Show er A 0 6 national topics interpreted by william bruckart national press building washington D C washington there is much talk among the republicans both for and against con G 0 P berning the pro conference dosal to hold a general party con ference early next year the plan projected rejected would bring together dele iame gates from every state just the bame as the convention that is held every four years for nominating the presidential and vice presidential candidates and formulation of party policies through adoption of a cam laign platform the question has many angles and in consequence many pros and cons already have been advanced in natural consequence also some very well vell known republicans have taken definite dennite decisions either for or against the plan which has the ap of men like john hamilton chairman of the republican national Lc committee ommittee and former president herbert hoover some very asplen lid did men find themselves honestly in opposition and have said so in un equivocal terms the issue will be fought out at a meeting of the national committee early in november and probably there will be such a convention early in 1938 As I 1 have said there is argument on both sides but after discussing 0 the situation with many republic cans it appears to me that the ad vantages outweigh the lages I 1 say this from the stand joint of the country at large many times in these columns I 1 have lave expressed the conviction that a strong minority party whether that party be republican or demo cratic is a very healthy condition for the country as a whole A po lotical party with too great a ma jonty is likely to run away with itself and do many unsound things we have had proof of this during the roosevelt administration and we had proof of it during the adminis orations trat ions of the late president har ding and president coolidge when republicans had too many members of the house and the senate and tl the tle e democratic minority was impotent I 1 cannot speak from a republic can standpoint any more than I 1 can peak speak from a democratic stand point nevertheless from the lion tion I 1 attempt to follow as an ob berver server of national affairs and long range national policies it does seem that the republicans ought to quit fighting among themselves and get together to oppose that which the present minority in this country finds objectionable in president roosevelt s policies they ought to determine on a set of principles and slick stick to them it is their dobli gation and if they fail to fulfill that obligation it seems to me they hd best disband get rid of those wl 0 attempt to be leaders in the lican party and let somebody ele elce el e organize the minority faction in the united states and it is to be re that even in the last elec tion there were almost 16 re publican voters in advocating this action I 1 am not motivated as much by my belief in and support of some of mr roosevelt s policies as I 1 am in my disagreement with others of the pro gram to which the new dealer has adhered A strong and vocal minority will insure the retention of rights and powers in the hands of the people where they belong and at the same time it will compel democrats to etick stick together in carrying out sound policies proposed by the president that latter statement may sound paradoxical I 1 think it is not I 1 make the statement because I 1 know how many times the gigantic demo cratic majority in congress has fought over trivialities and because I 1 know how many times sincere op position to unsound policies has met with defeat without the country knowing the reasons for that appo siaion taken all in all therefore I 1 be lieve leve it is an obligation upon me as an sin observer of national affairs to declare in favor of a movement by the minority party that will result in a concentration of its power for the good of the nation 0 0 and what one may ask should be the creed of the minority party next year well as I 1 see the picture the re publican party must be the consert active party in what MI of t the united states the creed president roose velt and his new dealers cannot avoid being the rad ical party I 1 have said this many times in these columns and it is more evident now even than when I 1 reported upon the situation earlier the conservatives can and should have a voice in their government even if it is only an opposition voice that constitutes a balance wheel proceeding from that premise therefore there can be little ment that the principles which the republicans advocate should be drawn from principles of govern mental policies that have proved sound that is to say the republicans cannot afford to attack mr roosevelt on everything he has done but they can tear him po liti cally limb from limb with con tive proposals to take the place of those things he has done which represent discouragement deceit and d to the countie s eco life there will be no gain for the re publicans in 1938 elect ons if they at tempt to ride two or three different horses as they did in 1036 for ex ample they cannot do as candidate landon did to wit call for a bal alced budget in one speech and ad being santa claus in adoth er they cannot blow hot and cold and therefore they must be either conservative or radical it seems to me the republicans can probably plan for an immediate balancing of the national budget in that connection they can with justi fi cation demand curtailment if not entire eliminate on of many govern rr functions inaugurated under the new deal they can offer con a proposal to leg slate state out of exist existence erce some 20 or 30 fed eral agencies for which there never neve r has been and is not now any ex cuse for their existence another question that is crying for on is the huge national debt now at 37 national t the h e debt highest in history that debt must be reorganized and placed on a basis that will permit gradual liquida tion of it the roosevelt adminis has done nothing regard mg ing the debt except to build it h gher and higher if the republican party wants to do a constructive job it ought to set to work to examine all of the statutes enacted by congress in the last ten or twelve years and espe dally those enacted in the haste of the emergency with a view to re pealing of many of them some can and should be rewritten to make them workable those statutes placed on the books by the roose velt administration constitute out standing evidence of the lack of opposition we all know many of those bills were written in execl tive departments and sent to con gress with instructions to pass them unchanged bad legislation has resulted many times and a checkup surely is indicated As regards legislation legi stion now on the statute books it seems to me we will never have sound prosperity un til certain laws that increase pro costs are eliminated I 1 mean by this that there are numerous laws which have the effe effect ct of widen ing the spread between the price of the raw materials and the price of the manufactured products legis lation of this kind is bound to force down the prices paid to the pro dubers and in my opinion the re suits are beginning to be reflected on products of the farm probably the most delicate ques tion with which the republicans are confronted relates to wages and hours of labor business interests have been shortsighted too many times employers have overworked their employees and have shown but little consideration for the rights of labor the result is that labor is demanding consideration in the shape of protection at the hands of its national government and the re publicans whether to or not must take a stand among other principles upon which I 1 think the republicans as the le conservative then there theres f party surely can these agree is that there is too much gov in business the govern ment merit itself is engaged in many lines of commerce and industry and it is breaking down private enterprises in countless ways I 1 regard the fung function tion of government as a ihirg to be confined to matters and enter arises which individuals cannot do as individuals we might use the postal service as an example no one would be so silly as to say that the postal service could be operated satisfactorily in any other way than as an agency of the federal govern ment merit in contradistinction to the postal service however we can point to such things as the building of model homes for private citi zens I 1 think the government has no business at all in that fild this is so first because of the bremen dous waste accompanying any gov ern mental operation and second for the reason that private persons who are holders of funds whether the amount is great or small lecog nize real estate mortgages as soune investments I 1 need not the red tape or the politics that can choke up any such thing as a government housing development I 1 could go on and mention numer ous other general principles upon which there can be honest dif ferencek feren ces of opinion it is upon these questions where dif ferel feret ces are hon est and not created for political rea sons that the republican party should express itself it ought to do this it if it is going to be depre tentative senta tive of opposition sentiment 0 western newspaper uni |