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Show 1 fc , . - .... fc -tfd irillillwi in a 1 II III II T MIMJMM ji u Washington. I have said in these columns many times that politics is a business. If any-Politics any-Politics body desires proof Is Business of that statement I think I am able now to offer the best possible evidence evi-dence of the truth of that statement. Lately, W. Forbes Morgan, treasurer treas-urer of the Democratic national committee, has demonstrated beyond be-yond the shadow of a doubt what politics as a business actually means. He did so in the recent announcement an-nouncement that the Democratic national committee would seek to build up a "war chest" of $10,000,000 that the vast New Deal party machinery ma-chinery can go on at top speed; that the momentum gained by the successful suc-cessful Presidential campaign of 1936 car. be maintained and that the party can continue to function as a cohesive unit through which millions of voters may speak. It appears that Mr. Morgan will not succeed in getting anything like $10,000,000 together but it is very significant that he is thinking in term? so large as those mentioned in his announcement. It means simply sim-ply that the present control of the New Deal party is determined to carry out to the nth degree the theory the-ory of its chairman, James A. Farley, Far-ley, only recently reappointed as postmaster general of the United ites. Mr. Farley plays politics in exactly ex-actly the same manner that he would engage in a business venture. ven-ture. He takes chances when the stakes are high, he knows his men, his workers, and moreover, he knows how to get the best results out of the material he has. His operations are not unlike the functions func-tions of a sales manager of a great concern he sells what he ha- to the voters and if any salesman fails to function, Mr. Farley looks for replacements. re-placements. We might illustrate the Farley methods further by reviewing some of the methods hr employed in the last four years. For, when it comes to raising money, the Democratic national committee, under Chairman Chair-man Farley, is both businesslike and versatile. It .vil be recalled how whenever the pretext arose, the Democratic national committee sponsored such things as dinners din-ners to which the faithful partisans par-tisans were asked to buy tickets, tick-ets, usually high priced tickets, for an ordinary banquet. It will be recalled also how elaborate programs pro-grams ol the Democratic national convention were sold by the hundreds hun-dreds of thousands; how those programs pro-grams were loaded to the gunwhales with advertising of concerns that could not well refuse to buy advertising adver-tising space; how victory dinners were given, and how finally the inaugural in-augural ceremony when Mr. Roosevelt Roose-velt took office was turned into a gigantic political rally that spread itself into every hotel in Washington that had space for great dinners and dances. These things are but a few which demonstrated the Farley versatility but they prove to my mind that if the Democratic national na-tional committee sets out to build up a real "war chest," it will accomplish ac-complish exactly its objective. The committee set-up is the most pretentious yet attempted by any political organization. It has a large and exceedingly efficient staff of trained men and women and it runs like the well oiled machine that it is. It will cost money to keep that machine running at high speed, but Mr. Farley recognizes how elections are won. His philosophy is that the early bird catches the worm and so, althiugh there is not another election elec-tion for two years, the Democratic national committee is making ready for that election campaign right now. Unless the wise political students stu-dents around Washington are badly mistaken, Mr. Farley will know pretty well when the congressional and senatorial candidates take to the stump early in 1938 just what the last two years of the Roosevelt administration will be like. It goes without saying that he will be prepared pre-pared for them. In contrast to the circumstances I have just related, it must be disheartening dis-heartening to wit-G. wit-G. O. P. ness the feeble, al-Contrast al-Contrast mst futile, efforts ef-forts that are shown around Reublican headquarters. headquar-ters. Of course, old time politicians always say that a winning horse can be financed, never a loser. John D. M. Hamilton, the Republican national na-tional chairman, rode a losing horse. He came out of the race saddled with a gigantic deficit. Deficits Defi-cits for losing political parties are not as easily financed as United States Treasury deficits these days and so Mr. Hamilton is having his troubles in that direction as well as finding any enthusiasm among Republican party workers. But that does not excuse the Republican Re-publican national committee nor Mr. Hamilton. After all, it is to be remembered