Evening star., 1944-10-25

SIDEWALKS, leaving HOLlllIlS uIlOOile
to dramatic himself and his candi-
dacy. 1t was highly spectacular
business and exclusively candida
torial.
There was not so much as trace
Of the Commander in Chief role
which he himself announced was
the one in which he chose to run in
this campaign. There wasn't even
much suggestion In this wholly un-
necessary tour that he was President
of the United States. For that
period he was just a candidate max
ing a political appearance with his
mind wholly on votes.
Different in Evening.
But 1t was very different in the
evening. Then before the Foreign
Policy Association he climbed back
on the higher plane, wrapped about
him the cloak of Commander in
Chief and talked down to us from
his lofty pinnacle.
With somewhat unctuous conde-
scension he reviewed the record of
his administration in the handling
OF foreign affairs, conveying the
very clear impression that it reeked
with wisdom and rectitude; that no
mistakes had been made and all
criticism Is wicked and ignorant.
If that had been all, it could have
been fairly said that Mr.. Roosevelt
eulogized himself to a considerably
greater extent than the facts war
ranted, but that his speech was
neither spurious nor unfair.
However, he was not content with
that. Without mentioning his op-
ponent by name, he intimated that
he had been guilty of bearing false
witness; that he had distorted and
misrepresented the facts; that he
was tied up with the isolationists
in his party, who would be in con-
troll II the Republicans won. For
instance, he said that the isolation
1st Senator from California, Hiram
johnson, would become chairman
OF the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.
Now, when he made these insin-
uations and statements, Mr.. Roose-
velt ceased being the Commander
In Chief and again became the par
tisan candidate. And as such he
was doing exactly the things of
which he accused the other side.
Certainly it can be proved that he
misrepresented the facts and sup
pressed the evidence.
For example, he misrepresents
the facts when he tells the people
that the election of Gov. Dewey
would make Senator Johnson
chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee.
Mr.. Roosevelt knows as we'll as
any one that there is no chance
that Senator johnson will hold that
position. He knows that the chair
man OF this committee will continue
to be a Democrat-Senator Con-
naly. of Texas, who is anything but
an isolationist. He knows, as does
every other informed man, that the
Senate, which elects only third
OF its membership this time, is Ger
tain to have Democratic major
ity for the next two years.
This is fact which neither
Democrat nor Republican has
thought OF questioning. Yet, for
purposes Of making his point the
President ignored this. 1t isn't easy
to understand how a man capable
Of that kind of Misrepresentation
can accuse any one else of misrepre-
sentation.
Silent on the Facts.
AS to suppression of evidence,
Mr.. Roosevelt certainly was guilty
Of that when after having recalled
the isolation record of the Repub-
lican party and pictured himself as
the consistent champion of inter-
national cooperation he kept COM
pletely silent about the fact that
twice he had run away from the
League of Nations idea for which
he Is now SO ardent an advocate.
Once was in 1882, when, as the
late Wendell Willkie pointed out,
he was seeking the presidential
nomination. That reputation, as
has frequently been stated, was
under the stinging lash of William
Randolph Hearst-and 1t was a
shameful performance. The alibi
then was that the League had been
so weakened and emasculated that
1t was no longer an effective instru-
ment.
But his first retreat was in 1924,
when, while the late Newton D.
Baker eloquently pleaded with the
Democratic party to keep faith
with Woodrow Wilson and itself,
he sat in the convention and
neither cast his vote for nor lifted
his voice in behalf OF The League
plank which, to its everlasting dis
honor, the Democratic party over
whelmingly rejected.
No alibi for that performance was
possible. At that time the League
had not been either weakened or
emasculated. With a personal rec
ord such as this on the issue and
having been an acquiescing member
Of the convention when his own
party disowned and repudiated the
League idea, it seems supreme ef-
frontery for Mr.. Roosevelt to stand
up anywhere at any time and accuse
any one else. or any one else's party.
of isolationism. Yet that is what he
did.
The decent thing for him to have
said was that the record of both
parties on the League and on the
World Court is bad one; that
neither he nor his opponent had
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