Evening star., 1940-02-22

the shrine OF Thomas Jefferson.
It was Mr.. Jefferson who uttered a
warning against third terms and re-
fused to allow his friends to give
him a third nomination. The
phrase, "The party Of Jefferson"
will become moot if the Democratic
party breaks tradition and nomi-
mates the President for third term.
The dictatorship" issue, however,
emerges not so much from any
analogy to European happenings as
from strictly American develop
ment that used to be known as
~bossism."
Await ROOsevelt's Wish.
Today in all parts of the country
are to be found Democratic State
chairmen, national committeeman,
county chairmen and officeholders
who are saying publicly that they
are waiting for President Roose-
velt to say whether or not he wants
the nomination. The question is
not what does the party want to
do?" but what does Mr.. Roose-
velt want to do?"
Even prominent Democratic can
didates are confessing by their pub
lie statements that they do not dare
to ask support for themselves un-
less and unti1 Mr. Roosevelt's wishes
are known.
No more convincing case could be
given of party intimidation or party
dictatorship by one man aided by
the satellites around him who
operate supposedly in his name. The
fact that Mr.. Roosevelt has done
nothing thus far to repudiate the
activities Of members of his own
official family-persons who are
under obligation to him because he
appointed them to public office-is
being taken to mean that the Presi-
dent has given tacit consent.
Conspicuous Case.
II one man can so control a poll
tical party that it dares not make
up its mind till his wishes are known
or If delegates are being hand picked
now through office-holder influence
so that one man will control the
party convention, it will be the most
conspicuous example of bossism that
American politics has ever witnessed.
There have been local bosses here
Sofore-like Murphy in New York or
Kelly in Chicago or Pendergast in
Kansas City who have reared their
heads in Democratic National Con-
ventions. There have been bosses like
Penrose and Quay and Barnes and
others in the Republican party who
have sought to dominate national
conventions, but 1t was always the
nair of the liberals in the Democratic
party-the followers of an honest
liberal, for instance, like William
Jennings Bryan-to fight the bosses.
Mr.. Bryan fought particularly against
the one boss idea because he strug-
gled to get and did succeed in in
serting in the Democratic platform a
plank favoring single term Of six
years for Presidents of the United
States.
West Obeys One man Party.
Western liberals who believed in
the sincerity of William Jennings
Bryan and his efforts to keep his
party worthy of small ID" as well
as large ID" seem to have fallen
by the wayside. Indeed, from the
West itself is coming obedience to
the one-man party idea and third
term nomination.
Democrats of the Jeffersonian or
Bryan school of thought may stand
aghast at what is happening, but
the fact remains that because of a
few political offices and jobs and
other direct benefits, the Democratic
party machines everywhere are wait
ing for the big boss in Washington
to say what he wants. The idea that
a true Democrat would never ask
any one man how to vote in a Demo-
cratic National Convention seems
not to have occurred to the new
Democrats or New Dealers of to-
day. For no matter what President
Roosevelt may say now about his
wishes for third term, history will
record that in the year 1910 the
great Democratic party in State after
State hesitated to speak its mind for
fear of offending the man who had
acquired the power of dictatorship
over the party nomination.
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