The Wilmington morning star., 1945-01-12
BY wEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright. 1915, by King Features syndica

eXcTeScence on our Journalism was ll-man-
nered and certainly thoughtless in its indict-
ment Of whole branch of the craft without
distinction between one man or woman and
another and the presidents hasty and fumbling
explanation that his own wife was a diarist
not columnist, showed that he had spoken
off the end of his tongue.
Diarist Mrs Roosevelt may be, as he said
by way of excluding her from the category of
warts, but she is certainly political prop
agandist as reference to her column will show
and she has referred to her work as a "col-
unn'' rather than a diary. Moreover, if any
individual in the trade may truly be called
an excrescence Mrs. Roosevelt qualities be-
cause it is well known that she is not a
newspaper woman by training and was en-
gagged only because she was the presidents
WIFE Prior to his first election to the presi-
dency, she was not in demand as common
tator and examination Of her work over these
years as syndicate feature shows that she
is an inferior writer, a sketchy reporter and
an erratic thinker.
However. the whole incident is one that
should not have been provoked by man in
Mr. Roosevelt's position for it suggests that
one of the three political giants of our terrible
time is still unable to rise above petty personal
meanness. To inflict cut on few insignifi-
cant individuals whom he dislikes or hates but
who should be beneath the public notice of
president of the United States, he did not hest
tate to insult many others who have argued
with fairness and restraint throughout h e.
many legitimate differences of belief provoked
by measures and men OF his long regime
Some of these are found among his own
following, others among the opposition. By
Jumping them all together he showed again
that he can not tolerate disagreement d
holds in contempt those who are sincerely
deceived by his conduct.
may be victim OF my own prejudice
or convictions but it has seemed to me that
the New Deal colunnsts have been as
group, more frankly propag andists than us of
that persuasion which might be called the
middle or the right They range in quclitry
from hysterical exhorters. some with no legi-
innate experience or standing in the newspaper
business to 4 few rather stately opinionarians
who, between elections, find grievous defects
in the New Deal but, just before election
day, examine thier souls and plump for a
third or a fourth term. They include also
bowling partisans of left wing factions in Eur
ope SO thoroughly saturated with old world
hatreds that thy are actually more European
than American.
incidentally. the Roosevelt partisans include
specifically his old personal friend and loyal
follower, Lowell Mellett whose debut as an
excrescence evoked from the president nice
publicity plub and sneering remark that it
was uncommonly decent of publishers allied
to the opposition to print views in disagree
ment with their own. 1t was, as Mr. Roosevelt
well knew when he said this, nothing of the
kind for opposition papers have constantly car
ried pro Roosevelt copy by way of balancing
the argument and informing the public. His
own wifes list Of clients includes opposition
papers and his friends Harold Ickes and Harry
Hopkin have turned many an easy dollar
with magazine articles composed of material
CLEANED in their official positions. and bought
and paid for by capitalists.
If the term "eXcrescence'' applies anywhere
it must apply to these two personal confidants
and political henchmen for they are not mem
bers of our craft and their magazine work
has represented the exploitation of public Of
flee for incidental private profit.
This controversy belittles the president and
his office, however, rather than the colunnnists
and that is result in which every American,
even an excrescence, has patriotic and civic
interest. That office belongs to all of us and
if it suffers loss of prestige in the world
through querulous pickering in which the &C.
cupant gets the worst of it as he did in this
case all of us lose. That was the thought
behind the long criticism of the Roosevelt fam
lily as a group for sweating personal profits
out Of the presidency. The actual money de-
rived by various relatives was unimportant
but the indignity represented a real hurt and
loss
Here now this man. for better or worse, |
is charged with the fateful job Of winning this
war for the United States with the least pos
sible sacrifice of life, the job of making de-
cent peace in negotiations with two othe~
strong national leaders who know what they
want and the duty of preserving as much OF
American liberty at home may be saved
in an otherwise socialiStic and dictato'ial
world 1t is a mountainous responsibility in |
which the wisest of men should try to cultivate
sympathy and support among the people of
his own country. Yet, though Roosevelt has
made some obscure gestures toward h e
right since election day, he has spurned a great
opportunity to win the trust of millions of
Americans who were violently abused wi h
epithets and suspicious by him and his Of
ficious underlings, even to the point of being
called Fascists. and thus, traitors, by Henry
Wallace. I
And, yet in the presence of this awesome sit
uation when little show of personal humility
and the terrible loneliness Of an over-burden-
ed human being might win back respect and
personal loyalty to the holder of his office
he finds occasion to make trashy repartee
with people who should be far outside and
beneath his thoughts.
-V
The Germans using more artillery than
we have seen before. We can't get Cub
off the ground and there is no chance for
counter battery fire. Our troops just have to
take it-Lt.-Col. Russell w. Jenna on Western
Front
Anglo-American friendship is the foundation