Evening star., 1932-03-15


Ia Toilette OF Wisconsin and his brother,
Senator Robert M La Toilette, jr., de-
hvered last night in the National Radio
Forum, arranged by The Star and
broadcast by the National Broddcdsting
Co., tollo1p:
Gov. La Follette's address:
"Some Of you may have been in the
forest with a guide when you have
lost the trail. You will recall that
moment of panic and fear that comes
when suddenly you realize that the
guide, in whose knowledge you had
trusted, himself no longer knows where
you are or where next to turn. The
forest looms about, its stiffness inten-
styling the terror that turks within
you. Only a calm. consideration OF
factors Of stream flow and the lay of
the land, of basic factors, will enable
you TO reach your ultimate objectives.
Yet it is precisely at such time that
one can maintain sufficient evenneSs
Of judgment only with the greatest
effort. Such is the situation of Amer
lea today. We have lost confidence in
leaders because leaders have lost their
own way. In our fear and uncertainty
it is dificult for us to be able to apply
the basic knowledge we already pos
sess. And so We endanger ourselves
further with irrational but humanity
understandable despair and panic.
This Is not worthy of our heritage.
Sober and conservative minds are
convinced today that we face one OF
the gravest emergencies of our history.
Confronted by this emergency, people
have divided themselves broadly into
two groups One group has maintained
that there was nothing to do but let
the depression run its course in the
oh nuy
something might happen that would
automatically start the machine run
ming again on the right road. This
group Is now, and has been for Is
years, with few interruptions, in COM
plete control of our national business
and political life, as we'll as of most
of the governments of our States and
municipalities.
Another group has maintained from
the outset that the depression was
caused by a series of policies reaching
back at least 25 years, and pursued
with increasing recklessness during the
period of imitation, and until those
causes are searched out and adequate
remedies applied our machine instead
of getting better will get worse. To
this latter group belong the Progress
sives Of Wisconsin.
Production Power o. X.
rye hold that America has the best
labor and the most modern Industrial
machinery; that we can produce all
of the industrial products needed by
our people; that we have rich and !
fertile soil, with the most efficient and
best trained agricultural population,
which can easily produce enough food
TO maintain high standard OF living.
We hold that there is nothing wrong
with our power of production; that
our difficulty lies with our direction
and distribution of that production.
"The farmer produces and wants to
trade his milk and butter and eggs
and vegetables and meats and other
farm products for clothes and shoes
and electric lights and other industrial
products, but he cannot trade them
for enough to pay his interest and
taxes, let alone to have enough over
to buy even a small part Of what he
needs. The worker wants milk and
butter and eggs and meat and clothes
and shoes and other products OF the
farm and factory, but millions OF our
workers are totally without money to
buy anything.
I'm practical terms, this means that
unless the advances made in the pro-
duction of goods are shared widely among
people of all classes through wages
and prices of commodities, the whole
economic structure is so narrowly based
that it becomes insecure. The slight
There is no advantage in being able
to finance enlargement Of plant and
equipment or any other investments
II there Is no assurance that a market
will be ready to absorb the new volume
of goods to be produced. To secure
such sterilization of production and
consuming power requires not merely
Intelligent administration Of each in
dividual economic unit and activity.
It requires also deliberate effort on the
part Of the various interests and groups
in society as whole to see that It's
resources in land, in capital, In skill
and knowledge are applied to their
best advantage. We have discovered
that the unplanned and unregulated
growth Of our cities destroys the very
wealth that first resented the effort
to guide and direct development: We
are learning today that the same lesson
holds true Of national and, indeed,
world economy as whole.
Majority without Security.
zone hundred and fifty years ago
small part Of the population In other
countries-the nobility-had the ex-
treme degree of iberty-namely, IL
cense to do about as they pleased, but
the bulk Of human beings had no lib
erty whatever. The founders of our
Republic recognized that in order TO
give the mass of people security there
had TO be restraints and controls upon
the selfish and powerful few-our fore
fathers provided us with the American
system of government. which accom-
plished the purposes for which 1T was
designed.
To-day small fraction Of our pop
ulation at the very top have economic
liberty to do about as they please,
but the vast majority Of us are without
security. Unless our generation deyises
some economic control some reason
able restraint, we shall have missed
both the opportunity and the crying
need Of our time
I'm many parts Of the world today
other nations are attempting to create
some sort of economic order and gov
ernment Unfortunately for the prog
reSs of the world, most of these at
tempts are duplicates in the economic
century ago We in America should
we did in the political field.
I'VE should devise machinery for
our economic government that will be
in keeping and in harmony with our
traditions and our experiences. Amer
lea should meet the need of our time
out Of our experience and according to
American principles,
I'VE have gone for 40 years without
adequate economic restraint; we cannot
expect to correct overnight the mis-
takes of four decades. In all that we
de we must act for the present, en-
deavoring to do what is humanity pos
sible to prevent hardship and disaster
now, but we must also build for to-
morrow.
Making Beginning In State.
"The Progressives of Wisconsin rec
ognize that no single State can alone
solve our problems, nor do we make
any pretense that our program Is