Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1960-09-11

the kind conspicuously abb
sent from the contemporary
scene. The most fascinating
pages in Mr.. Schlesinger's
fluent, infinitely detailed
study are those relating to
Father Coughlin, the radio
priest who called himself "a
religious Walter Winchell";
Francis E. Townsend, the
doctor who thought the cure
for the depression was d
monthly allowance for old
folks; and Senator Huey
Long, 1.-THE messiah Of the
Red-Necks." 10
From the White House, the
President watched their gyra-
tions with a certain detacll4
ment. In 1885 he wrote to
Henry L. Stimson: 1.-THE peo-
pie are jumpy and ready to
run after strange gods"
The Court
He had other worries. The
Supreme Court struck down
the MIRA. The White House
staff was confusedly making
the transition from the first
new deal to the second.
Tugwell and Richberg, the
dreamers and planners, were
giving way to Corcoran and
Cohen, the more realistic
operators. Supreme Court
Justice Brandeis was urging
bright young men to stay in
the provinces in the hope
that America could once
more become a Nation Of
small proprietors, of corner
grocers and smithies under
spreading chestnut trees
The argument, according to
Mr.. SchleSinger was whether
bigness was inevitable or re-
versible or whether there
should be affirmative eco
nomic planning or merely an
attempt to revitalize the
market"
The Liberty Leaguers held
a banquet at the Mayf1ower
at which AL Smith inveighed
against his old friend FDR
for an hour. William Lemke
was nominated as a third
party candidate. The Re-
publicans nominated Alfred
M. Landon. Mr.. Schlesinger
gives a most sympathetic
picture Of the most soundly
trounced candidate in Amer
lean history.
LandOn Defeat /
Mr.. Landon was q decent
moderate man, who fought Q
valiant, losing battle against
the stuffed shirts in his
party, and who refused until
superhuman pressures were
applied to condemn the New
Deal root and branch.
Roosevelt, by the election
of 1886 was totally and tri-
umphantly vindicated. Mr..
Schlesigner leaves him with
his Franklin Field pledge
delivered upon denomination:
81 accept the commission you
have rendered me. I join with
you. I am enlisted for the
duration Of the war;"
Mr.. Schlesigner's history;
except for its rendering Of.
dramatic political moments,
is not for the casual reader.
He goes deeply, in these est
pages into every nuance Of
economic and judicial theory.
Martins "reminiscences
Representative Martins.
rambling "reminiscences are.
shot through with protests
that he is glad now that he
was deposed from the posi-.
ton Of House leadership by
Representative Halleck. It was
a topping that heightened
his life, he maintains. But
that it did not sweeten his
life is plain from almost,
every line.
Mr.. Martin began his politi-.
cal career in his native town
Of North Attleboro, Massa-.
chusetts, in an innocent era,
when a man campaigned by
horse and buggy. In thes
1920s, when he was a member
of the House Appropriations
Committee, that body dis
cussed for a week the author
ization Of a $4,000 appropri-,
alton for an international
poultry show in Tulsa.
Great Changes
FDR and the depression
brought great changes to this
pastoral existence. Profess.
sional politician that he u.s.
Mr.. Martin cannot keep from
recording FDR's political skill
and relish for the job, a.
relish, he can't help noting,
that is not shared by Presi-
dent Eisenhower. No more
can he help noting that FDR,
whose philosophy he deplored,
was attentive to small mat
tiers. When Mr.. Martin told
him he needed a road in his
district, FDR gave the order
to tell the chief of the Bureau
of Public Roads that II am
sending down a black Repub-
lican and I want to give him
a road"
Mr.. Martin makes no major
revelations in this rather
jumbled memoir. He has been
a regular Republican and gives
the best description of him.
self in this line: 81 was never