Evening star., 1939-06-12

" e d VI
Charles G. Ross. the Secretarys
views. On the subject of a possible
third-party movement in 1910, they
are much more clearly defined-they
nave more bite-than the following
paragraph as printed in the Look
article would indicate:
A liberal like Fiorello La
Guardla, running on a third
party ticket, might be able to
rally behind him both the liberals
who have left the G. o. P. and
the more forward looking Demo-
Gratis. A third party wouldn't be
expected to win on the first trv.
put II a conservative is elected in
l94O, the liberals will probably
have him on the run long before
1914
What the Secretary wrote he
states, is as follows:
Liberals who left the Republi-.
can party and who have followed
FRANKLIN D. Roosevelt from 1882
to 1899 will not stultifv them.
selves by voting for a reactionarv
Democrat. They will not take too
kindly to Republican reaction
ary, but if they have no other
choice they will prefer a Repub.
mean to Democratic reaction
ary. However, there is a good
chance that they would get be-
hind such liberal as Fiorello
La Guardia in a third-party
movement, not necessarily be-
cause they would expect to win
at the first try with third party
movement, but because. impelled
by the faith that is in them, thev
would feel bound to keep up the
liberal fight in the belief that anv
conservative elected in 1910 would
be we'll on his way out long be-
fore 1914, when the liberals. If
they had not been false to their
faith. would again move into
power on perhaps the most per-
manent basis that they have ever
been in power in this country.
Threat of Revolt.
There is such a vagueness about
the paragraph as it appeared in the
published magazine article that lit
Tie attention was paid to it in the
news summaries. The full text car
rles a much more definite threat
OF revolt If the Democrats NOM
mate conservative for the presi-
dency. There sis good chance, !"
IN that event, that a third ticket
Will be put into the field. It is to
be noted. too. that Mr.. Ickes fits
into the classification of those one
time Republicans who went with
Roosevelt in 1882 and who now. If
they have to make the choice, will
prefer a Republican to a Demo-
cratic reactionary." His statement
Is a clear threat that if a conserv-
atlve Democrat is nominated. he
will either vote for the Republican
candidate or join a third-party
movement.
Mr.. Ickes is careful to speak only
for those liberals who left the Re-
publican party to support Roose-
belt, but his statement is intended
to rally all shades of New Dealers
to the third-party movement if one
is got under way with a view to
keeping the New Deal cause alive
and taking command of the Gov
ernment again in 1945.
The threat of third ticket
voiced by Mr.. Ickes represents one
of the principal shots in the locker
of those who are trying to get a
third term for President Roosevelt.
What they are saying to the Dem
ocratic convention-and the argu-
ment is one that will be heard more
and more as the draft Roosevelt
movement progresses-is this: Nom-
mate compromise candidate and
even though the President may
support him the chances are large
that sufficient number of Roose-
veltians will fall away to give the
Republicans the election; nominate
an out-and-out conservative and
face bolt that will certainly give
them the election; nominate, there
fore, out of sheer political expedi-
ency II nothing else, a liberal Of
the Roosevelt persuasion, who will
carry on the New Deal in the Roose-
velt tradition. What of the liberals
of this description other than the
President himself? The reply is
that none of them has the vote
getting possibilities of the President
that even with the third-term
handicap he has a better chance Of
success than any other Democrat
now on the political horizon.
One Certain Answer.
This is the idea that the Ickes
statement is intended to get across.
He sees Mr.. Roosevelt as the "one
certain answer" to the question of
what liberal can most surely be
nominated, and therefore elected on
the Democratic ticket" He doesn t
say what he would do If somebody
like former Gov. McNutt or Gov.
Stark should be nominated, but he
indicates very plainly what he would
do, and would try to get others to
do, If Mr.. Garner should be NOM
mated. Il hasten to add that he
names no names; one can only write
them in by inference from his
known position)
Mr.. 1ckes is for q third term for
the President, and in his earnest
effort to get other candidates-not,
perhaps, all Of them-out Of the
way, he is holding a gun at the head
Of the Democratic convention.