Evening star., 1940-10-08

didate for reelection, and not his
SON. and there isn't a single Scintilla
OF evidence to show that Elliott
Roosevelt ever consulted his father
before he accepted the captaincY.
Indeed, there is every reason to
believe the President would have
counselled against it If he had
been consulted.
For many months Elliott RooSe-
welt has been making speeches on
the air Criticlsing severely some
aspects of his fathers administra-
ton and it has been apparent to
observers here that the young man
was quite independent in his views
and never consulted the White
House, though the constant reprint
ing of Elliott's remarks constituted
no small amount of embarrrass-
r1ent to the President.
If Elliott had enlisted as private,
he had enough political pull to get
himself promoted anyway and it is
an open secret that many young
men who have had little training
in the Army will become commits
stoned because they once enrolled
in the Reserves. Had the Ptesi-
dents son taken his turn III the
enlistment rolls, he could have
achieved the same end but he evi-
dently believed he had the capacity
to serve as an officer and saw no
objection to being commissioned
because he had not actually been
drafted and there was no certainty
that he would
Could Ask Deferred Status.
It has also been argued that even
If drafted, Elliott Roosevelt could
have asked for a deferred status,
and Judging by the informal reports
as to how the rules are to be in
terpreted, it probably would have
been easier for Elliott to have waited
until after election and taken his
chances on achieving a deferred
status. All this merely lends weight
to the view that he gave up his busi-
ness and volunteered as an act OF
patriotism, for which he does not
deserve the criticism that has been
visited upon him. AS a matter OF
fact. the draft in the past brought
hundreds of requests for commits
slons in the Army and Navy for
young men who volunteered ahead
of time so as to get such an ad-
vanced status. Unquestionably pollt-
ical pull played its part in commits
Sioning a small minority Of boys in
the last war and it probably will
happen again.
In a sense, the Elliott Roosevelt
incident may serve to focus atten-
ton on the injury to public morale
which comes when insiders get pre-
ferment as between sWivel-chalr jobs
and service in the field. Because OF
the public reaction to Elliott Roose-
velts experience, it is probable that
many a Senator and Representative
may hesitate now to ask the War
Department for preference for the
sons of prominent constituents. Like
wise, it may be that the same
prominent constituents will not en-
barrass the Senators and Repre-
sentatives by asking that pressure
be exerted in their behalf
The Army, incidentally, has sent
out word that draft boards can in
terpret the rules about married men
rather liber lly-and wherever
there is justification for deferment
it is unlikely that there will be in
sistence on the drafting of men
necessary to their businesses or oc-
cupations, irrespective of whether
these are related to defense indus
tries.
Act of Self-Denial.
According to this latest interpre-
tation, Elliott Roosevelt could easily
have avoided service altogether for
he is married and has occupied a
position essential to his business en-
terprises. So his act in volunteering
before the draft constitutes an eX-
ample of self-denial which might
we'll be commended instead of crit
acized. The important point, how
ever, is that the President had no
responsibility in the matter because
he did not know of it in advance
and once it was cOnSummated, he
was in the awkward position of be-
ing accused of playing politics if he
insisted that his son turn down the
commission, and of upsetting an
Army order and interfering in Army
routine if he assumed that the Off
GERS had not evaluated correctly the
ability of his own son to become an
officer in the Army.
On the whole, the incident, while