Evening Star Newspaper, January 20, 1937, Page 11

Second Term Also Has Crises. Social and Economic Problems Await Solu- tion of Roosevelt. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. NLY 10 other men in Ameri- can history have had the dis- tinction which President Franklin D. Roosevelt enjoys on his inauguration day, namely, to take the oath of office in two formal inauguration ceremonies. Two more Presidents—Theodore Roosevelt an d Calvin Coolidge— making 12 in all —had until teday taken the oath again after the ending of their respective first terms, but their initial induction into office was informal, having occurred after the death of a prede- cessor. ‘The Presidents :':‘“lhl'dti‘;‘fey:n: David Lawrence. term when inaugurated formally a second time were Washington, Jeffer- son, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lin- coln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley and Wilson. It is interesting to note that with respect to the 12 men who took the oath on a second occasion, only two—Theodore Roosevelt and Ulysses 8. Grant—were younger than Frank- lin Roosevelt. Gen. Grant was 50 when inaug- urated the second time, and Theodore Roosevelt was 45. Four years ago Franklin Roosevelt was 51, and be- cause his birthday does not occur until January 30, but inauguration date is this year moved up from the usual March 4 date, he will go down in history as having been inaugurated & second time at the age of 54, lack- ing only 10 days of being 55. New Crisis Supplants Old. Mr. Roosevelt's inaguration is in an atmosphere hardly dissimilar from that of several Presidents who faced important crises. Four years ago a bank crisis was already under way and Mr. Roosevelt by his dramatic ac- tion won the plaudits of people of all classes. ‘Today another crisis is in the mak- ing—a big social and economic crisis in which capital and labor probably will reach the climax of their long struggle. It was in Michigan that the last crisis on the eve of inauguration brought on a national emergency, and it is in Michigan again that sit- down strikes, called by some insurrec- tion and revolution because property is seized in defiance of court injunc- tions, has emphasized an issue of far- reaching proportions. ‘When President Wilson was inau- gurated a second time, the European war was at its height and American entry, while not exactly assured, was regarded as inevitable by many ob- servers. World Crisis Exists. Mr. Roosevelt today faces a world situation hardly less threatening in some respects than that which con- fronted Mr. Wilson. Europe has been on the verge of war many times in the last two years and today with dicta~ torships enthroned in three countries and a civil war in a fourth there is no telling when the smouldering fires may be whipped into flames of another world war. Inside the United States, the eco- nomic situation has been gradually on the upgrade during Mr. Roosevelt's first term and whether it has been due to artificial measures, such as Government priming of the pump or natural causes accelerated and stimu- lated by Government intervention, the fact remains that in the four years ahead many formidable problems will | have to be solved if recovery is to be | made relatively stable and if another depression of greater magnitude than that from which America has been emerging is to be avoided. Democracy Is Stake. The biggest question before Mr. Roosevelt is how to put into operation & controlled economy and yet pre- serve democracy. He pleads for the strengthening of world democracies by making their governments more modern and more responsive to the social needs of the people. But the answer may or may not lie in further extension of the powers of government 1f in the exercise of those powers there 1s a conscious partisanship of class or a surrender to the political forces that so often dominate government action. Basically, the issue of greater and greater control by the State and less and less liberty or freedom of initi- ative for the citizen comes up in dozens of different ways in the larger problems today, and Congress, feeling the pressure of groups and classes, is ready to embark on more and more legislation restricting the freedom of the individual and entrusting to the Government more and more regula- tory power if not more and more actual operation of enterprises com- peting with or supplementing the efforts of the citizens. Called for Leadership. In such a turmoil the call for leader- ship is an instinctive expression by the people of a call for some one to keep the extremists of all kinds from rocking the boat and, indeed, wrecking it on the rocks of impossible ideals and impractical experiments. By an overwhelming vote—the biggest major- ity in history—Mr. Roosevelt was en- trusted last November with tremendous powers of leadership. It was a vote of confidence in & man, in his readi- ness to confer benefits on the citizenry and in his capacity to steer the ship of state safely without making over the form of Government, yet making the existing form more responsive to na- tional needs. But whatever abstract principle