Evening star., 1944-05-10
Roosevelt Is Shrewd
AS Ever, Says Writer
His Handling of the Ward Case
Seen as Significant
Bv David laurence

quite natural as he faced his first press
conference on returning from months
In the South.
The President was natural not only
In appearance but In the shrewdness
with which he tackled the Montgom-
cry Ward case that has been the sub
ject of much controversy while he has
been away.
Mr.. Roosevelt must have pondered O
good deal about the episode, but 1t Ia
most significant that he came to the
conclusion he did. His conclusion is
that the country, including Congress.
had better forget about 1t. Mr.. Roose-
welt didn't concede that any mistake
had been made-that wouldn't be good
politics, of course. But he discussed
the case as If 1t were just a piece of
routine-as IL the procedure followed
wasn't bit unusual and as Ii the case
wasn't any different from any of the
others wherein the employers property
was seized
These press conferences are polite af-
fairs. Nobody likes to get into an argu-
ment with the President but some Of
those present have q tactful way of
indicating that they just don't think
he has stated something accurately. In
other words, they say something to
let him know that they aren't spoofed
bit and then drop the subject.
~ Explains Carefully.
Mr.. Roosevelt explained carefully
and with deliberate phrasing what had
happened in the Montgomery Ward
case. 1t was all very simple The
management didn't think the union
had majority of the employees and
the War Labor Board ordered the man.
agement to extend the existing con-
tract till the election could be held.
When the company baked, why ths
terms of the Smith -Connally law pro-
vided for seizure, and that was about
all there was to it. One reporter asked
a question that seemed pertinent. He
inquired who ordered the troops into
the mail-order house to carry Sewell
Avery out of his Office But the Presi-
dent, while saying he didn't just recall,
there had been troops used before in
seizing plants
Nobody pointed out that all previ-
Gus seizures had been with respect to
war plants and that in every case here
tofore either the Army or Navy was
ordered to make the seizure while In
the Ward case the President ordered q
civilian agency-the Department OF
Commerce-to do the seizing. Then
instead of getting a court order in the
normal way, the Attorney General
called in troops to take possession.
Mr.. Roosevelt CLOSED over this phase
of the matter. He seemed, In fact,
anxious to gloss over the whole busi-
ness. 1t was just piece of routine to
him and when the election to deter
mine whether the union had majority
had been held, this would end the case.
The President probably wants it to
end that way, but both houses of Con-
gress have ordered separate investiga-
tions by committees and the matter will
not be CLOSED over by the legislators.
The President, of course, in reciting
some Of the facts of the case, stressed
that neither the press nor the radio had
let the country know the facts that led
up to the seizure. After he finished
reciting them, q woman reporter with
evident sincerity and earnestness said
to the President that she had either
read in the press or heard over the
radio everything Mr.. Roosevelt had
just narrated with the exception of his
comment of two sentences at the end.
Reporter Stands Ground.
Mr.. Roosevelt engaged for a moment
in a colloquy with the reporter en-
deavoring to persuade her that he had
been reading the papers and had, in
fact, specialized in reading about the
case during his vacation. But the
woman reporter wasn't convinced. She
just shook her head and stood her
ground. 1t was polite way to tell the
President his point was rather nimsy.
AS a matter of fact, Mr.. Roosevelt
doesn't really mean that the press and
radio didn't tell the facts that led up
to the seizure. What he means is that
the press and radio didn't gloss over
the Attorney Generals blunder and
ignore the use of troops. Mr.. Roose-
velt's idea of a fair article or radio
comment is one presenting the admin
istration's side comprehensively and
then saying the other side isn't worth
mentioning, that it is either picayunish
or inconsequential. Maybe that appears
to Mr.. Roosevelt as the kind of report
ing he'd like to read in the press or
hear on the radio. Nobody can object
to his expressing by implication the
wish that when a mistake occurs 1t
should be de-emphasized or played
down in the press. That's natural
public men don't like to have their mis-
takes given too much publicity.
The real news of the press confer
ence, of course, was that the President,
for reasons best known to his excellent
political mind, decided that the way to
get the Montgomery Ward case off the
Nations mind was to terminate il as
fast as possible
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