POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY

There can be no question that so unanimous a mandate as that recently received by the Administration reflects the will of the electorate. But whatever the causes of the overwhelming vote of confidence, both parties have responsibilities they cannot afford to shirk.

All often too, in the past, the Democratic party has ridden into power on a wave of popular sentiment, and then proceeded to cut its own throat, either through usurpation of its newly-found prestige, or through measures which have alienated large sections of the country to such an extent as to pave the way for a Republican victory in the next elections. Because the Wilson administration misgauged the nation's state of mind, and overstepped its bounds, it was summarily defeated in 1920. On the major issues of controversy, therefore, Roosevelt and his cohorts will do well to keep a sensitive ear to the country's reaction to their policies. They should at all costs avoid the danger of rejuvenating the outworn spoils system as they face the problem of allocating federal funds. From the point of view of expediency rather than of morals, they should take care lest they succumb to the temptation of interpreting the recent victory as an indication of desire for dictatorship.

So far as the disconsolate Republicans are concerned, their task is far more difficult than that of the Democrats, and their responsibility to the country fully as great. Confronted with a well-nigh hopeless minority in Congress, the Republican party has nevertheless a real opportunity for reorganization and renewed strength as the only articulate Opposition likely to be heard in America for some time to come. It is the only bulwark against the evils inherent in a bureaucracy so unprecedented as that now being formed in Washington. It must take a firm stand on the issues that confront the next Congress: inflation, the bonus, restoration of pay-cuts, greatly increased taxation, and the all-important budget.

The next two years have a significance for the United States that should not be minimized. Never before has one man received such a testimonial of the nation's confidence as was given President Roosevelt on November sixth. To what extent the Democratic party itself can be held the cause of the recent vote will long be a meet question. But the more prestige it accrues, the easier will it be to lose it. One serious mistake may nullify all its progress to date, and at the same time have the most serious consequences for the country as a whole. It is up to the enlightened members of both the Democratic and the Republican parties to fulfill their particular functions at a time when the electorate is fully occulted with problems of its own.