Evening star., 1944-05-09
A Bod Sturt


attached to Robert 9 Hannegans
declaration that it is his firm con-
viction" that the President will be
candidate for a fourth term.
AS chairman of the Democratic
National Committee, Mr.. Hannegan
is in position to form an intelligent
opinion in this matter. The burden
Of directing the Democratic cam
paign will rest upon him, and if any
one is capable of divining Mr.. Roose-
velt's undisclosed intentions, Mr..
Hannegan is the man. Neverthe-
less, it should be noted that the
chairman's forecast was a qualified
one. He has not discussed the ques-
tion with the President, and was
reporting only his personal opinion.
In other words, Mr. Hannegan, while
qualified to make q pretty shrewd
guess, actually is as much in the
dark as the rest of us concerning
the true direction of the Presidents
thinking. If he is right in his fore
cast, however, it may be hoped that
the ease" he intends to put before
the President for the purpose of
inducing him to accept the Demo-
cratic nomination will not turn out
to be the basis of Mr.. Roosevelt's bid
for reelection.
Mr.. Hannegan'S case consists of
an attack on Republican prewar
policies. AS he puts it, the COP is
the party of obstruction. He attacks
certain Republican leaders" in Con-
gresS for opposing parts of the Pres
ident's program without ever men,
tioning that the Republican oppo-
nents were ably supported and
sometimes led by Democrats. He
ignores the fact that his own party
prior to the war had substantial
majorities in both houses of Con-
gress, and therefore must accept
responsibility for any failure to put
through measures advocated by the
President.
Governor Dewey of New York, the
probable Republican nominee, Is
singled out for special criticism, and
is charged with being a COP. leader
who runs with the hareS and barks
with the hounds" AS an example of
inconsistency, according to Mr.. Han
negan, the New York Governor, on
January 20, 1910. said that the rec-
ognition of Russia by the New Deal
was unfortunate" Perhaps Mr..
Dewey's foot did slip on that one,
but it may be wondered if Mr.. Han
negan has forgotten what the Presi-
dent had to say about Russia on
December /, 1939-only seven weeks
prior to Mr.. Dewey's comment.
The President was reading a for
NAL statement to his press confer
ence in connection with Russias
attack on Finland. The attack, Mr..
Roosevelt said, involved "wanton
disregard for law" 1t was the kind
of deliberate use of force which
makes insecure the independent
existence of small nations in every
continent and jeopardizes the rights
of mankind to government. 1t
came as a profound shock" to the
Government and people of the
United States. and on the following
day the moral embargo" was in
voked against the sale of military
aviation to the Soviets. How Is Mr..
Hannegan going to explain these
comments, which certainly are not
consistent with what seems to be our
official view of the matter today?
Of course, no explanation will be
forthcoming, and none is necessary.
But the point is that it would be a
tragic mistake for responsible lead
ers in either party to attempt to
fight out the 1914 campaign on the
basis of errors in judgment made
four or five years ago. That Is the
sure way to make partisan issue of
our foreign policy and to divide the
people on the one point on which
they should stand united. Every
thoughtful American must hope to
avoid this sort of campaign.