Evening star., 1944-04-19


AS well as any one, he knows
first, that If Mr.. Roosevelt, as
nearly every one believes, wants a
fourth term, there is no way to pre-
vent his nomination Second, that
II for any cause Mr.. Roosevelt is
not nominated. the chances of SEN
ator Byrd being chosen are exceed
ingly remote.
Seen as "Repudiation."
The reason is clear. The Byrd
nomination, in effect, would be a
reputation of all Mr.. Roosevelt
policies, except those on foreign
affairs and the war, which have had
full support from Senator Byrd
His nomination would be equivalent
to a rejection of the New Deal and
an indictment of the Roosevelt ad-
ministration for inexcusable waste
and fiscal mismanagement. With
Mr.. Roosevelt still in the White
House and welding great power the
impossibility of this is plain.
Accordingly, very few-least of all
Senator Byrd-have any notion that
he can become the nominee this
time, though very strong argu-
ment can be made that he Is the
best equipped man in either party
for handling the great problems that
will present themselves to the next
President.
Nevertheless, the extent and char
acter of the Byrd movement are not
only q tribute to the man but, when
added to the recent anti-Roosevelt
Democratic vote in Wisconsin and
other indications, they are well
calculated to give the more thought
full White House politicians pause.
For, 1t reveals far stronger Demo-
cratic opposition to the President
than there was four years ago. II
also reveals greater popular con-
Germ over governmental waste, In
the fight against which Senator
Byrd is the outstanding leader.
Inevitable Resentment.
Both of these things are natural
Concerning the first. it is inevitable
that there should be more resent.
ment toward a President after 9
second term than after his first
and much more. Of course. after 9
third term than after the second
AS to the feeling against waste, /,
is equally inevitable that the vast
increase in taxes and in the number
Of taxpayers should create greater
interest in and desire for economy
The Byrd movement has beer
stimulated by this sentiment. 1t al
50 has been stimulated by Mr.
Lawrence Sullivan's striking book
Bureaucracy Runs Ainuck." In
this, Mr.. Sullivan documents and
expands many of the charges which
Senator Byrd has been making fol
years, For example, he points Out
that the Government now carries or
Its civil pay roll more than 8 1880 ,00(
employees; that in 1912 the grocery
manufacturers of the country hac
to maintain almost daily eontact
with 81 separate bureaus In Wash.
ington; that the cost of government
publicity is $4,000 coo a year
equal to the cost of 250 Flying For.
tresses: that Mr.. Ickes heads i,
Federal agencies and Mr.. Jess,
Jones is a director in 3S; thai
through executive orders and rul.
ings scores of bureaus and board.
are promulgating laws never passes
by Congress, etc. etc.
1t Is interesting to note that tn
Sullivan book has so aroused ad.
ministration antagonism that som
really high officials have under
taken a personal letter-writing cam
paign against 1t, the net result o
which, however, seems to be tn,
reverse of what was intended. tn.
certainty that the facts in thi,
volume will be used in the comm,
campaign, perhaps, accounts TO
the effort to Offset them in variou
ways. They are not very effective
For example, recently about
hundred owl employees, whose &C
tivities and connections wer,
deemed too radical, were 'purged
and, thus, both the size and cos
OF the huge sprawling agency some.
what reduced.
Purge" Quickly Offset.
But. this purge" was quickly off
set by the announcement that SOM
400 more writers were being EN-,
ployed to meet the increased de.
msnds for propaganda abroad. Tha
kind of "shrinkage" Is typical. I