that approximately 13.000,030 voters cast their ballots for the Republican presidential nominee, Governor Landon of Kansas. Kan-sas. That is not a small number, any way you examine it. It is a powerful segment of the American population but it is powerful only to the extent that its leadership develops devel-ops enthusiasm for the fight and capacity ca-pacity to take it on the chin when victory goes the other way. Among the New Dealers who can be classified as sound politicians, there is considerable regret at the failure of the Republican leadership to get going. President Roosevelt, himself, would like to see more opposition op-position because it would make his task much easier and would prevent some of the unsound legislation from seeping through congress on account of a lack of opposition. Furthermore, Fur-thermore, if there were more Republican Re-publican fight, there would be less chance of splits in the Democratic ranks in congress. Democratic leaders entertain a very real fear of this possibility and their fear is based, as I have indicated, on the fact that there is not enough opposition oppo-sition among the Republicans to solidify so-lidify the Democratic strength. e From among the corps of political politi-cal writers in Washington, I hear much criticism of Criticize the Republicans Republicans who are variously described as being "dead on their feet." They are certainly doing less than nothing. They have allowed the Democratic national committee to carry the ball on every play; they have offered no publicity by way of criticism of New Deal programs and they have developed de-veloped no plans at all for reviving the Republican organization or restoring re-storing life to the party workers. I am not saying that Mr. Hamilton Hamil-ton is wholly to blame for this condition. con-dition. He must accept responsibility, responsi-bility, however, because he is the titular head of the organization. It would seem, therefore, that unless Mr. Hamilton awakens and shows some fight, there will be fewer Republicans in the house or senate after the 1938 elections than there are now. The national chairman of the Republicans, according to all discussion that I hear, sooner or later will have to start cooking or depart from the kitchen. Otherwise, the 18,000,000 voters which the Republican Re-publican party has as a nucleus upon which to build will become so badly disorganized, so disheartened and discouraged, that it will be impossible im-possible to reunite them. Part of the Republicans' difficulties difficul-ties are traceable directly to Capitol Capi-tol Hill. I simply cannot understand under-stand why Senator McNary of Oregon, Ore-gon, continues to serve as Republican Republi-can leader in the senate when, in the opinion of most observers, he has failed to justify his title in any way. It will be recalled that he did nothing in behalf of Governor Lan-don's Lan-don's canaidacy against Mr. Roosevelt. Roose-velt. Nor has he shown either the capacity or the desire to carry on as an opposition leader should carry on since the new congress convened. Again, this is not the fault of Chairman Hamilton. Frankly, I think it is the fault of the few Republicans Re-publicans in the senate. If they had any fight in them, or any faith in their party label, they would insist upon a militant leadership on their side of the senate chamber, small as. their number is. There are much greater signs of fight among the house Republicans. They are trying Signs of to make them-Fight them-Fight selves heard, but the preponderance of Democratic strength in the house coupled with the gag rules which have been applied without stint or limit by the Democratic majority, precludes Republican leader Snell and his' associates from doing very much for their party in the house. Where senators have the privilege of unlimited debate, house members are allotted time and lately the time allotted to the Republicans has bee.i infinitesimal. That, of course, is one of the spoils of victory and the Democrats Dem-ocrats cannot be blamed for asserting assert-ing their power. But the point of it all is that while Democratic Chairman Farley has his team on its toes, full of fight, ready to go. Chairman Hamilton has not even been vocal personally, much less has he been able tc stir up fight among his associates. It is a situation from which most anything any-thing may emeige. Mr. Hamilton sought and was given a vote of confidence con-fidence by his cvn national committee com-mittee shortly after the election. He cannot say now that his hands are tied insofar as the authority of leadership lead-ership is concerned. So, it i; made to appear that unless the present leaders of the Republicans really enter the arena, 'unless they show their ability to carry the fight to the enemy, it seems rather likely that new leaders will come from the ranks of the Republicans and the present group will become has-beens. has-beens. j Western Newspaper Union. |
