ESTABLISHED By SAMUEL BOWLES WEEKLY IN 1824; DAILY IN 1844; SUNDAY 18T8 EDITORIAL DISCUSSION OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EVENTS Looking Ahead; the Governors Hardly less frank than the as sumption that President Roosevelt will be reelected is the admission, in certain Democratic quarters, that the Republicans will elect gov ernors in a number of states now under Democratic rule. In connec tion with the struggle in Ohio, where, according even to Democratic observers, the best Republican nom inee in a long time is contending for the governorship with the worst Democratic nominee in an equally long time, it was recently pointed out that the general result in the gubernatorial contests would be to increase the list of available candi dates for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1940. That view seems to find support even in a state so Democratically inclined as Texas. Looking beyond the Texas borders, which obviously requires some strength of vision, the Houston Post contemplates the 35 states, which are'about to elect gov ernors. The Texas paper says: "It 'is not at all unlikely that the Re 'publicans in 1940, in the event Gov 'Landon fails of election this year, 'will be looking for another gov 'emor to serve as nominee, and the 'choice in all probability will fall on 'some man who will be elected a 'Republican governor on November '3 of this year and reelected in '1938." Not less interesting is the further comment of the Texas paper that the Democrats "are not as dependent 'on state governors for suitable 'presidential timber as are the Re publicans" and that "Democratic 'leaders most frequently mentioned 'as possible nominees in 1940 are not 'governors and will not be in guber 'natorial chairs in that year." The basis of interest in the latter half of this comment is the fact that duf constitutional provision of fixed fouf-yaar terms for the pres idency, plus the tradition against a third term, has two effects. No sooner is a President ..elected for his first term than his campaign for reelection begins. Before he even takes the oath of office, his choices of cabinet assistants are made with conscious relation to the vindication and the new commission he hopes to receive from the people at the end of four years. His days, and his hours of wakefulness at night, are passed in the thought of that goal. But if it is a second term for which he has been chosen, the anti-third term tradition oper ates, from the moment the votes have been counted, to focus increas ing public attention, and increasing political manipulation behind the scenes, on the selection of the nom inee of his party to succeed him. We may not be a nation of crystal gazers and many of the events of the last few years offer their strong suggestion that we do not look ahead as much as we might in matters of economic planning; but our rigid constitutional system, with its fixed elections, offers a peculiar and almost constant incen tive to speculation on the political future. [October 291 Mussolini's Armed Peace In his Milan speech Premier Mus solini follows up his recent tender of an olive branch "growing out of '6,000,000 well-sharpened bayonets." He scoffs at the "illusions," the "conventional falsehoods" and "the lies" of "the Wilsonian ideology." Addressing Fascisti, "in the habit 'of examining with a cool eye the •reality of life," he rejects the illu sion of collective security, which "never existed, does not exist and 'never will exist; a virile people 'provides within its own borders its 'collective security." Yet even virile peoples have been known to seek allies, and the duce's manifest gratification at the understanding with Germany rather spoils this dis play of proud national self-suffi ciency. Other points of inconsistency ap appear. He rejects the doctrine of "indivisible peace," saying that it implies "indivisible war": "Peoples 'refuse, and justly so, to fight for 'interests that do not concern 'them.'' Yet after rather haughtily bidding the British to recognize the conquest of Ethiopia and come to terms with Italy in regard to the Mediterranean, Mussolini says: "Bi 'lateral conflicts are not to be 'thought of, and even less a con 'flict which from bilateral would im •mediately become European." This sounds like a recognition of the in divisibility of war under present conditions, which is the basis of the I contention that "peace is indivis 'ible." The effort to organize peace at which this warlike dictator scoffs is, in fact, no Utopian dream based on abstract theory and noble ideals, but a desperate effort to head off a grave and immediate danger. Europe has become so full of dry tinder that a blaze anywhere causes as much anxiety as a smoke wreath in the forest during a long drouth. At such a time, when extreme hazard dictates caution, an un scrupulous statesman can easily make a great figure in the world and give his subjects delusions of grandeur by periodical gestures that under these conditions are likely to pass unchallenged. When the powder keg is open nobody wants to argue with the hot-tempered man who holds a lighted match. Because these conditions involve such great and growing peril the il lusion of the "armed peace," for which the realistic Fascists stand, is far more dangerous than the