The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1940-11-22
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Washington, d. C.
BURYING THE RATCHET

calls asking If l am ready, as |
promised, to eat my column of sew
eral weeks ago saying that DR.. Gal
lup's poll predicting this Roosevelt
landslide was grossly in error. If
it will please anybody, l am willing
to eat that column. 1t would hardly
give me indigestion. 1t is only 500
words.
But / doubt the obligation. DR..
Gallup ate it before / did. He got
SO Jittery that he covered himself
on every side and finally said that
the election was so close that a
breath could swing it either way.
Some breath!
l am disappointed but not down.
hearted. After all, it was an Amer
lean election. 1t expresses what our
people think. l believe it was wrong,
but l am eager to give the result
all that l have to give. So must
everybody. The President didn't
have a more earnest supporter in
1882 and 1886. He didn't have
more earnest opponent than in 1910.
But now we are on the brink of
war. He is my President and yours.
He could ask me for nothing that
] would not give.
For the result, we couldn't have
gotten a bad man, no matter who
was the final choice. I know both
OF these men-know them as we'll
as you know college chum or the
man next to whom you work or
the guy who drops in to sit on the
cracker barrel in your store, which
is figure of speech because we no
longer have cracker barrels. But
the smile is still the same.
don't call Mr.. Roosevelt Crank
lin" any more because, somehow.
you cant do that to the President
of the United States. But think
he wishes people would, and am
very sure that Mr.. Willkie doesn't
like to be called anything but Wen
dell. The point is that both of these
men are plain Americans. 1t has
never seemed to me that either of
them went very far astray-except
as to his advisers. Maybe that was
because I wasn't one of them.
There is classic army yarn
about a young lieutenant or ''shave-
\ taiP' just out of West Point. He
reported to his captain at western
station in those days when captains
were old, gruff and apt to be very
wise. This one treated him so kind
ly that he became over-enthusiastic
and said: 'Oh, Captain. I can see
that we are going to get along in
complete cooperation.
Yes" said the wrinkled old vet
eran, land in this mans army you'll
do all the cooperating"
A situation something like that
surrounds the late opponents of Pres
ldent Roosevelt. I don't know one
who, because of the danger in the
world, isn't perfectly willing to for
get the late and bitter political fight
and join up with recent political adj
versaries in anything that will adj
vance the interests of the country
and cement its strength. But it takes
at least two for any true co-opera-
ton.
The tremendous vote for Mr.. Will
kie measures the mass of protest
and skepticism on some of Mr..
Roosevelt's acts and policies. Any
hostility or roughshod riding by this
administration over contrary opin-
ions might destroy the Presidents
great opportunity to usher in the
healthiest ezra of good-feeling" and
national unity that has occurred
at least in my lifetime.
thought that kind of era would
come in 1887, but some Of Mr..
Roosevelt's closest advisers and
strongest henchmen were vindictive
scalp hunters. They said they had
a mandate and started out to keel
haul and purge even their own par
ty It didn't work so well and may
be with this much smaller majority,
there won't be so much reprisal.
Old Andy Jackson was like that.
He thought he had been cheated out
of one election and the assaults on
him had been very hateful and high
ly personal. 1t was said that he re-
tired to the Hermitage latter hav-
ing rewarded all his friends and
punished all his enemies" That may
be great personal satisfaction, but
it is just what the country does not
need at time like this.
Thomas Jefferson is as great a
titulary deity of the Democratic par
ty. He didn't do that. In his first
inaugural, he even offended his own
party by telling the people that with
the election over, they were all
Democrats and Republicans-or the
equivalent labels of that day-Re-
publicans and Federalists.
Abraham Lincoln didn't do it eli
Their He appointed to his cabinet
some of the strongest personal OPP
ponents in his own newly formed
and hodge-podge party.
Any man who has to fight as has
Mr.. Roosevelt is bound to support
his friends without too much con-
sideration for his opponents. Every
body expects that. What is now
needed is good will and mutual con-