Show washington digest public sentiment grows insistent to keep out of european muddle unmistakable change Is going on throughout the country people make known feelings and their thought Is reflected in congress by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D C washington while the roosevelt administration continues to subordinate everything to the genera subject of the european war there has been an unmistakable change in sentiment going on throughout the country and in the capital city it Is inescapable to the merest tyro ol 01 an observer it represents a crystallization liza tion of that foggy thing called public sentiment the senate has debated the issue of repeal of the arms embargo to the fullest but the debate has fallen short of telling the whole truth there was an entire lack of any truly great speeches much additional light has been thrown on the whole question of a neutrality policy yes but I 1 believe the senate failed to do the job in a way that history will measure as statesmanlike the amazing act is therefore that public sentiment should have solidified so definitely in such a short time with a verdict that says we will stay out of that european mess it is not ours and we will not play their game it is always difficult to describe what takes place in the matter of public sentiment powerful as it is in the united states but it Is easy to describe the condition the status of national thought as represented by an overwhelming majority of the citizens in the current case it can be told in two sentences A few weeks ago the big shots of government were saying possibly we can keep out of war the present statement Is that probably we can keep out of the war it Is a vital difference the reason for this is obvious people have made known their feelings they have made clear that whatever else they may differ about they are determined and united on the one proposition namely that we must not get tangled up with eu ropes power politics further existence of this sentiment has been thoroughly reflected in congress and those who would willingly toss our armies into the flame have begun to get scared about their own hides carac gallop at assistant of war I 1 must qualify that statement that all of the big shots have toned down their remarks several continue to shout in an inflammatory way the best known of these is louis johnson assistant secretary of war it is unnecessary tor me to discuss johnsons unwise statements I 1 can quote a real authority tor senator bennett dark the missouri democrat dealt quite tully with the assistant secre utterances espe daily that in which mr johnson said that it the united states were not fully prepared tor war it would be overrun like poland of that remark senator dark had this to say during the arms embargo debate in the senate in my judgment no more idiotic moronic or unpatriotic remark ever has been made by a man in high public office this is the same louis johnson who has been flying around the country in an army airplane tor the last several years preaching the inevitability of war and the certainty of our being drawn in and drawing horrific pictures with grisly prophecies of our shores being invaded and our own land being laid waste but after senator dark had streamlined the assistant secretary of war he proceeded to tall oil into the deepest water of demagoguery by attacking president Roosevel ts selection of members of the war resources board to make that eagle scream in its shrillest shrill est notes senator clark described it as a morgan dupont board which to anyone who knows the acts is a rather silly statement with respect to the attack on mr johnson I 1 only wish that senator dark had gone ahead with disclosures so that the long continued row in the war department could have had on airing johnson reported job of secretary of war it is no longer a secret in washington that mr johnson has been trying or months to get the job of secretary of war he and mr woodring do not get along and have not for much of the time the assistant secretary has been on the job the result has been continual friction a handicapping of department policies and a general fear among army officers they are afraid they will get tangled up in departmental politics and every officer knows if he guesses Ku esses wrong the chances of getting top flight assignments are nil t As can readily be seen such a situation in a policy making agency bf government certainly docs the nation no good it Is said that president roosevelt sees assistant secretary johnson more frequently than he confers with mr woodring the head of the department cheth er that is true or not it is a tact that the president has done nothing at all to settle the longstanding long standing row getting back to the senate debate attention ought to be turned momentarily menta rily to the defeat of the motion to separate the arms embargo question from that involved in the cash and carry sections of the bill senator tobey new hampshire republican proposed that the bill be split there was virtually an vote in prospect for a lawa that would let american business sell ordinary supplies to both sides of the european struggle dede buyers came here in their own chips paid cash for their purchases and hauled them away in their own vessels short shrift was made of that motion it was licked by more than two to one the reason tf the cash and carry section were disposed of there would be so much less interest in the arms embargo repeal that its eventual defeat would be entirely possible old party whip Is used to keep followers in line which brings us back to the subi eject of politics it will be remembered that president roosevelt called for an adjournment of poll bics tics during the dangerous period no one made the open charge in debate but there were plenty of senators who felt that the president ex arted pressure to keep his own followers in line the leaders were quite well aware that a titanic struggle confronted them to obtain repeal of the arms embargo if it were cut loose from the cash and carry section so the old party whip was brought into play but all of the changes that have taken place in the count rys thought have had one reaction in washington that is not obvious to those living outside of the capital city I 1 have reported to you before how the little clique that surrounds the president extreme radicals and men with dreams who know how they will disappear if democrats instead of new dealers are in control saw in the possibility of war an assurance of president Roosevel ts election to a third term they were rubbing their hands and licking their chops because they saw themselves certain to continue in their jobs exercising great power the lack of enthusiasm for their plans has left them with nothing to do but mope and sulk their strategy has been blown up under their own noses they do not know what to do about it the question that now confronts the country from a political standpoint is whether the european war will run six months or a year or six years the answer to the question is vital to the politicians it is especially important to those who would draft mr roosevelt to run for a third term and I 1 think it is being studied with great care by such men as postmaster general parley and vice president garner it is being studied with equal care by senators tatt of ohio and of michigan each of whom has a whole flock of presidential bees swarming inside of his republican bonnet parley has party control locked up in his own safe it has been noted repeatedly how the arms embargo debate has found many of the administration anti democrats aligned with the president favoring repeal most of the senators whom president roosevelt sought to purge from the democratic party believe with the chief executive that tha embargo ought to be repealed some few of the ardent roosevelt supporters are standing against repeal the interesting tact is that the intra party row among the democrats has had no effect upon the stand taken by the party members in the embargo controversy tro versy and thus there has been considerable speculation whether there is to be a healing of the wounds I 1 think there will not be the differences seem too deeply seated however that may be it can be said now that big jim parley who is chairman of the new york state democratic committee in addition to being chairman of the national democratic committee has control of the party locked up in his amt safe if he chooses to align himself with the gamer harrison group mr roosevelt and his followers are through washed up if he decides to support mr roosevelt again the antl roosevelt democrats will be tossed about lice a straw in a whirlwind it appears to this observer as of this time that the swing of public sentiment definitely against anything in the nature of american participation in the european war probably vill mean a parley swing to the garner harrt son side of the line |