Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-02-11
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

By WESTBROOk PEGLER
A F-TER years of masquerad-
ing as a rather naive but
always well-meaning amateur
fuss-budget. Mrs. Elean nor
Roosevelt lately has been re-
vealing herself.
Mrs. Roosevelt has become
holder or incautious in the last
few months, particularly since
the second reelection of her
husband. and on Thursday she
attended a rally of the Elec-
tricians' Union OF the AF'L in
New York.
The union. whose members
Mrs. Roosevelt addressed. has a
strike on in which rioters re-
Gently outnumbered and mobbed
New York police.
MRS. ROOSEVELTS partial
AAA haS-heen- apparent "a
long time, but always as a
warm. humane desire to pro-
mote brotherhood and willing
cooperation.
II is becoming apparent that
her purpose is to discredit as
selfish and undeserving reac-
tionaries all who reject her
advice.
Her attendance at the rally Of
the strikers was valuable act
of ballyhoo for the union in a
labor dispute. and obviously had
a political effect. although Mrs.
Roosevelt. of course, still will
purport 10 act only as an indi-
vidual citizen who does not par.
take of her husbands office.
She offered this pretense in
her enthusiastic encouragement
of the Youth Congress which
continued until the congress be-
came so notorious il would have
been an unbearabfe political
embarrassment 10 her TO con-
tinue the association.
She remains a deadhead MEM
Der of the Newspaper Guild. al
though she is absolutely ineligi--
bic for membership under It's
constitution, and is exempt from
the two most painful require
ments of membership, the duties
TO strike and picket.
The guild. incidentally. Is a
vigorous partisan in labor ques-
tons, being a union of the Go.
The guild. OF course. will deny
that membership in and loyalty
to itself could affect the objec-
tivity of its members in their
reporting of news. but il repudi-
ated its own contention on this
point when it required Chief
Justice Charles Evans Hughes
10 resign from the American
Press. Society on the ground
that his strictly honorary men,
bership in that body might some
time affect his judgment on a
hypothetical issue between the
guild and the society before the
Supreme Court.
MRS. ROOSEVELT Is ex-
w tremely shrewd. as was OBJ
served after election. when she
made print in large way with
a story of her great generosity
in giving away all the earnings
which she had acquired as a
journalist and lecturer.
The fact still remained that
the question was not what she
did with the money. but why
she refused to say whom she
had given it to.
A detailed statement as to
that would be much more inter-
esting than the news that she
gave it away. She refused fatty
10 give the information.
Lately Mrs. Roosevelt was
quoted as having said that the
President could take over Henry
Ford. and soon afterward the
President himself. in a press
conference reiterated this con-
tention in slightly modified form.
not failing TO mention. Incl
dentally. that Ford is engaged in
strife with the Go and the
labor relations board.
The effect of Mrs. Roosevelt
will be minimiZed if it be kept
in mind that James A. Farley
long ago described her as one OF
the ablest politicians of his ac-
quaintance.
Copyrighted by United Features synd.. Inc.