Evening star., 1940-07-06

db lllS plOpOSeO Jill u parry, wherein
Senator Wheeler of Montana, John
L. Lewis of the c. I. o. and the
Townsend groups are believed to be
mobilizing.
Mr.. Roosevelt is quite adept at
setting up straw men and in this
case he is assuming that his major
political opponent in the race is
going to go isolationist. Maybe he
is adroitly preparing to force the
Republican nominee to take the
same attitude toward the war as
the President does This should not
be difficult, because the Republican
platform advocates aid for the Allies
short of war and is plainly antag-
onistic to the totalitarian govern
ments.
May Not Permit Diversion.
If Mr.. Willkie has his way. how
ever, there will be no diversion of
attention to the abstract theories
of what may or may not happen
after the war is over with respect to
the inroads on democracy that
totalitarianism is believed by the
President to be making. The Re-
publican nominee in all probability
will concern himself with the ma
Jor problem before the American
people today: When will the United
States be prepared to resist any and
all attacks, why isn't the United
States prepared now to defend it
self against any and all comers, and
whose fault is it if America is un-
prepared?
One answer which the admins
tration will make is that Republi-
cans in Congress didn't vote for
defense appropriations, but, on the
other hand, during the last seven
years the Democratic Party had an
overwhelming majority in both
houses.
Discussion of efficiency in its re-
lation to national defense will reach
into other problems close to the
heart of the New Deal. Only this
week it was revealed that the Army
and Navy were apprehenSive about
the short work weeks in the arsenals
and munitions factories, but that
the President was insisting first or
absorption Of the unemployment
rolls.
Theoretically, the President is
right, but actually it takes months
and months to find mechanics and
to rearrange the whole industrial
structure so that the right Kind of
workmen can be found In a totdli-
tartan State the decision would be
made instantly to let the work week
go up to 48 hours. America never
was hurt by a 48-hour week before.
America, on the other hand, doesn' t
have to go totalitarian to get a quick
decision on something the Army
and Navy want. 1t can get it from
a President who isn't interested in
so-called social gains" in time OF
emergency. Bickering in France
led to the downfall of the French
democracy Time was lost in the
factories because the government
paid no attention to the demands
for efficient operation and working
hours almost up to the time when
the country faced the invader.
A Political Decision.
Mr.. Roosevelt's main strength has
come from the union labor group
and politically it is important for
him to stick to the 42-hour work
week. This is but an illustration of
the sort of issues which the cam
paign will bring forth, and it will
not be an argument over whether
Hitler should be appeased but over
the efficiency of democracy when
it allows political expediency to Sd
persede immediate considerations of
national defense.
There may be a tendency, to be
sure, among some Republicans to
advocate policy of live and let
live, or, in other words, practical
dealings with Hitlers government
when the war is over. There is no
such thought at present with ref
erence to the present situation. But
while appeasement may be unpopu-
lar at the moment, it may take on
a different aspect when peace is
concluded. The whole issue is some
what premature because at this
moment the British Empire and the
British Navy are still intact. What
would be American policy if the
British are defeated and the fleet
is no longer a protection to the
United States is something else
again. 1t might then be called
"appeasement" to deal with the
Hitler government on a realistic
basis while Americas armament is
being built up, but it probably will
mean a different set of circum-
stances than are now visualized by
the term.
Must Outline Program.
The President will have to eluci-
date his ideas on how to battle the
totalitarian states in an economic
sense before there can be a clear
idea of what Americans think about
1t. AS for the dinner table con-
versations going on nowadays con-
corning the relative opportunities
to be efficient under democracy or
dictatorship, the debate may go
on without really lining up any sub
stantial number of people within the
American public. For it is not the
efficiency which stands out as the
chief characteristic of the totaI-
tartan states, but the price the
people have to pay for it.
The corresponding contention,
moreover, is that a unified democ-
racy under a leader who aims at
national unity and gets it because
he knows how to heal class war and
get economic production going is the
best answer that can be made by
Americans generally to those few
amongst us who even academically
see any merit in the corporate state.
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