Wil sonian illusion of disarmament and collective peace. Armed strength is relative, and huge armies are not a whit more powerful than a corporal's guard so far as defending peace is concerned. While countries are still fever ishly arming against each other-- Mussolini has just decreed a 40 per cent increase of navy personnel to match Great Britain--each increase of armaments may be hailed as a new guaranty of peace. Yet one need not be a great mathematician to see the end of that rake's prog ress. Wilson at least pointed out a road which might lead to peace; Mussolini in scornfully rejecting the "Wilsonian ideology" is pointing out the road of "armed peace," which leads to a very different terminal. The armed peace which the duce praises is not peace but preparation for war. [November 4] The Second Roosevelt Administration The reelection of Franklin D. Roosevelt, by majorities that even his friends may well feel are ex cessive, will cause no panic in any quarter. It is welcomed in the most conservative circles of the democratic nations abroad where the stability of international peace is the first consideration. In Lon don and Paris the uncertainty at tending the formation of a new government at Washington would have been viewed as another dis turbing factor in the present Euro pean and oriental situation, which has not been improving in recent weeks. A second Roosevelt administra tion is not a threat to business. The Wall Street Journal said yesterday: "Campaign years are notorious for 'business hesitation. In this one 'not only have national finances 'been a chief issue. In addition 'there has been a cleavage as deep 'and bitter as any in 40 years. Yet 'business has advanced far beyond 'normal expectations." The gain in recovery scored under Roosevelt will not be lost because Roosevelt is to remain in office. The best Christmas trade since 1929 is be ing forecast. Implicit in these con siderations is the prospect that the United States will not reinforce economic nationalism, but will con tinue to help strengthen the feeble bonds of world peace by promoting international trade. A second Roosevelt administra tion should at least begin its task of government with the risk of so cial disorders minimized simply be cause its renewed lease of power come mainly through the votes of the wage earners of the industrial states and the less fortunate farm ers of the agricultural states. Whatever future developments may bring to lessen their support, they trust him now. In this sense the reelection of Roosevelt means rela tively an internal stabilization as against disintegrating or revolu tionary influences. The problems of social security for the elderly and the unemployed will move toward their ultimate solution along orderly lines, with out disruption from the right or the left. The present federal act will neither be scrapped in its en tirety, unless by the supreme court on constitutional grounds, nor will Townsendite influences gain the up per hand. In so far as election re sults thwart the Townsend and Coughlin teachings, the reelection of Roosevelt is a conservative vic tory. Division in Labor Ranks The shipping strike, in spite of the extent to which it has now spread, clearly indicates one of the most marked divisions in the ranks of union labor. While the protests of the officials of the Internationa! Seamen's union have been over ridden and disregarded by the more radical element in New York and other ports, no sharper attack on the strikers has come from any or ganization of shipowners than that made by the regular officials of or ganized labor in Baltimore, one of the mopt important ports on the Atlantic* coast. The president of the Baltimore Federation of Labor has officially denounced the strike as "unauthor *ized" and as "dominated by the 'Communist party." "We have 'agreements with the Atlantic coast 'shipping companies," his official statement continues, "which do not 'expire until December 31, 1937, and 'we intend to live up to them." In spite of this attitude, the latest available reports from Balti more were that shipping had been almost completely tied up at that port by this "sit-down" strike, which, so far as the Atlantic coast is concerned, has been confessedly called by the radical element for the sole purpose of registering sym pathy with the strikers on the Pacific coast who are endeavoring to negotiate a new scale at this time. (November 4] Mr Farley's optimistic prediction that only Maine and Vermont will go for Landon recalls the election of 1912, when only Utah and Ver m.ont went for the Republican candi date--President Taft. Did anybody at that time, by the way, recall that the two great leaders of the Mor mons, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, were both natives of Ver mont? While the presidential candidates of the major parties had certain avowed objectives in common, Mr Roosevelt as the next President re mains in a more advantageous posi tion for realizing them. His actual strength in Congress will be dis closed by the later congressional re turns, but the great superiority of his party connection with the major ity of the Senate, as compared with the utmost possibilities for his Re publican opponent, cannot be dis puted. In foreign relations espe cially, and also in the