The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-02-13
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS .
Copyright by The Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by per.
mission.
Sweet ReasonabIeness"
By FRANK r. KENT

mission.
Sweet ReasOnableness"
Those who recently have talked
with the President report that he is
in a serious mood, exceedingly anx-
ious not to have his lend-lease bill
emasculated or delayed; willing to
make what he regards as reasonable
concession" unresentful of sugges-
tions that he erred-first, in asking
too much; second, in failing to con-
suit the minority leaders before pre-
sentation of the measure.
#%%
In proof of this attitude are cited
his acquiescence in various proposed
amendments; his inclusion among
Legislative leaders with whom he has
conferred Senator McNary, Represen-
tative Wadsworth and other Republi-
cans, and an absence of that rather
hilarious, high-strung gayety which
quite a few have found made confer
ences with him something of strain.
In other words, the situation seems to
have changed Mr.. Roosevelt's temper
ament-for the time being at least,
Within the last week he has evinced
willingness to compromise, concili-
ate and confer not characteristic of
him since he has been President. If
he continues along these lines of what
some are calling "sweet reasonable
ness" the progress of the bill will be
rapid and the futility of it's opponents
apparent.
1t is understood that this change in
Mr.. Roosevelt is largely due to the
counsel of some personal friends, one
of whom happens to be Republican.
How long it will last and how far it
will go is, of course, uncertain; but it
is marked enough at the moment to
encourage the hope that perhaps this
"sweet reasonableness" may be useful
in curing some of the more funda-
mental troubles with the defense ma
chinery The chief of these was inter
estingly presented the other day in an
article by Messrs. Alsop and Kintner
who wrote of the "sordid squabble'
which is going on between the "two
factions" within the defense setup-
to-wit, the businessmen on the one
hand and the labor leaders and New
Dealers on the other.
##m
According to these veracious and
informed columnists, a truce" has
been effected under the terms OF
which Mr.. Isador Lubin, radical young
economist of the labor group, is tc
become an adviser Of Mr.. Stettinius's
priorities division and Mr. Murray Of
the CLIO and Mr.. Green of the AFT
are to serve on the production-con
board with Mr.. Biggers. In return
Mr.. Hillman is to have a businessman
as one of his aides. Thus, it is ex-
planned, an Exchange of hostages
has been arranged. The labor people
and the New Dealers are to have THEN
fingers in the disbursements pie" anC
the latter are to be given an occa-
sional touch of the labor pie" r.
Xxx
To those concerned about the sue.
cess of the defense program, this is
a rather horrid picture. 1t indicates
not a united but a divided nation
There is nothing about it to convey
the idea of singleness of purpose OF
unified effort. On the contrary, it re-
veals the existence of two hostile
classes within the defense organiza
ton neither of which trusts the other
The worst thing about this idea is
that it is true, and every informed
person here knows it. There is no con
ceivable way in which setup undel
such conditions can function fully anC
effectively.
The hope is that the same-or sim
ilar-wise counselors who prevailed
upon Mr. Roosevelt to confer anC
compromise on the lend-lease bill will
now be able to convince him that i
was a basic mistake to have con
ceived his defense organization as one
in which labor must balance industry
each watching the other so that mel
Their can achieve an advantage or gain
too much credit. From the start tina
appears to have been his conception
Indeed, always looking at it from thu
labor angle, that seems to have beer
his conception of the country. Instead
of regarding the country as uniteC
and the emergency as wlping GU
classes, he chooses to regard it as 81
divided into classes that the repre-
sentative of one should not be pu
in a position of Importance withou
being balanced by representative O
the other, and that neither should b,
given full power or responsibility.
&#*
Obviously, that was the way il
which his Defense Commission wa
first framed, and the above-quoteC
article makes it clear that, instead O
diminishing, class distinctions have