one uses to interpret the election returns, the mandate is clearly an exhortation to Mr. Roosevelt to profit by the mis- takes of the past and move the coun- try forward during the second term to higher levels of economic gain than in the first term. Beyond all that it ‘was a mandate to give the country & chance to earn the huge taxes that are needed nowadays to support a Government which, whether or not we agree with that concept of its true function, has become a huge welfare agency superseding the several States and cities in the biggest humanitarian experiment ever undertaken in a de- mocracy anywhere on earth. i (}:::nm.m. 1937.) Speaks Eight Languages. Paul Rochin, stand-in for Eric Blore, speaks eight languages. He used to b(;;:lua the Department of Immigra- | it § | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, News Behind the News Greater Confidence Gained by Roosevelt Vastly Changes Personality. A They depend too much on light and angles. Furthermore, Mr. BY PAUL MALLON. g DIFFERENT President Roosevelt took the oath of office today. The outward change is vaguely hinted by comparative photographs, Roosevelt has established the practice of entrusting himself to masseurs just before inaugural appearances. The effect, four years ago, clipped about 15 years from his 50. Those close around him know there has been a deeper and more significant change, which may or may not be reflected in the photographs. Four years ago his outward appearance of confidence was an * oratorical gesture. Only his intimates knew it, but his knees were a little shaky. He really did not know what he was going to do. He was determined, and that determination dominated the ensuing years, beset with political troubles, many mistakes like the original N. R. A,, and plenty of administrative labor and worry, preventing him from gete ting his head above water for very long at a time. Since the ballots were counted in the last election, all who have had personal dealings within the White House seem agreed that a change is noticeable. They call it “extreme confidence,” ‘‘self-assur- ance,” “less patience,” “personal will power,” “more strength” and many other things. They note it in the way he speaks, the things ” he does. For example, they agree that at no time during the four years preceding November 3 would he have sent to Congress such a self-willed reorganization program as this last one. y They expect the country to see a little different side of a different Roosevelt during the next four years. P Whatever personal strength Mr. Roosevelt has gained from his expe- rience and success has not brought any change in his sense of humor. Newsmen who call on him semi-weekly for press conferences found him just as sharp and genial in his last conference as in his first, although considerably secretive (pleasantly) and evasive (shdrply when pressed). The four years seem to have sharpened his likes and dislikes for people. Formerly he liked nearly every one except his avowed enemies, but lately there have been evidences that he has learncd to trust very few. He likes and greatly trusts men like Jim Farley, whose ability he greatly respects; State Secretary Hull, a very boring conversationalist as compared with Farley; Agriculture Secretary Wallace, for his modesty and open-mindedness; Harry Hogkins, for his loyalty and energy, and some congressional cronies like Vice President. Garner and others who drop in at night. His list of friends has changed (he knew none of those mentioned above very well four years ago, except Farley) and his blacklist has been correspondingly enlarged, although it will never be made public and some on it do not yet know their standing. His hair is thinner, grayer; his eyes more deeply set; his health, which he guards very carefully, not a noticeably bit different. The desire of the President to expand his trusty circle is seen behind his inclusion of his son, Jimmy, in his secretariat, and his recommendation that more administrative assistants be authorized by Congress. Son James is being mentioned as a presidential contact man with Congress, but he will not be that. The congressional liaison job requires experienced men like Garner and Charles West, the Assistant Interior Secretary, who will continue to be the White House undercover man at the Capitol. For the present, James is sitting in a roomy office with a crackling fireplace, looking out through three room-length windows at the grotesque architecture of the State, War and Navy Building across the way. Apparently the President wanted him footloose and near to undertake personal confidential missions. As there have not been many lately, he has not been able to find much to occupy his time. After he is broken in he will fill in for and with the two other secretaries: Friends, of course, expect him to carry on the Roosevelt tradi- tion in American politics, and will not be surprised if they see him a United States Senator some dis- tant day. Perhaps all future inaugurals will be an anti-climax after the dramatic one of 1933. Even so, this year's smoked up very little enthusiasm on the inside. If the politicians