Evening star., 1940-03-01

~ N~~1~' oRPOo2GAOlA w q
third term for Mr.. Roosevelt. If he
should have the opportunity, he
would support Postmaster General
Farley, but he did not intend to
oppose the denomination of the
President If the latter. "by silence
or otherwise" indicated his wiling
ness to accept it.
by silence or otherwise"
The important word here Is
Silence" So long as Mr.. Roose-
welt does not take himself out Of
the race. he is in it.
The attitude of Senator Walsh is
typical of that of an increasing
number Of politicians. Whether, on
principle, they like the third-term
idea or not, they are going along"
with it. If they felt that Roosevelt
was slipping, they would leave him
most of them-like shot.
They would find, as did the great
majority of the Democrats of the
Senate in 1928, when the shoe was
on the other foot, that any depar-
ture from the ancient tradition
would be "unwise, unpatriotic and
fraught with peril to our free in
stitutions." That they are not so
finding today is significant evil
dence of their belief that the Presi-
dents coattails are the best on
which to ride in the election.
This belief, of which there are
fresh signs every day. is both re-
Election of the third-term sentiment
in the party and stimulus to 1t.
Band Wagon Is Rolling.
The band wagon started by the
New Dealers from mixture Of
motives, altruistic and selfish, is
rolling along today with the calliope
going full blast. There is hardly
any doubt that it will get new i'm
petus, and new recruits, from the
results of the Wisconsin and Illinois
primaries early next month. Roose-
welt is pitted in both Of these against
Garner. Garner is the spearhead
and the symbol of the movement
to stop Roosevelt. Unless every
political sign is at fault, the Vice
President will be showed under.
All this is by way of reinforcing
the proposition that Roosevelt can
have the nomination if he wants it.
This is the outstanding fact in the
political landscape. Certain other
propositions appear to the writer to
be true. From them, it is possible
to draw up a tentative prospectus
of the nomination convention.
Tentative and with reservations,
for this is no time for assured
prophecy.
The first of these propositions is
that if Mr.. Roosevelt is not the
nominee and is unable to name his
own man (say Attorney General
Jackson), he will at least hold
veto power over any one else who
may be brought forward.
Two Important "Ifs.."
There are two important "ifs"
here. As to the first, the writer
continues to believe that it's better
than an even chance that Mr..
Roosevelt will not consent to being
drafted" AS to the second-the
ability of the President to choose
whomever he will-the weight OF
political opinion is that he will have
to act in concert with the more con-
servative elements in the party. A
stampede to the Presidents choice
might be engineered. but 1t looks
improbable.
He does, for q certainty, hold a
veto power over any other.
Now, if the President is counted
out, there are five principal con.
tenders Char the New Deal favor
ties jackson and Douglass. avowed
or unavowed. In alphabetical order
they are as follows: Farley, Garner,
Hull CunavoweO, McNutt, Wheeler.
Under the Presidents veto power
the elimination Of Mr.. Garner, un.
der the circumstances described, is
certain. Less so, but probable, Is
the elimination of Mr.. Farley so far
as first place on the ticket is con-
cerned.
Three Are Left.
This leaves, at the maximum, Mr..
Hull, Mr.. McNutt and Mr.. Wheeler.
Let us assume that these three have
survived the veto, that there Is
free choice among them on the part
of the convention. Which is likely
to be chosen?
A second proposition comes into
the picture, namely, that If the
Democratic candidate is to have .
chance Of success, he must receive
the support of the President-not
merely nominal support, but active,
stump-speaking, misunderstanding
support. The convention can hardly
fail to take this fact into account.
which of our three candidates, then,
is the likeliest to be chosen?
It is questionable whether the
President has ever forgiven Mr..
Wheeler for his part in the court
fight. It does not appear that Mr..
McNutt has been able, or will be
able, to gain the strength among
the New Dealers he had hoped to
gain. There is, finally, Mr.. Hull.
All things considered, it's a fair
assumption that the convention, If
left in doubt as to Mr.. Roosevelts
preference, will turn to MI. Hull
rather than either Of the others. It
might, OF course, get a positive 60
sign in his favor, and this would
settle the question beyond doubt.
The "logic" Of the situation, as Of
today, gives the Secretary of State a
prime chance to be the nominee.
ADDS IsrueI Forum
Dr.. Arnold D. Margolin, member
Of the Russian Parliament during
the Czarist regime, will speak on
'The German and Russian Alli-
orraD o< <hA fov,,va AZ %hn AI>.