Evening star., 1940-03-26

quantities. One is the undisclosed
intention of the President respecting
q third term. This issue might crowd
out all others if it arises. The people
might well conclude that perpetuated
White House tenancy, contrary to
$50 years of unwritten law, would
menace the life Of American democ-
racy - remembering that Thomas
Jefferson warned against such
tenure, saying that under such cir
cumstances the Office will in fact
become for life, and history shows
how easily that degenerates into an
inheritance" The other unknown
quantity is the war-an issue which
could dominate all others if the peo-
pie should conclude that our national
policy heads us into foreign en-
tanglements and into other peoples
wars.
Speculates on Slogans.
BY next November, either or both
of these contingencies might be the
paramount concern. I can well
imagine a third-term issue rising to
this magnitude, particularly at a
restless moment when dictatorship
has democracy by the throat all
round the globe. In such event, the
deadly. dominating phrase might
be-"If a third term, why not a
fourth or f1fth?" Similarly, if the
war we're to drift toward our involve
ment-say, for the sake Of the argu-
E1ent, in the pattern of the Presi-
dents famous Chicago speech in
favor of "quarantines"-the voters
might forget all else. Then, despite
eur deep adherence of these alien
ideologies. the monopolizing chal-
lenge might become Millions for
defense, but not one man or dollar
sor war on foreign soil" Or: Lets
swap horses and stay on this side OF
the stream"
Of course, the war issue might
work in reverse if the people were
to conclude-despite the facts-that
the President is our best peace in
surance. But this only serves to show
how speculative is this 1910 theme.
freely concede myself the supreme
Importance of this life -and-death is
sue, as I think my own pro-peace
record proves. Our entry into
another World War would swiftly
plunge us into such rigid Govern
ment controls-(the secret mobiliZa-
ton plans are ready right nowD-
that our liberties would vanish over
night, and our exit from the con-
hict, even though victorious, would
find us in the chains of homemade
tyranny and bankruptcy. We are
quite near enough to both without
q war; which is to say, upon the one
hand, we are already in the grip of
''governmenJ py executive decree"
to an alarming extent, and, upon the
other hand, the public credit is al
ready crowding the red ink danger
line Of disintegration.
Yes, in the shadow of our drift
toward entry into another war, every
other issue would sink to insignifl-
cance-even the third-term issue,
unfortunately, as some OF our best
political calculators fully understand.
Therefore, there is no certain answer
to tonight's question until destiny
unfolds. But I hope we may be
spared any such decision; first, be-
cause of the horrible implications
of the decision itself; second because
We cannot wait much longer to set
our own house in order. The place
where we must save democracy is
right here at home-before it is too
late. We must not allow ourselves
to be needlessly diverted. 1t is upon
this theory that we shall be able to
TX our minds upon our own un-
answered internal necessities that I
proceed briefly to respond to the
question Of the evening: From a
Republican viewpoint, what will be
the determining factors in the No
vember elections?"
State of Mind Major Factor.
The controlling factor is state of
mind. 1t believes that in seven years
the New Deal has created more
problems than it has solved; that
many of its peu-mell programs and
devices are proven wrong, yet never
will be corrected or withdrawn by
the authors of these errors; that even
its useful social-minded progress
needs new management to make it
work. This state Of mind believes
that the New Deal is at war with
private enterprise and wants every
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