had not desired to make it a political rally. there would have been no show at all. Tom Qualters, the new presidential bodyguard, did not play on the Notre Dame varsity. He was on the “B” squad. However, he has spoken before women’s clubs and rates “A” plus in courage and trustworthiness, which is what the President wants. Many of the President’s helpers are devoted to him far beyond the usual relationship of employer and employe. Even the clerks in the ‘White House attend his press conferences, just to hear him talk. One aide. who wanted to quit and take a good outside job, found himself unable to broach the subject to the President on three separate occasions, finally gave it up. (Copyright, 1937.) When we stage a Florsheim Sale everything goes ... not a single pair is with- held. We'll give you a tip, though: shop earlyl Values like these don't last longl RS, HAHN'S MEN'S SHOPS—14th & G o Tth then and now. However, photographs very seldom tell the truth.. N crHE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, .1937. This Changing World Germans on Self-Sufficiency Diet Until Need of Resources Impresses World. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. The efforts of the government and the entire population of the Third Reich are directed toward the creation of a self-sufficient U. S. Publicity at Peak T R e Observer Warns Government *Selling” Through Experts Sets Bad Precedent for Future. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. HE publication at Christmas time of the second annual re- port of the Resettlement Ad- ministration, in the form of a 175-page book, handsomely printed, illustrated in color and distributed to the customers at a fraction of its cost price, raised some critical com- ment in Wash- ington. Now the first printing has - been exhausted, and the answer to criticism is to publish another edition. The whole matter seems trifiing, but it has connota- tations that are not trifling at all. No administra- tion in the his- tory of the United States, and apart from the dictatorships no government in the world, has so used publicity as the Roosevelt regime. Propaganda has been introduced as an adjunct of gov- ernment on an unprecedented scale. We have not, like the Germans or the Italians, established a special govern- ment department of “propaganda and enlightenment,” but we have attached such departments to practically every branch of administration. The poli- cies and achievements of this admin- istration are being “sold” to the Amer- ican people by experts in the busi- ness, by the high-pressure methods already developed by councilors on | public relations in the great corpora- | tions. The rumpus raised over this par- ticular book brought out that the Resettlement Administration alone turnd out in eight months, between November and last June, over & quar- ter of a million copies of printed matter. Heaven only knows what the total production of all the departe ments—agriculture, as a whole, relief, labor, commerce, Relief Administra- tion, etc.—would amount to, if printed stuff, reports, mimeographed hand- outs to the press, photographs for pub- licity purposes, news releases and pamphlets were al combined in one | place. Huge Yorests would be needed | to replace the paper consumed; whole! buildings would be insufficient to house | the mass. | Nor does Government propaganda confine itself to printed and mimeo- graphed handouts to the press and | public. It has adopted other press- | agent techniques. A stunt of the com= mercial press agents has long been to | interest special writers, whose names | carry weight, in the commercial proj- | | ects which they represent, and offer | such writers free trips, hotels, auto- mobiles and other perquisites to make “investigations,” and write articles which are then sold through normal channels to magazines and newspa- pers and appear as completely disin- terested reports. A while ago, when there was a campaign on the part of Hawaiian sugar interests to persuade Congress to let their product come into the United States free of tariff, and give it preference over Cuban sugar, writers were offered luxurious Dorothy Thompsen. e > B B, trips to Hawail with all expenses paid, if only in whatever they wrote they would ,point out that “Hawaii is an integral part of the United States.” Several celebrities accepted the sug- gestion and had a pleasant and prob- able Winter vacation. The administration uses the same technique. Special writers who are known to be favorable to the adminis- tration have been offered opportuni- ties to get “on the inside” on special stories. They have been invited to Germany. This state of affairs, Dr. Schacht and the other German leaders say, must last until the world has realized that Germany should have her own sources of raw materials. ‘The food restrictions imposed on the German people are in keeping with this policy, rather than the inability of Germany to purchase foodstuffs abroad. Bread cards have been issued. ‘The reason for these bread cards is not the lack of wheat and rye abroad—there is plenty of it in Europe and the United States— but the fact