matter of commercial treaties, a Senate of the same political color as the chief executive means an escape from certain well-known handicaps. Nor does this assumption imply a "rubber stamp" Congress. It merely recognizes the still practical potency of party affiliations. One may expect, not without con fidence, that the President's reelec tion insures the preservation and consolidation of the sound progres sive gains of his first administra tion; that attacks on civil liberties, legitimate trade unionism and aca demic freedom are discredited to the same degree that Hearst's w'arfare against the President is discredited. This expectation extends to the im provement of the civil service in a second Roosevelt administration, when there will be little temptation to use the spoils of office--as al ways has been the case with first term Presidents--for the purposes of reelection. The unwritten law against a third term carries too strong an imperative for Mr Roose velt even to contemplate overrid ing it. While the President has served notice that his policy of unemploy ment relief will not be radically changed in principle, he receives no mandate for unnecessary expendi ture either on relief or public works. Budget-balancing prospects are not dashed by the election re sult. Even from the fiscal point of view, it is better to have as Pres ident one who, by virtue of his greater influence with Congress, can be held to a stricter responsibility by the country than his opponent could have been; and who, fur thermore, serving his last term, will be less amenable to various political and group pressures. Gov Landon's farm program, it may be well to recall, was inconsistent with promises to bring the budget early into balance. In no sense can it be reasonably inferred from the President's re election that "the American sys- SPRINGFIELD, MASS.: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1936 Contents Thursday, November S, 1936 Editorials on National and international De- Pages 1,2, and 3 velopments Featuring the Discussion of: The Second Roosevelt Administration-- Political Forgeries and Fakes--Mus solini, Hitler and 'Europe--The Ship ping Strike--The Anti-Social Security- Drive. Letters to the Editor--The Pro and Con of it Page 3 as Seen by The Republican's Readers Editorials on State and Local Topics Page 3 General News of the Week, Domestic a.d Pages 4, S. 6, 1 Foreign, Selected Reports of Current and 12 Events Books and Authors--Reviews of New Books Page 8 and Literary Discussion Weekly Review of World Affairs--The Sig- Page 9 nificance of Recent Events Whiting's Boston Letter Page 9 An Attic Salt Shaker--Humorous Anecdotes Page 10 of Famous Figures How to Keep Well--Weekly Health Column, Page 10 Dr Dubois News of the Theater--Music and Art Page 11 Business News Page 13 News of New England Featuring Massa- Page 14 x chusetts 'tern" of government is placed in grave jeopardy, or that the consti tution and the courts are discredited by the people, or that we have seen the last of our liberties, or that the economic system of private enter prise, private contract and private profits is now surely on the way out. The people have not voted for objectives of that character. They are far from responding to radical leadership. But the majority of the people still prefer a reformist administra tion, whatever its faults, which has proved its devotion to the common weal, especially the mass of un fortunate victims of the greatest depression of modern times--they prefer z this to an administration that might blast the good features of the new deal and easily pass un der reactionary guidance and con trol. Here is comparative safety from both extremes; and every American well knows that the con stitutional checks upon too great concentration of power remain operative, with a conservative su preme court--too conservative in the opinion of many--jealously guard ing the very outworks of tradi tion constitutionalism. The result will not be interpreted by the best friends of the admin istration, nor by the President him self, as a sweeping indorsement of all his policies and acts. Mr Roose velt's second election has been so sincerely, if bitterly, disputed by a great number of good Americans that no calm and judicious review of his past achievement and future program will ignore the central theme of their complaint. This electoral success w'as foreordained by conditions among which the chief, perhaps, were the business recovery coming not a moment too soon, the President's strong hu manitarian appeal to the suffering and underprivileged, the compara tive weakness of the party organiza tion of the opposition and the op position's inability to concentrate upon one supreme national issue sure to dominate the public mind. The opposition needs more time to shake itself together and to identify itself with the prevailing mood of the people. The campaign now past has revealed the opposi tion as unprepared to assume power with any hope of success. It is not in the least incredible that before long opposition leaders and writers will look back upon the presidential election of 1936 with a fefeling of thankfulness that they did not win it. Lincoln's mood in his second inaugural, "with malice toward 'none, with charity for all," befits the President