Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1942-12-10

why the Republicans made the strong
showing they did. But each admitted
that it was only part of the general
picture-that it came about through
combination of causes.
There is one factor which has not
been mentioned, so far as l have
been able to discover. Yet, it is my
belief that it played very important
part. This is the changed attitude
of the low income group, brought
about through wartime increase in
employment and higher wages.
One needs not 60 far to find sup
port for the statement that in times
of favorable economic conditions,
there is tendency to veer away from
radicalism.
The upper middle classes have al
most always been conservative. Bar
ring a limited number among the in
telligentsia, the radical element has
almost invariably belonged to the
low income group.
The various polls have consistently
showed that a greater percentage of
relief clients and PWA workers were
Roosevelt followers than was true of
any other class.
Where the entire electorate was
grouped according to income levels,
it was found that his popularity
dwindled as the levels reached sue
cessively higher.
During elections, it was nearly
always in the poorer wards in the
large cities that he showed his great
est strength.
Among organized labor, he drew
his following largely from the CLIO.
In the 1886 election, the organiza-
ton openly entered the campaign
with huge fund and worked for his
reelection.
The A. F. of L. has been inclined
to conservatism. This older union
has catered to the highly skilled
trades in which employment has
been fairly steady and the pay rela-
lively high. Its membership has been
more or less representative of middle
class America.
1t will be recalled that the A. F.
of L has never officially endorsed
Mr.. Roosevelt. Its political outlook
has been liberal but never radical,
and it has refrained from political
activity.
The Democratic party, as it was
known to older voters, no longer ex-
lists 1t has been taken over, lock,
stock and barrel by Mr.. Roosevelt.
Because it retains the name, it tries
to cling to the fiction that it is still
the Democratic party. But it isn't.
1t is merely sounding board for
Mr.. Roosevelt and his crew of New
Dealers and internationists.
In majority of the districts, the
Democratic congressman rode into
office on Mr.. Roosevelt's coat-tails.
In return, they served him well in
that they obeyed him in Washington
and gave him due credit at home
for the largesse they had a share in
distributing among the beneficiaries
of government generosity.
Whenev the Administration
brought forth some boondoggling
project, or there were huge sums
to appropriate, they voted fright.
1t was to their interest to do so. 1t
alleviated distress, which was desir-
able and it served as an unlimited
fund for continuous, all-Weather
campaign. The voter couldn't go to
his mailbox without getting at least
one mimeographed letter from some
solicitous New Deal agency, and he
could hardly turn around without
running into some Jealous New Deal
representative
These were the congressman who
were largely responsible for the ex-
cessive grants of power to MIR. Roose-
welt They did it with the same easy
nonchalance that Esau sold his birth
right to Jacob for a mess of pottage
dIlu tIlSy tiiS AioSASiA
money like bunch of irresponsible
carpetbaggers.
But they were the kind of con-
gressmen the low income groups
wanted at the time. AS well as
they were able, they tried to be
small-scale replicas of Mr.. Roosevelt
himself
Theirs was not the kind of con-
duct to create either confidence or
respect. But, during depression days,
it was the kind of conduct to assure
reelection.
But by the fall of 1912, the picture
had changed The relief client or
PWA worker of yesterday is the
income tax payer of today. He has
climbed to the other side of the
fence. And from where he now
stands, the scenery looks different.
His attitude has undergone a !
H. IT, &c n