that the Reich does not want to spend the little for- eign exchange it manages to ob- tain through sales of industrial rings home to the ordinary individ- People Trotzky in Mexico Is Seen as Menace to South. BY JAY FRANKLIN. O FAR the most important single news event of 1937 is the arrival of Leon Trotzky in the Repub- lic of Mexico. Not since the Braganzas sailed from Lisbon to seek safety for the crown of Portugal in their Brazilian possessions has the Old World cast off such a hot political fragment into the Western Hemi- sphere. To us it must become increas- ingly important, since it-means that “world revolution” in the Communist sense, which has been outlawed at SOME STYLES $868 & K o 3212 14th St. accompany commissions, been given access to all sorts of privileged ma- terial, and otherwise aided in earning their livings. Those who have been critical have found the doors slammed. Baffling Problems Offered. For the independent and objective reporter who wants te find out what is actually going on, the Resettlement Administration offers some baffling problems. A number of housing proj- ects, costing many millions of the tax- payers’ money, have been started or completed. I defy a reporter to find out what they have actually cost. ‘That information, in any specific de- tall, is simply not forthcoming. It is not even easy to view the projects. Some months ago the New Jersey gar- ment workers’ housing project was so surrounded by guards that I, visiting it, had to use the utmost cajolery to | be allowed to see one of the houses. | A few weeks later I went a quarter of | the way across the country at my own | expense to visit a suburban project near Cincinnati, and met the same difficulty. There it stood, open to the four winds and partly completed, but a very icy gentleman barred my way from even walking through the streets. But at the gate I was handed a hand- some little brochure, describing the whole thing in glowing terms and con- taining photographs which presented the project as though it were prac- tically completed and the houses ready for occupancy. I was told that both these projects had huge waiting lists. I see no reason on earth why press | agents and promotion experts shoul | be attached to a relief administration. Certainly it is not necessary to ad- | vertise Santa Claus to the relief clients. They will find the place with- out any high pressure salesmanship. | And why must it advertise itself to the taxpayer? He has to pay anyhow, | whether he likes it or not. His sub- scription is not solicited. It is col- lected. Yet the Relief Administration and all its branches have press agents, under one name or another, whose business is to turn out “stories” about the poor, about the nobility of the Government, and about specific cases, | This is a new departure for dem- | Germany must go on a diet unti In the meantime, the army must * * be distracted and instead of thinkil thinking in terms of work and trade. terials and manufactured goods has ‘World prosperity is around the corner; prosperity. * * is true that the price of many raw rubber have gone up considerably, Furthermore, nations which have no price is too high. Europe be lessened, business chan- nels might be reopened. But how quickly governments could be in- duced to reduce drastically tariffs and tariff barriers is another mat- ter. During the last 18 months prac- tically every nation in the world has been spending money on arma- ments like drunken sailors. The taxing capacity of individuals has reached the limit. Even if arma- ual the vital necessity of having new territories to exploit. German statisticians point out that in 1933 the Reich reached the peak of agricultural development. method of enriching the soil and by cultivating every available acre of land, the German farmer produced the mazimum. This mazimum has proved to be insufficient to feed the 64,000,000 Germans. Hence crops can be raised or raw materials to enable her industry to ex- change at a reasonable price its products for foodstuffs. says Hitler, it is the Reichswehr which will in the end provide the Ger- man people with the raw materials they need to live an independent life. Many a European political man is now indorsing Secretary Hull's theory that as soon as the wheels of the international trade machinery begin moving again, the minds of the people in strife-ridden Europe will As a support of this theory, the new French Ambassador to the United States, Georges Bonnet, pointed out that the price of raw ma- were not for the fear of the Europeans that a war might break out almost any minute. Do away with that fear, said Bonnet, and you will have The Ambassador's theory is only partially correct, however. price is the rapid and reckless increase in armaments. building new tanks, new airplanes, new battleships, etc., as fast as they can. They need these basic products and must pay the price. This time there is a question of the demand exceeding the supply. pelled to pay the price asked by the producers. Governments are purchasing copper and cotton and rubber and oil for “national defense,” and when it comes to the question