in his triumph. With a high resolve to be faithful to his trust, a spirit of humility must overcome the man consecrated for supreme service by the world's greatest democracy. [November 4 J An Acting Secretary The acting secretary of war, Mr Woodring, who was given that of fice on trial following the death of Secretary Dern, is in hot water. His chances of getting a permanent appointment as head of the war department do not seem to be im proving. Mr Woodring is a son-in-law of S-mator Marcus A. Coolidge. Sus picious persons, without any proof to offer, have claimed that his elevation to the job of acting secretary, to see if he could hold it, from that of assistant secretary, was due to a deal. The other part of the alleged deal was that the sena tor's other son-in-law, Mayor Green wood of Fitchburg, was induced to withdraw from the senatorial race in this state, in which, as an inde pendent Democratic candidate, he was regarded as a menace to Gov Curley, whom he had scathingly de nounced at the Democratic state convention here in Springfield. Mr Woodring's present trouble is the result of his as yet unaccount able performance in overruling the authorities of the famous Walter Reed hospital near Washington, who had followed the long-established course of protesting against, and so preventing, the issuance of licenses for the sale of liquor near the hos pital. Washington is up in arms. There appears to have been no change irf the circumstances which had led the late Secretary Dern, and other secretaries of war before him, to agree with the hospital author ities. It seems to be merely a case of Mrz Woodring's being wiser than his predecessors--or very much the reverse. Early in his career as assistant secretary of war, Mr Woodring got into trouble over an unwise com ment on the CCC camps in connec tion with military training and, ac cording to recollection, had to go to the White House as a penitent before he could get straightened out. He has also been under other attacks and, while these have not developed seriously for him, his reputation for judiciousness has not been as high as that of some as sistant secretaries. The practice of permitting an as sistant secretary to carry on as acting secretary and demonstrate whether he is up to the job is not new. It has occasionally been fol lowed under Republican as well as Democratic administrations. But there is one development which might make Mr Woodring loom as a secretary of war of transcendent qualifications. That is the report that Gen Hugh Johnson of NRA fame, whose lack of judicial quali ties would make Mr Woodring look like Solomon himself, is in line for the job. But a good many stories out of Washington which seem less improbable than this will still prove to have no truth in them. [November 2J Among the countries which have been making marked progress this year is Turkey, which on Thursday celebrated the 13th birthday of the republic in a cheerful spirit. The industrial program set some years ago is being carried with enough success to better appreciably the economic condition of the country, and the people are elated over the recent diplomatic victory by which the right to fortify,, the Dardanelles has been restored. Probably no country in the world has seen greater changes in 13 years. A Nazi organ at Berlin calls Ger man writers "cowards" for dodging current issues. Still some courage is needed even for historical novels, now that the Nazis have taken to rewriting history. Charlemagne is now un-German and out of favor, and an author taking the wrong slant might soon find himself in serious trouble. A New York Yearbook New York city has published its first yearbook, called "New York Ad 'vancing." Mayor LaGuardia is a contributor, as are the commis sioners whom he has appointed to office. The volume is intended to describe and celebrate municipal progress, promote community spirit and make New Yorkers proud of their city. That the book has a civic object of potential usefulness is conceded. Yet critics insist that the New York yearbook will not do. Instead of being suitable for read ing in the civics classes of high schools it must be dismissed as a campaign handbook, they say. And this view is held by the city's board of education. Politicians are supposed to be as tute, yet sometimes they seem sur prisingly naive. The present admin istration of New York has much to its credit. But in a city with a highly organized and well-managed school system there was not much likelihood, short of downright polit ical bullying, of getting a book ap proved for use in the schools when it was nothing but a political hand book in praise of a particular ad ministration. There would be even less likelihood if members of the board of education were not in sym pathy with that administration and its officeholders. School textbooks supplied by in dividuals on a commercial basis pro voke controversies enough. Some times there is debate about the con tents; sometimes an official or group of officials is held to have an "in 'side track" in getting certain books used. When, therefore, a city tries to supply its own reading matter for pupils, it should know what to I avoid. But, in fact, it may get out a partisan volume which educators are bound to condemn. The city of Charleston, S. C., dur