The kernel of his
argument was that the Ludlow resolu-
ton would weaken our first line of de-
fenSe-diplomacy."
For no member of the Supreme Court
has President Roosevelt greater personal
affection than for Justice Cardozo.
Cardozo began serving on the New York
Court of Appeals some rs years ago,
about the time Roosevelt was carving
out his career at Albany, and was chief
justice during the latter's two terms in
the governorship. While Mr.. Roose-