The Wilmington morning star., 1940-10-18

. llo411lQ111LS Will PS54
tion.-The Editor.
NEW York; Oct. IT'S o m G
tricks are so old they seem new,
and, although it is doubtful that
any half-smart high school foot.
ball team could be deceived by a
stratagem so notorious and droll
as the shoestring play, it occurs
to me that in national politics the
American electorate has never had
any experience with this device
and might be caught flatfooted.
The shoestring play is a hundred
to-one shot of origin unknown to
me, although doubtless a roomful
of Grantland Rice, Robert Zuppke
Fielding Yost and John (the all
knowingly Kieran could come up
with half a dozen versions, no two
alike and all authentic, in a Fri
day evening in some hotel room in
New Haven or Hanover at this
time of year.
Dream-Play
1t is a play intended for use
by the receiving side just after the
kickoff and before the boys have
opened their pores and settled their
early confusion. AS the teams fall
in one of the ends of the attacking
side fingers near the sideline, ty-
ing his shoe, and, if all goes well,
tears down the lot, unnoticed, to
catch a long pass and lope across
for a touchdown. 1t is a dream
play which has worked, neverthe.
less, though not recently.
I call attention to this trick at
this time because for some weeks
I have noticed, in a negative way,
that all attention is focused on
President Roosevelt on the social.
democratic or national socialist
side of the current political con.
test to the convenient neglect OF
Henry Wallace. Yet Mr.. Roosevelt
is a tricky player, and, from the
manner Of Wallace's selection by a
convention which didn't want him
and refused to hear him, but had
to take him by order of the head
man, we may consider whether
Mr.. Roosevelt intends merely to
take the ball from center a n d
heave it to Henry for the full term
of the next presidency or a major
portion thereof.
Coy,Jd n II
This figure of speech is becom.
ing a nuisance, so 1 will suggest
plainly that Mr.. Roosevelt may be
planning to resign and make Hen.
ry A. Wallace president of t h e
United States. He could dc that,
and the novelty of such a course,
far from lettering President
Roc sevelt, would appeal to t e
mischievous and reckless nat.Se
which paid off a grudge against
the supreme court by appointing
to that bench a county politician
who confessed, but only when con.
fronted with proof, that he once
had Joined a gang of masked ter
%rorists not for any principle but
to win election to a political job.
In this campaign, as =, all others
to date in the United States, the
people r giving little attention
to the nominees for The vice presi-
dency. It is, ordinarily, an under
study job. The vice presto It pre-
sides in the senate and e~cs some
steering and disciplinary work fo-
the boss, but he needn't even show
up for class, as Mr.. Garner has
shown by his long absences.
The vice president could, how
ever, move into an offic- in the
White House to serve as assistant
president, and Mr.. Roosevelt could,
and I suggest that he might
make" another president by re-
signing in favor of Henry Wallace,
who certainly is not being meas
ured for this job by the voters,
even Of the social-damocratic or
national socialist side.
Wants Full Term
There is, of course, no reason
to suspect that Wendell Willkie, if
elected, would resign in favor of
Senator McNary. Willkie obviously
wants to serve a full fei in per-
son and McNary occupies the ira
ditional status of candidaten for the
second-string post.
The reasons for anticipating a
shoestring trick from President
Roosevelt are to be sensed better
than examined. He insisted on and