ing the eighties, published year- I books that are still listed in bibliog- Political Forgeries and Fakes The resort to the most extreme misrepresentation of the social security act in the last days of the campaign, in the hope that the truth would not catch up with the falsehood before the votes were counted, introduced no novelty into politics. Nor can it be said that this is peculiar to the American system. The notorious Zinovieff letter, a barefaced forgery, was used with effect by the Conservatives in the British parliamentary elections of 11924. The Zinovieff letter was de signed to smear the British Labor I party with Communist sympathies I and even with *an undercover al liance with Moscow; and it was to I some extent successful because the Labor party managers had insuf i ficient time in which to prove that the letter was bogus. I In the days before the radio and i quick transportation, the unchecked I circulation of campaign forgeries was simpler and easier than it is I now. A lie could travel long dis tances without being overtaken, and still grow fat on its mileage. The truth about President Andrew' Jack- I son's marriage, going still farther back, had to wait almost until our I own time to get fully established. IBy 1880, a forgery such as the famous Morey letter was nailed as a lie w'ith unprecedented speed. The I truth was beginning to come along much faster than in the horse and j buggy days. What was the Morey letter? someone asks. In October, 1880, a letter was circulated signed by James A. Garfield, the Republican presidential candidate, and ad dressed to one H. L. Morey, in which Garfield expressed himself in favor of Chinese cheap labor in this coun- try. It was designed to turn the Pacific coast states against the Re publican candidates. Garfield, of course, branded the letter as a forgery and it was im possible for anyone to find the fictitious Mr Morey. The popular vote in 1880 was almost evenly divided between Garfield and Han cock, the former having in the na tion a beggarly plurality of 9464. Hancock carried California by less than 100 votes and that state's electoral vote was divided--five for Hancock and one for Garfield. Per haps the Morey letter forgery had a substantial popular effect, al though Garfield's electoral college majority was ample. Late in the present campaign there has been published an ar- raphies for the value of the his torical research presented in their pages. State and federal govern ments publish many books and pamphlets that are useful precisely because they are free from political bias or influence. As a matter of fact a city government would gain in political prestige if it showed that it knew when to eliminate poli tics. Yet officials of a partisan ma chine have not always attained a stage of sophistication that makes them aware of this fact. [October 20] The question as to the direction in which President Roosevelt will •turn, if reelected, might be put in other terms than right or left. It would be instructive to study the campaign to determine to what members of his cabinet he is likely to feel most in debt for its suc cess--if it succeeds. In the ordinary course of events those might seem to be the cabinet members whose influence would be increased. Sec retary Hull is conspicuous for hav ing caused, by his handling of trade and tariff relations, certain outstand ing critics of the administration to return to Mr Roosevelt's support. It has been said that statesmen can not afford the luxury of gratitude; but Mr Hull's position in the cabinet j would not seem likely to'be weak ened. The asperity of some southern comments on the Roosevelt admin istration is so sharp as both to be amusing and to raise a serious ques tion what, if anything, will eventual ly come of it. Thus the Charleston !Newg and Courier remarks: "One thing must be set down to the credit jof the Roosevelt administration. It has made Republicanism respectable in South Carolina." "One can see i now and then prominent and re j spected citizens of Charleston, life [long Democrats, wearing a Landon 'button," the paper explains. irant falsehood in the shape of an i alleged blank form for wage earners to fill out under the social security act. This blank contains I inquiries as to whether the signer has been divorced, as to what church he attends, as to labor I union affiliations and so on. An other falsehood about the social security act in circulation is that the registrants under it will have ito wear metal disks or tags, such as soldiers wore in the war, for identification purposes. These are ripping lies to go into the history of this campaign. One advantage--if one only-- that age has over youth in pres :idential campaigns is that age knows from its deep background what to be on guard against in the last days before election. Age know's that the campaign liar is abroad. Youth in each generation has to meet the slick gentleman and leara his tricks by experience. [November 3] A number of American techni cians will probably be displaced by the new Cuban laws requiring the employment of native labor when that is available. Particularly in the sugar industry large companies, many of them representing Amer ican capital, have long employed American chemists and specialists of other kinds because trained experts were scarce in Cuba. Some of these technicians have been employed for many years and the new legislation puts their employers in a dilemma. Recently in- the Cuban House of Representatives, its president. Dr Sterling, gave warning that ultra nationalism would work injury to Cuba's economic life. The need for reciprocity has been argued from statistics showing that 50,000 Cu bans are gainfully employed in the United States. But it is always hard to get nationalists to look at the other side of the picture.