The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-04-19


 another standard in accordance with which all men of one class are favored and all men of another class discriminated against. we shall do irreparable damage to the body polite. This government is not and never shall be governed by a plutocracy. This government is not and never shall be govern ment by mob.
 It is to this national community of interest that we should dedicate ourselves tonight. If that be trea- son make the most of 1t.
 Size Creates Big Problem
 The great size of the country en- larged by .Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase offers vast advantages for those who live in it. But 1t inn poses grave problems upon those who are vested with it's direction and control. In normal times it is likely to live in the isolation of sectionalism, it becomes a loose association of communities, with little common thought and little realization of mutual independence.
 This reminds me of what Ches- terton keenly remarked concerning lhS itCIHOCiS VI tAC 1SkAtAoh AAhi~ pire. They are, he says, like the passengers in an omnibus-they get to know each other only in case of an accident.
 It is only in crisis that we look to our common concern.
 The stress of vast emergency rudely wakes us all from our local concerns and turns us to wider concerns. Then for the first time we look to larger measure of CO., operation a more exact measuring, of our resources, and, what is more important. a more imaginative and purposeful planning.
 Two weeks ago I said that We were facing an emergency to-day more grave than that of war. This I repeat tonight.
 That a great fear has swept the country, few can doubt. Normal times lull us into complacency, we become lazy and scontented. Then with the coming of economic stress we feel the disturbing hand of fear. This fear spreads to the entire country and with more or less unity we turn to our common govern ment at Washington
 If you live in a house that has been shaken by an earthquake of national proportions and the foun- dation has cracked and the roof leaks, it is right to, mend the roof but at the same time your house will not be safe until you have re- paired the foundation as well. 1 want the house to stand through all the years to come as well as to keep the rain out of the top. story.
 Calls for Policy to Help All
 l am pleading for policy broad enough to include every part of our economic structure, a policy that seeks to help all simultane- ously, that shows an understand ing of the fact that there are mill lions of our people who cannot be helped by merely helping their em- ployers, because they are not en- ployes in the strict sense of the word-zthe farmers. the small bust ness man, the professional people. Help for them means greater consumption, not of luxuries, but of the necessities of life, and this means more factory wheels turn ing in the cities, more employment for the strictly industrial popula- tion, for the railroad workers and for the distribution. That kind of buying power makes itself felt more quickly than any other.
 Not only among the sections >o{ this country. but among its eco homie units and the various groups in these units there must be common participation, planned on the basis of shared common life, the low as we'll as the high. In much of our present. plans there is too much disposition to mistake the part for the whole, the head for the body. plead not for class control. but fora true concert of interests.
 The plans we make for this emer- gency. if we plan wisely and rest our structure upon base suffi- ciently broad, will show the way to more permanent safeguarding of our social and economic life. l favor economic planning. not for this period alone, but for our needs for a long time to come,
 As to Power Regulation
 Take the example of electricity. a modern commodity that either is or ought to be in every home, a commodity that, 1t is said, actu- ally turns the wheels of 65 per cent of our industries.
 It is a simple, clean fact that for centuries the principles of the regu- lation of public utilities has been a component part of the common law. and that concentrated in its simplest terms. this control has in- volved two very simple mandates; first, that the service itself should be adequate to the needs of the public, and secondly that the price charged should be reasonable to the extent that it provides req sonable return. on the actual cash wisely and necessarily invested in the property. I have stated the principle and the purpose of the principle which underlie government regulation of public utilities. Every court has recognized the principle. and 1t is only in the application of the pfin- ciple that We have gone astray. The great problem to-day Is how We shall return to a simple. clear. cut carrying out of the purpose of the common law.
 Let me illustrate by telling you simply and briefly the story of the long ngnt Wnicn l nave nau Tn the state of New York for making available for the use of the public of the state a million and one quarter horsepower provided by nature and capable of development at an exceedingly low price on the St Lawrence River.
 There is no doubt that because the people. of the state have always owned the bed of the St Lawrence river out to the international boundary, the people of the state and no private corporations have the definite right to build the nec- essary dam or dams to develop the power.
 Hold of State Strengthened
 Twenty-Five years ago when the people of the state were little aware of their great heritage. . legislature attempted to alienate this great possession to the Alumi- mum Company of America. This was happily frustrated and then began a twenty-year struggle to prevent a new alienation of this great possession under the guise of a lease running for fifty years or