Evening star., 1941-01-22


orouS, determined and effective lie
did not appear to be trying to maze
a great" speech. He renewed lis
pledge of social justice for the
millions of decent, hard-wOrk.r
Americans who have patiently s"H-
ported him for the last .-,-t y :.
He made ''isolationist" u
almost as damning as tho Ill cf
"appeaser."
Coming, after Ambass2| or Ken
nedys broadcast, the call lor CO.
age and action was clean ~rd cd
as the north wind which swept
the streets of Washington KEN
nedys speech was best character-
lied by Chairman Sol Bloom Of
the House Foreign Affairs COM
mlttee. Kennedy had said he was
against appeasement. for full E d
to England, against involvemen, in
the war, for concentrating power
in the President, against some Of
the powers in the lease-lend bill.
Said Sol Bloom: Hes a quartet!
Hes quartet!' Net reaction to tie
situation is as follows. Up - E~v
the curse of the dem0oya az. .os is
summed up in five tragic words,
Too little and too late!" Cri icism
of the aid to England lcaso-lcrd
bill is based on the idea of Too
much and too soon!"
The Parade.
The inaugural parade vas short
and not too snappy. High point IN
humor was provided by the colorcd
w. P. A worker who sauntcred cut
OF ranks to light cigarette directly
IN front of the President S -; cv- ~
stand, then walked alo"C 81 TT
behind his contingent until he
realized that the crowd US laU-n-
ing, and burst into a run to refo.n
his comrades. High points il drama
were the fast-moving tanks ard
heavy motorized equipmen-.
The special Government N. B. G,
broadcast of the evening IIu. ~ r
the first half hour and then came
to life with a bang. Army COM
manders in Alaska and Florida. the
commander of the Battle Fleet IN
the Pacific speaking from his flag
ship Pennsylvania. the pilot Of
Navy dive bomber 10000 feet o;er
Washington and the pi,0- Of en
Army heavy bomber over Los An
geles, all spoke Then came tie
eXlles-Gmong them F2I-rcv- Ii,
Thomas Mann, Count Sierra. Ham.
bro of Norway. Eve Curie of France,
Lin Yu-tang of China and others,
ending with an English refugee boy
reading the closing phrases of the
Gettysburg Address-all shepherded
by Miss Dorothy Thompson.
Opposition Stopped.
All over the country. small meet
lngs were being held in union
halls, schoolhouses, fraternal lodges,
grange halls, etc, to listen to this
broadcast and hold Their own eX-
erciseS. During the actual inaugural
ceremonies at the Capitol. school
children were listening in their
claSsrcoms. For the first time in
American history. the entire Nation
took an active part in the Inaugural
ton Of the President of the United
StateS-ln ceremonies of redediCa-
tlon to democracy and to the cause
Of national unity Working in CO.
operation with Dorothy Thompson,
l helped to make this possible and
I am proud of it. but it must be
said here and now that it could
not have been possible except
through the very natural and spon-
taneous desire of the people of the
country to show that thev know
what 1t is all about.
Now the streets of WashnCton
have been swept clean and the yisi-
tors have departed, the situation is
about what it was when Roosevelt
made his first campaign speech last
fall. The opposition has been
stopped in its tracks and will have
to go back and start all over aeain.
Senator Wheeler and peacemcnger
pals-the boys who cry "PeaceI
Peace!" when there is no peace
were crowded right out of the papers
and the Nation as a whole is rally-
ing around Roosevelt. They expect
no miracles. they are aware of the
real risks of war. but they believe
that Roosevelt is on the level and
Will follow the course best adaCted
to preserve the most peace for the
longest time.