of armaments, Foodstuffs have gone up in price, too, because some of the govern- ments, like the Ttalian and the German, are laying by stocks—in case. There is no doubt, however, that should the political tension in > ments became limited, the governments are so deeply in debt that they' will still need for a number of years fiscal tayes to make up the stu- pendous deficits these last years of rearmament have produced. Moscow, is now to make its headquar- ters in the New World. Trotzky's exile from the Soviet Union, which his politico-military genius did so much to create, has al- ready caused a schism in the Marxian “church.” It resembles the murders and betrayals which followed the death of Mohamet and which left their mark in the great sects of the Shiites and Sunnites, into which Islam is divided. Since communism repre- sents an almost exact parallel to the Moslem menace which Christian Eu- rope faced a thousand years ago, this division between the Stalinites and the Trotzkyites is of the greatest practical importance. Already it has prevented ‘Trotzky from placing his remarkable talents as an organizer of red victory at the service of the Spanish govern- ment. The Madrid and Barcelona juntas darned not offend Moscow by accepting Trotzky's aid. ‘Trotzky preaches the Communist Jehad, the “holy war” of Marxism: World revolution. Stalin has aban- | doned international socialism to build | socialism in Russia. Moreover, it is difficult to doubt that the fact that Trotzky is a Jew led to a concealed anti-Semitism in the country which was so long the center of the anti- Jewish agitation now conducted from Berlin. One by one the international Jewish agitators who created the bol- | shevik revolution have been picked off, executed, imprisoned or exiled. Trot- | zky is the only great survivor at large, ‘and he has organized his own—the Fourth—International to do the world revolutionary job which Stalin has abandoned or postponed. Now, after years of exile, during which Stalin chilly Norway too hot to in's running mate, Trotzky has found asylum in Mexico, itself the scene of the greatest contemporary revolution in the Western World. This looks as though our Southern States were going to see some stormy weather. Conditions of the agricul- tural workers in the cotton belt are not so bad as were the conditions of the peons in old Mexico—conditions which led to revolution there—but the | level of intelligence and education is By applying every conceivable I ecither she obtains lands where get the cream of everything, because, * % ng In terms of war they will be sky-rocketed during the last year. 3 in fact, it would be right here if it * % It materials such as cotton, copper, but the cause of this increase in Nations are no basic raw materials are com- ocratic government and a dangerous i one. It got its start during the war, = . = when expert moulders of public opin- | I wonder who paid for the very ion and public psychology were turned handsome and convincing exhibition loose by the Government to sell the | which was organized at the Demo- people the war. Before that in most | cratic Convention last June to show countries the foreign offices and the | all that the Roosevelt administration chancellries had secretaries who were | had done. It was a sort of before-and- really press attaches, contact men ' after exhibition, designed. of course, to with the correspondents, whose bus- | excite the greatest admiration for | iness it was to facilitate their geiting the Government’s accomplishments. | news. That was a useful and prob- | Did the Democratic party, bidding for ably necessary function. re-election, pay for it? I was told ' * W ashington’s Largest 814-816 FSt. N. W. * 1111 H St N.E ¥ % % % X X X X X »* (furgss RADIO CO. Vloomess hok * * * * * * *x * * Dosng Business in a Capital Way | higher here, so that lesser grievances ! might provoke an equal or a greater resentment. With the chairman of the Appropri- ations Committee—Representative Bu- chanan of Texas—already trying to prevent resettlement aid to “shiftless” tenant farmers, and with Senator money for a campaign for its own Bankhead's farm tenant bill pared re-election? | down to $50,000,000 a year, the social Liberals and a liberal government | and economic troubles of the cotton rightly demand a free press, States will not be solved swiftly. (Copyright, 1937.) (Copyright, 1937.) * that much of the werk was done by W. P. A. workers on white-collar | projects. And certainly the material was assembled by Government em- ployes. But is it not & curious thing to see Government use the taxpayers’ * RANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT as President of the United States George's Radio Stores welcome the new Admin- istration with confidence in the future, and pledge the whole-hearted sup- port of an organization prominent in the eco- nomic life of the Nation's Capital. We are proud to contrib- ute our share in the pro- motion and maintenance of prosperity in this com- munity—and thank our patrons and friends for their confidence in us. ( i Radio Organization * 3107-3109 M St. N. W. * 2015 14th St. N.W.