To the White House and to President Roosevelt's desk last week went an extraordinary petition. Eighty-five Congressmen—nearly one sixth of the national legislature—asked that Detroit's Rev. Charles Edward Coughlin, spellbinding Roman Catholic radiorator, be sent as a U. S. adviser to the London Economic Conference. Circulated in all sincerity by Oklahoma's Senator Thomas and Michigan's Representative Weideman, the petition was signed by ten Senators and 75 Representatives, of whom a majority were Protestants. Said they of Father Coughlin (pronounced Cofflin) : "He is a student of world affairs, economics and finance, and has the confidence of millions of American citizens. We believe that his presence at the Conference would instill confidence in the hearts of the average citizen. . . ."
President Roosevelt did not commission Father Coughlin to go to London because the U. S. Delegation is complete and already on the scene. Perhaps it was just as well for last week this voluble priest revealed his low regard for those with whom he would otherwise have had to work. To the Manhattan hotel bedroom in which he had been sitting up late discussing religion with Actors Frank Fay and Barbara Stanwyck, he summoned newshawks, startled them by exclaiming between cigaret puffs:
"The delegates in London . . . are high class office boys, maybe not even high class. President Roosevelt holds all the reins and what they do doesn't count. . . . No London conference can ever fix the value of money. The superstition of British financial domination can no longer endure. . . . President Roosevelt's statement over Secretary Woodin's signature assures us that no matter what transpires at London, the negotiations are only exploratory. The President is the boss. The Conference delegates are just clerks. . . . Nothing but toy balloons who are exploring beyond the clouds of international intrigue. Perhaps they will be punctured. Nevertheless they will serve their purpose by indicating to President Roosevelt where lies the storm center of the world's troubles. Rest assured that within the next 60 days official statements and decisions will be made by the Chief Executive of the U. S. which will have the effect of introducing to America and the World one of the greatest eras of prosperity which was ever experienced. Gabriel is over the White House, not Lucifer."
To many who consider Father Coughlin an irresponsible demagog on the fringe of his church, the Congressional petition in his behalf came as something of a shock. But those familiar with the priest's secular contacts and his grip on the confidence and imagination of a large slice of the U. S. public were not surprised. They realized that the 85 Congressmen, Catholic or Protestant, had executed a smart political gesture in recommending this intense nationalist to the President.