Evening star., 1940-07-16
Democratic KEYNOTE

0SuuVSi0tS NSyuVtV
The Democratic keynote address,
to paraphrase a comment by its
author, represents skillful use Of
language to conceal purpose. 1t
meets the requirements of a partisan
speech, but If it was intended to be
accepted as sounding the keynote of
the Democratic campaign there is
but one possible conclusion: From
now until election time politics and
not craftsmanship is to be the order
of the day.
Speaker Bankhead, delivering the
address, acknowledged that the New
Deal had made temporary" errors
IN policy and in the administration
of policies. What these mistakes
were and how they are to be cor
rected he did not say. The Repub-
licanS were chided for not demand
ing the repeal or abolition of a
single one of the major New Deal
laws, but Republican insistence that
some of these laws be amended was
ignored. AS far as one may judge
from the keynote speech, the Demo-
Gratis, despite admitted mistakes, are
standing pat.
The keynote speakers bid for the
farm vote by citing the Democrats
record in support Of parity payments
illustrated the difficulty of his posi-
ton and the real character of the
appeal that the party will have to
make throughout the campaign. In
the House last May, he said, most
of the Democrats voted for the parity
payments program and most Of the
Republicans voted against it, imply
ing that the Republicans, therefore,
should not be returned to power.
But what Mr.. Bankhead was careful
to ignore was the fact that President
Roosevelt, with ample justification,
also was opposed to an appropriation
for parity payments unless accom-
panied by offsetting taxes. The re-
suit, of course, was that the Demo-
Gratis who voted for this farm hand
out, while refusing to approve new
taxes, were opposing the President,
while the Republicans were support
ing him. That, UNDERSTANDABLE
enough, is pne aspect of the matter
which the keynoter adroitly side
stepped.
But Mr.. Bankhead'S avoidance of
realism was not confined to domestic
questions. The main theme of his
utterances on our foreign relations
is negation, in fact if not in terms,
of the determined and enlightened
policy to which the President has
committed himself. To read Mr..
Bankheads statement of the Demo-
cratic party's attitude toward the
threat of aggression from abroad is
to wonder what administration has
been in power during the past few
years.
The keynote speech takes cogni-
zance of the menace to our way of
life that is inherent in the forcible
spread of totalitarianism. 1t acknowl-
edges that only Great Britain still
stands against the hurricane of the
blitzkrieg." But there is no proposal
of assistance of any kind to the Brit
ish, not even an Endorsement of such
help as has been given in the past.
The emphasis is on isolationism, on
the determination to resist aggres-
sion when it crosses the Atlantic
rather tf.an upon any effort to check
it at its source.
And even in this respect the KEY
note speaker made no statement
whatsoever of his position on the
most important issue pertaining to
our own defense-that of compulsory
military training based on the selec-
tive draft. He spoke in glowing terms
OF the naval ships that we are build
ing, of the $4,000 planes that we will
build If necessary, of the authorized
increase in our Regular Army and
National Guard, but he ignored the
problem of how the men essential
to any defense program are to be
raised and trained.
One can only wonder whether the
keynote speech was read in advance
and approved by Mr.. Roosevelt. If
that be the case, or if he indorses
1t now, it can only mean surrender
to the real or fancied dictates of
expediency.