Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-06
ROOSEVELT URGES
POLITICAL HOLIDAY
Proposes Leadership That
Will Help All People, in Ad-
dressing Legislature.
By the Associated Press.

Cldle 1OE new oOtldl OlucAb III "llASII
he proposed business and industry "be
given a new leadership which will help
them, and at the same time give def
mite recognition to new balance based
ON the right of every individual to
make a living out OF life"
While the Governor devoted most OF
his 6,000-word address to recommends
lions for legislation applicable to the
Empire State, he also used 1t as
vehicle for expressing his own opinion
of the present-day social order and
for the outlining of his program for
stabilizing the Nation.
Referring to the depression, Mr.
Roosevelt said: More than two years
have gone by and the leaders in Gov
eminent and business have shown us
few plans for the reconstruction Of a
better ordered civilization in which the
economic freedom of the individual will
be restored"
Urges Political Holiday.
Mr. Roosevelt's discussion of the
business situation and his recon-
dations for "remodelfng" the social or
der were increasingly significant be-
cause he is considered one of the lead
ing candidates for the Democratic
presidential nomination this year.
In his opening sentence the execu-
tive asked for a holiday on politics,
declaring the domestic crisis" calls for
unity of leadership and action as
complete as If we were engaged in
war"
Not since the dark days of the
sixties have people of this State and
Nation faced problems as grave, situa-
The economics Of America, and, indeed,
of the whole world, are out of Joint !:
only the most skillful and concerted
care will mend them.
We face the necessity of employing
new measures of value for the good
reason that many old values have dis
appeared; new comparisons of property
and mans remuneration for his work,
for the good reason that many of the
old proportions have been proven false"
We have lost in recent years the
economic liberty of the individual-this
has been swallowed up in specialization
Of industry agriculture and distribution
and has meant that the cog can move
only If the whole machine is in perfect
gear" he asserted.
Unsound, He Says.
1--WE see on one hand an overproduc-
ton Of food and clothing and close by
millions of men and women who lack
the medium Of exchange-money-to
ward off starvation and nakedness."
Continuing, he said; I'VE know now
from bitter experience that the theory
that a nation could lift itself up by its
own bootstraps was not sound; that an
increasing concentration of wealth and
of the power that wealth controls did
not guarantee an intelligent or fair
use of that wealth or power"
But, he continued, the American
system Of economics and government
Is everlasting. We should not seek in
any way to destroy or tear down except
to replace unsound material with new
Let us restore and at the same time
remodel"
To meet the current State deficit and
the expected loss of revenue. which will
approximate sl50,000.00e this year, the
Governor asked for an increase in taxes
on heavy motor trucks and buses, on
personal incomes, gasoline and stock
sales '~p&
Touching upon the banking situation,
Mr.. Roosevelt said the larger problems
of the national financial system are to
greater degree Federal than State.
He recommended greater flexibility Of
banking laws to permit adequate
handling of emergencies" .
Hits Security Prices.
Urging a revision of the laws govern
ing securities, Mr.. Roosevelt asserted:
Many billions of securities were sold
to the public at prices untustified even
by the expectation that we had reached
an immutable millennium, permanent
utopia. Consultations, mergers, mold
ing companies, investment trusts, were
touted in every corner Of the land, a
pyramiding uneQualed since the days OF
the Mississippi bubble"
To-day we recognize the unsoundness
and danger" he went on. The bubble
has burst with all its rainbow glory.
The public has burned its fingers in
the flame of wild speculation and has
learned now to fear the fire. While 1t
still fears the fire is the time for us
to act"
Reporting that his Unemployment
Relief Committee, with its 100000
fund, is going forward with measurable
success and humane progress" the
Governor said New York cannot allow
any individual within her borders to go
unfed, unclothed and unsheltered"
10 LnOSe UlhlLOAlo wiz AiS" oeAA W
we owe a duty as sacred as 10 those
thousands who died in France-to see
to it that this shall not come again.
He estimated the number OF unem-
ployed in New York at 2,OOO,O0o.
Taxation Biggest Problem.
The biggest job facing the lawmak-
ers is taxation, and on this SUBJECT
as on others, the Republicans were
content to await the Governors pro-
posal. They have expressed a Wiling
ness to "go along" with Mr.. Roosevelt,
in contrast to the attitude Of past
7 legislatures, during whose sessions
executive legislative battles became
traditional.
There was double purpose in the
Republican plans. Gov. Roosevelt Is
considered an outstanding posSlolllty
for the Democratic presidential noml-
nation and the Republican CHIEFS were
determined to avoid, If possible, the
battles which helped place the name
of former Gov. Alfred E. Smith before
the Nation.
Mr., Roosevelt also has profted in
the past from the Republican opposi-
ton tactics, using the Smith method
of carrying his fight to the people to
win his battle with the Republicans
over the 20-year-old State WaterpoWer
issue.
The second reason why the majority
leaders were ready to go along" was
their unwillingness to share response
bility for the new taxation made neces-
sary by loss Of revenue in the ap-
fiscal year estimated as high