- Leslie Hore-Belisha, British minis- Iter of transport, has been promoted to full cabinet rank as a reward for his energetic campaign for safety on I the streets and highways. A good deal of fun has been made of the "Belisha beacons," instituted to j prevent accidents at street cross ings, but this may be because motor i ists have not yet been disciplined into full observance of such signals. In Great Britain, as in this country, safety campaigns have not been successful in reducing the number of fatal accidents, but they have probably held down the increase due to greater speed and density of traffic. HUCS! THREE CENTS (LK TBAMLY 113TH YEAR OF WEEKLY. Another Anticrime Committee Closely following th% indictment of 14 men charged with racketeering on a grand scale in the restaurant business in New York city, cornea announcement of the formal or ganization of the Citizens Commit tee on the Control of Crime in New York, adopting a suggestion made last August by the extraordinary grand jury that investigated vice racketeering. Henry F. Guggen heim, chairman of the committee, expresses its purpose in these words:-- What we do hope to be la a permanent, self-perpetuating as sociation which, calmly and un- Intermittently, over a long period of time, step by step, will break down the organization of crime and improve the administratio* of criminal justice tn this city. An adverb not included in the passage, but which presumably goee without saying, is "courageously." It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the chief obstacle to the sup pression of racketeering is the vic tims' fear, that prevents them from testifying against the terrorist!. The restaurant racket, to judge from evidence that has been made public, has been exploiting big business. The new committee is not unlikely to represent persons and interest! that have had to submit to the same disgraceful overlordship which long has preyed on smaller businesses conducted by lesser lights in the commercial world. Mr Guggenheim suggests that a "long period of time" will be con sumed in breaking down the or ganization of crime. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the organization of crime may be broken up in a comparatively short time by energetic and concerted ef fort, but that it will be sure to bob up again unless the obstacles placed in its way remain effective for a long period of time. Most of the great cities of the United States have had experience with reform movements that were successful while they continued to appeal to the popular imagination, but which eventually petered out. Eternal vigilance is the price of lasting re form; but it has seemed to be a counsel of perfection. [October »1 The Omens of Sport The unjust competition to which baseball, boxing, football and other such serious pursuits have been subjected during the last six month* merely because a President had ta be elected is now ended, or will be when the events of today have been duly recorded in the new*. Home runs, touchdowns and knock outs can henceforth claim the un divided attention of great mind* which have temporarily been be trayed into wasting their thought on budgets and forms of govern ment. The political campaign began in earnest at just about the time that Max Schmeling, the German, amazed the boxing world by knocking out the supposedly unbeatable Negro, Joe Louis. That was at once seized upon as an omen. Mrs Alice Roosevelt Longworth, whose father used to receive the great John T- Sullivan in the White House, took it, as did other serious-minded Republican commentators, to be a suggestion that this was a year of upsets of which the greatest would be the defeat of her fondly re garded cousin who now makes the White House his home. The idea that anything could happen so un expected as the defeat of Louie came as a distinct encouragement. Upsets do sometimes run in serie*, land there you are! And now on the weekend, just be fore the quadrennial march to th* polls, football has furnished more upsets than ever took place before in one short Saturday afternoon. Teams that were not only unbeaten but invincible bit the dust, or came lout second best in the mud where there was no dust. Minnesota, which was supposed actually to be as strong as "Jim" Farley says Mr Roosevelt is, went down before Northwestern. Harvard, which seemed to be getting stronger on education while it got steadily weaker on football, amazed th* world of scholarship by tying Princeton. The Yale team, said to be as full of tricks as any politi cian is of answers that don't an swer, yielded to Dartmouth. And so it went. Idols fell and reputa tions of invincibility were blasted. If there really is anything in this upset business as an omen, w* i shall know it in 24 hours. [Nov»inb«r J]