Evening star., 1940-12-03

The announced #3AN1~kM
purpose is in
spection of de- David Lawrence.
fenses, but there is nothing that
he can inspect that his high Army
and Navy officers cannot inspect
for him.
The Nation has just witnessed
q bitter campaign. The principal
argument for a third term was that
a foreign situation of acuteness and
gravity fecessitated a breaking Of
the precedent and Mr.. Roosevelt
himself declined to travel further
than II hours distance by rail from
Washington.
It is true that the President can
travel by airplane and get back in
q hurry. But that isn't the reason
why there will be criticism OF his
proposed voyage. 1t is that he
ignores the whole system of demo-
cratic government by taking even
as little as IS days away from direct
contact with the American people.
Legislation in Balance.
Here, for instance, the Congress
refuses formally to adjourn and
keeps itself in readiness for instant
resumption of sessions. Here, too,
legislative business of prime i'm
portance hangs in the balance, but
the President will not be available
to receive petitioning citizens, nor
to confer with their elected repre-
sentatives.
The most essential thing for the
preservation of government is that
there shall be sincerity all along
the line and that the citizens who
are being drafted for military serv-
ice and those who are being asked
to make heavy sacrifices shall not
lose faith in their own Government.
Otherwise the battle for democracy
will seem meaningless.
There is before the country ex-
actly such an issue today. 1t goes
to the heart of the problem OF pre-
serving democracy by preserving
faith in its fairness, its sense of
craftsmanship, its readiness to give
the minority fair deal IN the
operations of government.
For nearly two years the Walter
Logan bill has been pressed Tor
passage. In essence 1t Is a measure
to curb arbitrariness in the exercise
of governmental power by boards,
commissions, bureaus and their
subordinate personnel. The bill has
been persistently fought by the bu-
reaucrats themselves behind the
scenes, and it is widely assumed
that they have the ear of the Presl-
dent, who is expected now to veto
the measure.
Isolated From Petitions.
It is the Presidents right to go
away from the country and allow
a veto message to be prepared for
him by the bureaucrats and have 1t
announced by radio from his ship
somewhere In the Atlantic Ocean.
But that is not democracy. Nor is
1t fairness as applied to our process
Of government by public opinion.
After the passage by Congress OF
any important bill, the President IS
expected to listen to the petitions OF
the citizenry and to weigh thought
fully their argument for Executive
approval or disapproval OF pend
ing piece of legislation. If Mr..
Roosevelt Is on the ocean when this
happens the citizens will not have
access to him.
The Walter-Logan bill has plenty
of defects. 1t probably goes to ex-
tremes in its curbs on the bureaus,
but it will be recalled when the
New Dealers jammed through I'M
perfectly written legislation in the
last seven years they always argued
that it was necessary to start with
an extreme measure in order 10
correct an abuse and that as the
particular reform was subjected TO
the tests of experience it could be
revised and amended. That same
argument counts now for the en-
actment of the Walter-Logan bill.
It would be a fine thing If Mr..
Roosevelt recognized in the Walter
Logan bill the true nature of the
protests which the 22,000,000 people
who voted for Wendell Willkie
wanted registered. They felt that q
third term would lead to arbitrari-
ness on the part of the Executive
and that he would decline to curb
his own group.
II Mr.. Roosevelt's expected veto
Of the Walter-Logan bill were ac-
companied by a definite pledge that
he would recommend and press for
massage at a definite time a bill
that does meet the administra-
tion's objections and yet accepts the
objective of the measure 1t would
be heartening. But the admlnlstra-
tion has had nearly two years IN
which to offer such amendments
and get behind such a substitute
bill. and none has been enacted.
Echo in 1912 Foreseen.
The Walter-Logan bill may be-
come. If the President vetoes 1t now,
the big issue of the 1912 congress
sional campaign, symboliz1ng the
need for correction of arbitrarily
exercised power. If the veto comes
citizens will be justified in forget
ting about the slogan national
unity" as it may relate to domestic
issues and begin now to mobilize
for the 1912 congressional cam
paign. An effort naturally will be
made to pass the bill over the
Presidents veto, and record vote
will be obtained. Then the citizens
can prepare to defeat at the polls
those individual members of Con-
gress who by their action allowed
bureaucracy to be substituted for
democracy and fair play.
Mr.. Roosevelts veto of the Wal
ter-Logan bill will reopen the whole
campaign fight, but this is essential
If liberalism is to win at Washing
o.. z-l %La 70 Of