Evening star., 1940-05-18

third term for N
Mr.. Roosevelt @S'''''S
are openly re- David Lawrence.
joicing. The Republicans are sad
dened because they feel domestic
issues will be sidetracked at time
when the Nation was beginning to
wake up to the dangers of State
socialism.
Reports from all parts of the coun-
try are that many businessmen are
detected and worried because they
fear the President will wage war
under cleft wing" influence, that he
will not listen to the men who must
operate the economic machinery of
the country, that he will remain in
different to the tactics of the bright
young New Deal lawyers and judges
who may be finding additional powers
in existing statutes so as to get COM
plete control of private business into
Government hands.
Suspicious Cling.
Psychologically, the war emer-
gency has gotten off to very poor
start. The promptness with which
Democratic spokesmen announced
that the new turn of affairs abroad
means acceptance by the President
of a third-term nomination did not
serve to remove already existent
suspicious that the administration
has been waiting only for dramatic
turn in European affairs to embark
on third-term adventure N
earnest.
If the President had some time
ago stated publicly that he would
not be a candidate. his position to-
day would have been impregnable.
His silence has created the belief
that he has wanted third term and
believed that Europe might furnish
the justification for breaking the
precedent. 1t will be recalled that
he urged that the Democratic Ma
tional Convention be held in Sep
tember and many observers here be-
neve this was because he expected
the outbreak of intensive war in
Europe this summer.
The President unfortunately has
given businessmen the filters before.
The moment he assembled last year
the War Industries Board, composed
of businessmen, the left wing started
in it's attack and before long the ad-
ministration sent the board home.
The left wing attack may be ex-
pected to begin again. Some of the
Misunderstanding spokesmen of the
left wing are perhaps innocent of
what their tactics mean, but the
surest way to prevent America from
becoming efficient in wartime is to
keep the businessmen out of control
of the very productive process which
they understand so well.
The biggest question today among
businessmen is not whether Mr..
Roosevelt should be nominated and
elected for a third term, but what
persuasive assurance the business
world can receive that the free en-
terprise system will be maintained
and that when war is over it will
come back without collectivist i'm
print.
Worry Over Handicaps.
Business thinks in terms of pro-
duction. Even with the best patri-
otic instincts and desires, business
cannot see how the productive ma
chinery of the country can function
If the President continues to permit
a legalistic and class partisan in
stitution like the National Labor
Relations Board to tinker with the
economic system The need of the
hour Is to keep the Labor Board con-
fined to collective bargaining as
such and not to allow it any longer
to administer the law in collusion
with certain labor groups.
At the very time when business
and labor should be working to-
gether, presidential and congress
sional politics have prevented at
this session of Congress the taking
of the necessary corrective steps to
enable Americas economic system
to function efficiently. knowing
that the record shows conclusively
the need for amendment, business
men cannot understand the refusal
OF the administration to abandon
its one-sided course. If war is not
to come Immediately and the eco
nomic machine is to be properly
prepared for challenge to its pro-
ductive capacity not only must
there be revisions of several exist
ing statutes, like the wages and hour
and public contracts laws, but an
altogether different attitude must
be adopted by the jealous young
men who hold enormous admins
trative powers of life or death over
industry and finance.
Mr.. Roosevelt knows better than
any one in Washington what has
to be done to get labor and manage
ment working together. Until he
does something convincing and con-
fidence- giving, the roots of dissen-
sion and class warfare will grow
deeper and deeper, with the result
that Americas economic machine
will become weaker and weaker
precisely as certain dictators over
seas would have it in the country of
strongest economic capacity in the
world