Montana labor news., 1932-06-02
THE WASHINGTON SCENE
(By LAURENCE TODD

WESTINGHOUSE P)-President Hoovers declaration of May 30
that any considerable issue of federal bonds to finance a public works IN
suucion program would be disastrous to the financial safety of the coun-
try is merely the latest of his long series of moves to obstruct jobrelef
as well as hunger-relef measures. Each of these has expressed his hos
tlhy to any governmental aid to the jobess which may shortircut the
regular profit-makng system of giving government aid to business COZ
which will then dole out Jobs on their WI hard terms % the helpless
unemployed.
50 eager was the one-tme engineer to rebuke President Croker If the
American Society of Civil Engineers for suggesting a big public works
program that he addressed him as Parker in answering his official letter.
But if Hoover had paused to re-read his own campaign speeches of 1928
he must have bushed when he dictated the statement; What is needed is
the return of confidence and a capital market through which credit will flow
in a thousand rms with its result of employment and increased prices. That
confidence will only be destroyed by action in these directions tublc
works.. These channels will continue clogged by fears if we continue
attempts to issue large amounts of government bonds for purposes of
non-producuve works Such a program as these huge federal loans for pub
lie works is a fearful price to pay in putting a few thousand men at
work and dismissing many more thousands of others from their present en-
ployment"
So this was the state of fear into which the President had sumped, four
years after his two cars in every garage and Stabilized prosperity"
boasts. He had 10 further confidence in any plan for federal employment
expansion; he fell back upon federal loans to business men, to produce
goods and service which would be offered for sale to a population which
no longer has none to buy them. He was as bitter as ever in his opposi-
ton to direct hunger relief as a means of distribution of purchasing
the path of even the most reactionary Republican and Democratic de-
tenders Of big business in Congress, who has come to believe that hunger
relief and job relief were necessary.
An economist named condn, who had suggested a job relief scheme
based on "seflhqudaung" or profhmakng projects for emergency employ
ment to the Democratic and Republican chiefs, took this moment to get
his plan introduced in the senate by Barbour of New Jersey, His scheme
is the doubling Of the present capitalization and hence the cedt-expansion
possibilities of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, as proposed by
Hoover am to feed nut this credit 10 promoter of public utilities and
other enterprises which will presumably pay a profit. Since public utility
financing has been a large element in the stock market frauds of the past
decade which have ruined an armv of American investors, Hoover is pre-
pared to endorse the utilities as a worthy recipient of federal financial
doles-on the theory that the utilities will aid the unemployed to get back
to work without federal assistance! He is convinced that the character of
the jobess would be undermined by getting any Of this money, except
through such hands as those of insult and Owen Young.
These pulngs and haulngs in Washington, day by day as the Repubh-
can and Democratic conventions approach, demonstrate the real indifference
of the capitalist politicians to any but one issue. That issue is the main
tenance of the privilege Of men who have money to dictate the terms of
life to all who have not money. Fear of disturbance-not fear of suffering
for the masses-is what they would guard against But a the number
of unemployed grows, and the flight Of mutual confidence among capital
lists continues, the fear Of disturbance among the workers grows backer
In their panic they spread rumors of the possibility of military dictator
ship superbusness dctatorshp-any device which may postpone the day
OF reckoning with these millions OF unemployed. they know that income
and wealth must soon be drastcaHy re-dstributed, but they seem too
frightened and dumb-these poihcans-to plan an orderly transfer.