Evening star., 1945-04-13

Delano Roosevelt. But the one word
which comes closest to being synon-
ymous with the man is courage.
1t was courage that pulled him
back from the shadow of physical
ailment which would have broken a
lesser man. There was courage IN
the unforgettable message-"the only
thing we have to feal is fear ITSELF
which he brought to a PROSTATE and
demoralized Nation twelve years
ago. And it was cOurage-courage
born of faith and high conviction
that supported him through the
black days of this war and drove him
on, even when his health had begun
to fail, toward the ultimate goal of a
secure and lasting peace.
Now we are faced with the stun
ming fact that Franklin Roosevelt
is dead. For twelve long years he
smiled and tossed his head-and
carried burdens heavier than those
of any other American President.
But there is a limit beyond which
no man can 60, a point at which
cumulative strain and worry exact
their inevitable toll. And so, today,
the country mourns the death of
great President-knowing that it has
lost a national leader who can
scarcely be replaced, yet resolved to
carry on in the light of the example
that he has set.
Last summer, when the time came
for the President to announce a de-
cision in the matter of running for
fourth term, he wrote: "All that is
within me cries out to 60 back to my
home on the Hudson but we
of this generation chance to live in
day and hour when our Nation
has been attacked. To win this war
as quickly as we can is our task
of the first Importance. To win this
war in such way that there will be
no further world wars in the fore
seeable future is our second objec-
tive" Now. as then. these are the
primary goals. Nothing can be per-
mitted to interfere with their attain
ment. An ironical fate decreed that
Franklin Roosevelt should not live to
witness the final collapse of Nazi-
ism, although he was among the
first to perceive its menacing out
lines. A few days or a few weeks
more and he would have had that
satisfaction. But when the curtain
fell he knew that the victory in
Europe was both certain and near.
And he also knew, as the rest of us
know, that the war must and will
60 on to final victory, and that this
country, with its Allies, will not turn
back but will go forward over the
longer road to an enduring peace
and better world. And on that
difficult Journey the courage of
Franklin D. Roosevelt will serve both
as inspiration and example.
The outbreak of this second World
War drew the sharpest possible line
of demarcation in Mr.. Roosevelt's
career as President of the United
States. His first two terms were de-
voted primarily to the refashioning
of our domestic political and eco
nomic structure. The former Gov
ernor of New York came to the
White House while the country was
in the depths of catastrophe de-
preston, and he attacked the result
ing problems with great energy and
boldness. At first there was period
of adherence to relatively conserva-
tive doctrine, but it was of short
duration. The breadlines were long
and tempers were short. During the
campaign of 1882 there had been talk
of economy and balanced budgets,
but by the spring and summer of the
following year program of expert
mental spending had become inevi-
table. And while the merits of that
policy will be debated for years to
come, and while its ultimate conse-
quences may be long time in ap-
pearing, the fact remains that, the
downward spiral of depression was
checked, hungry men and women
were fed, and our capitalistic econ
omy, which many believed to be
doomed, managed to survive more
or less intact.
This was also the period of extern
sive social reform, when an unques-
tioning Congress was adopting with
little debate and less dissent almost
any legislative proposal that came
up from the brain trust" in the
executive branch. These enact
ments cannot be reviewed in any
detail, but their essential purpose
and effect were to change the balance
of the economic scales, to advance
the common man. at the expense
of the "big interests" The Presi-
dent summed it up in his speech ac-
cepting nomination for a second
term, when he said that the princes
of privilege" and the "robber barons"
had met their match during his first
term, and promised that, during his
second, they would meet their
master.
But that second term, though fin