Evening star., 1940-02-12


Charles G. Ross. nomination for
President and the party platform,
at full strength. In this fact there
is the obvious explanation for the
mystery he has created. 1t is, how
ever, fair inference from the
course he has pursued in foreign
affairs that the dominant motive
for his silence has to do with the
foreign relations of the United
States, rather than with domestic
politics.
Considerations Of domestic pol
| itics would have yielded by this
time to the demand that he declare
himself, the writer believes, had it
not been for the line he has mapped
out for himself in foreign relations.
Through the acts of the Roose-
velt administration in the foreign
field there has run the consistent
| thread Of determination to balk,
so far as possible, by measure short
Of war" the advance Of the agrees
sor nations.
Quarantine" Speech Recalled.
The key to the Roosevelt policies
in this respect is in the Chicago
quarantine" speech of October,
1887. Toward the goal set up in
this address the President has pro-
ceeded as far as the state of public
opinion at any given time would let
him 90. He was able to procure,
for example, the repeal of the arms
embargo, so that munitions could be
sold to the allies, but he was unable
to win the full measure of the dis
cretionary powers that he felt the
executive should have.
Since that time, the apparent
growth of isolationist sentiment in
the country, joined with the immi-
nence of the presidential election,
has caused him to move with ex-
treme caution, as in the matter OF
the Finnish loan. But never has
there been any weakening of the
Presidents conviction that this
country, in its own selfish interest,
should 60 the linit-short of war
to check the spread of the Dictator
ships.
1t will have been noticed that in
his speech of Saturday to the Amer
lean Youth Congress Mr.. Roosevelt
minced no words in his denuncia-
ton OF Russia for its invasion of
Finland. His extreme critics will
say that he did this because he is a
candidate for reelection and wants
to ride popular tide OF feeling. I
think not, though ii he is q candi-
date, the speech will do him no
harm.
Used Occasion to Full.
He spoke as he did-condemning
Communism in unmeasured terms,
linking it up with Hitlerism-be-
cause the soil of public opinion had
been made fertile for his words by
the Nazi-Soviet pact and the bar
baric attack on Finland He knew
that in this case he could speak his
mind without affronting public
opinion and he used the occasion
to the full. What he said about aid
to Finland-that it was silly" to
suppose that such aid would lead us
into war with Russia-f1ts the gen.
eral pattern of his thought that we
should use all measures short of
war to put down the aggressor ma
tions.
In reply to third-term question
at one of his press conferences the
President observed, in effect, that
he had sense Of timing. So he has,
and there is evidence of the fact in
his fiery outburst against autarchic
government at this particular time
But what is the connection be-
tween the Presidents foreign policy
and the third-term riddle? Here
again his sense of timing has been
manifest. He has not committed
himself irrevocably to private life
after 1910 because-for one great
reason-he has felt that to do this
would weaken his hand in the strug-
gle against Hitlerism. In a sense,
he has thus taken part in a war of
nerves.
Move Against Hitler.
If he had said before Munich,
before the invasion Of Poland, before
any of the successive crises which
have tortured Europe, that he was
| definitely on the way out of the
| presidency, his act would have been
an encouragement to Hitler to
march. This would have been true
because of the strong line that
Roosevelt has taken against Hitler.
One deterrent to further aggression
by Hitler-uneasiness as to what the
man of the Chicago quarantine
| speech might do-would have been
removed. It was Roosevelt's proper
role, as he saw it, to keep Hitler
guessing; to prevent war if he could,
or, at the least, to hold of war as
long as possible, while the enemies
Of Hitler improved their defenses.
The fact that Hitler was not
stopped and that finally England
and France were involved Is beside
the point. Roosevelt did what he
could, and the mystery he made
Of his third-term intentions was a
part Of his method. 1t Is a plausible
theory that the war between Ger
many and the allies would have
come sooner but for his efforts.
But what Of the prolongation Of
Roosevelt's silence down to the pres
ent? That Is harder question.
1 oAACiiNC 40 cllll, llOWCVST, COus
nected with the foreign situation.
In the terribly uncertain state Of
world affairs he seeks to maintain
his political stature at it's most COM
manding height. But the time
draws near when he can only do
this by running again-and getting
elected. Is this what he wishes
another term? The answer, think,
is no, but with this qualification:
That eventualities are conceivable,
in our foreign relations, In which he
will run. His decision waits upon
events. He has sense Of timing.
District automobile drivers last year
with experience ranging from six
months to is years were involved In
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