Evening star., 1939-05-24

run for a third term takes two
forms: His enemies attribute to him
an active desire to stay in office and
say he is consciously working to
that end; New Dealers acquit him
of running for denomination but say
many of them-that the party will
draft" him.
However that may be, the effect
of the Presidents speech has been
to stimulate the draft movement.
The line of thought is simply that
the President has written the plat
form for 1940-the only platform,
that is to say, on which a New
Dealer could run-and that only
the wiZardy of the President can
sell this platform to the country.
Mr.. Roosevelt said: You cannot
expect this administration to alter
| the principles and objectives for
which we have struggled the last
six years" This means not only
that the spending for recovery
policy of the administration will be
carried on through the rest of this
term; it means also that this policy,
if Mr.. Roosevelt has his way, will be
cardinal plank of the platform of
1910.
Cannot Repudiate Policies.
Will the President have his way?
His speech shows clearly that he will
do his utmost-Whatever may be
his thought as to his own possible
candidacy-to engrave his views on
the platform. And certainly he will
have a great deal to do with it.
Unless the party goes completely
conservative, which it cannot do
with any chance of success at the
polls, it will at least give hp-service
to the Roosevelt policies. 1t cannot
repudiate them.
Thus we come back to the point
that is being made by the Roose-
| veltians who would upset the third
term tradition. If the party is to
win it must remain a liberal party;
| more, it must remain an agrees
slvely liberal party; more, it must
have candidate who, in the face
of the failure of the spending policy
thus far to bring about recovery,
can persuade the country that the
aggressive liberalism of Mr.. RooSe-
welt, if given further opportunity,
will make the spending policy pro-
duce the desired results in re-em-
ployment and general well-being.
Others Appear Doomed.
Attempts to build up other New
Dealers as presidential candidates
have failed. There appears now
to be no chance for Mr.. Hopkins, or
Mr.. Jackson, or Mr.. Murphy, or
any other New Dealer completely
satisfactory to the President, to be
nominated. Neither Mr.. Farley nor
Mr.. Hull is completely satisfactory
and Mr.. Garner is beyond the pale.
There remains-so runs the ar
gument-only one man who is ag-
gressively liberal and at the same
time can hope for nomination by
the Democratic party and election.
That man is the President.
Such is the theory which the
country may expect to see publicized
with increasing zeal in the weeks
to come. The hopes of the draft
ers' are raised with every mo re-
treat" expression of the President.
They scared to a new high as a
result of the militant speech of
Monday night.
One key man of the New Deal,
close to the top flight of officials,
is known to have given up his
thought Of an early resignation:
he now intends to stay on in the
hope that Mr.. Roosevelt will have
another four years in the White
House.
Nothing New In Speech.
There was nothing new in the
Presidents speech. He had already
thrown the tax revision plans of
Mr.. Morgenthau and Mr.. Hanes out
the window. He had already told of
the hypothetical businessman whom
he challenged to say how the budget
could be balanced. He had already
championed work relief as against
the dole: eSpoused the theory that
money should be poured in at the
bottom of the economic structure;
affirmed that his constant aim was
to improve the lot of small business:
stressed the usefulness of many of
the projects on which borrowed
public money has been spent; made
light of the mounting national debt;
said that he was really pursuing
conservative course; urged the coun-
try mot to lose sight of the forest
because of the trees"
The significance of the speech
lay in its keynoting quality. 1t had
all the earmarks of a campaign
document. 1t looked forward to
1910. If it was not the speech of
candidate for the presidency, it
was certainly the speech of a man
who intends to surrender none of
his great power to make or break
candidates and to influence the pro-
gram of his party.
Not without warrant is the high
satisfaction derived from the speech
by those who would put Mr.. Roose-
welt, willy nilly, into the race.