Evening star., 1940-07-29

tation from David Lawrence.
President Roosevelt's speech at the
Jackson Day dinner on January 8,
1888:
when speaking before a party
gathering in these modern times l
am happy to realize that the audi
ence is not confined to active men,
bers of my own party and that
there is less unthinking partisan
ship in this country today than at
any time since the administration
Of President Washington.
In this last campaign a charm
ing lady wrote me as follows: I
believe in you and in what you are
trying to Go for the Nation. I do
wish I could vote for you-but you
see my parents were Republicans
and I was brought up as a Repub-
lican and so l have to vote for your
opponent.
My reply to her ran as follows:
MY father and grandfather were
Democrats and I was brought up as
Democrat, but in 1904, when I cast
my first vote for a President voted
for the Republican candidate,
Theodore Roosevelt, because I
thought he was a better Democrat
than the Democratic candidate
Il have told that story many
times and if I had to do it over
again I would not alter that vote
Tradition Wavering.
This year when Democrats in the
South particularly are considering
what to do about the conflict be-
tween Franklin Roosevelt and
Thomas Jefferson on the third
term issue, the above story will be
quoted again and again. The fact
is Mr.. Roosevelt is right about the
straight ticket party tradition. 1t
has been Wavering for many years
because people are interested in
personalities rather than parties,
principles rather than the eXponents
of eXpediency
In the South, where tradition is
strong in behalf of the Democratic
ticket, there is disinclination to
vote for any one but the Democratic
nominee. This year on the Re-
publican ticket appears a man who
voted the Democratic ticket all his
life up to and including 1882 He
believes today in the platform OF
the Democratic party of 1882, which
the New Dealers disregarded.
But even this practical situation
will not persuade many of the
Southern Democrats to vote the Re-
;ol-
are being discussed of getting Re-
publican electors on the ballot in
Southern States under some inde-
pendent Democratic auspices, but
the State laws are so drawn in sew
eral instances that this is not
feasible, at least not in time for the
1910 election.
What probably will happen, not
only in the South but in many parts
of the North and West, will be the
organization of stay-at-home clubs
among the Democrats. Every Dem
ocrat vote withheld as a protest
contributes to the result that may
be desired by the anti-third term
Democrat without causing him to
vote in the ranks of the opposite
party.
No Freedom of Choice.
This will be criticized no doubt
as a disregard of civic duty, but
the truth is, the masters of the.
Democratic party, by yielding to
the influence of the governmental
machine in Washington, deprived
the party of its freedom of choice
so that only delegates favorable to
a third term were picked in ma
jority Of the States. The voter is
thus confronted with the necessity
of ratifying the action of a con-
vention which, in the words of
Senator Scott Lucas of Illinois,
Democrat, was not Ii free and open
convention" or else expressing his
individual protest in the only way
open to the anti-third term Demo-
crat, who doesn't want to register
as Republican and leave his party.
In the last several campaigns
there have been organized "get-out-
the-vote' clubs, but this year "stay-
at-home' clubs may prove even more
conspicuous. The citizen is con-
fronted this year with the necessity
of choosing between Republican
nominees, on the one hand, or DEM
ocratic nominees who have agreed
to violate the teachings of the
founder of the Democratic party,
who not only when in Office, but for
many years afterward. warned
against the dangers of third term.
Since President Roosevelt, on the
other hand. considers the boiling
of a ticket to be proper, then other
citizens may do so too, Republicans
and Democrats alike. Many Repub-
licans, doubtless, who do not weigh
the third-term issue as important
as compared to other issues, will
feel justified in deserting their party.
But the most interesting fact is
that John Hanes and Lewis Douglas
and Senator Reed of Missouri and
the others who have announced
their intention of voting for the
Republican nominee can point to
Franklin Roosevelt's own declara-
ton and experience as justification
for what they have done.
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