Evening star., 1933-07-05
M'KELLAR LAUDS
CONGRESS RECORD.
Forum Speaker Sees Much
Good to Come of Banking
and Tax Inquiry.

by the President and the Congress in
their efforts to b ing the country out
of the depression was painted for a
Nationwide radio audience last night
by Senator Kenneth Mcclellan. Demo-
crat, of Tennessee. speaking in the Ma
tiona Radio Forum arranged by The
Washington Star and broadcast over
Nationwide network of the National
Broadcasting Co.
Mr.. McKellar compared the four
months since the Democratic admins
tration took Office with the four months
in 1887 during which the United States
Constitution was perfected and adopted.
His story of legislative achievements
took in the banking measures, the act
giving the President the power to regu-
late the value of money, the national
recovery act, the railroad co-ordlnator
act. the Wagner relief act. the cctS
making provision for Government
financing of hard-pressed home and
farm owners, the Tennessee Valley de-
velopment act and other legislation.
Eye-Opener to P-b:c.
The revelations Of the Senate's Com
mittee on Banking and Currency. ne
said, had proved an "eye-opener' to the
American public.
Uncle Sam" he promised. speaking
of the revelations. lis going to stop all
crooked methods in banking and Dusl-
ness and big business men will obey the
laws of the country like little business
men, and will pay taxes like men OF
smaller means"
Full text Of Senator Mckeliars ao-
dress follows:
It is no news to you that for tour
wears America has been IN the
midst of the greatest financial de-
preston which, perhaps, has ever
afflicted mankind. 1t seems to nave
reached a crisis on March Attn last.
Steadily, from October. 1929. when the
first shock came it seemed to get worse
and worse daily. During the 1our-
year period the Federal Government
sought many cures and used many
palliatives, without success. and the
depression got worse and worse day
by day.
This depression not only affected
all production, all wages. all trade,
commerce and manufacturing, and all
classes of our people, but 1t also
affected all governments of every klnd
and description - city governments,
county governments. State governments,
and our National Government. During
that period our National Government
ran in the red well beyond S5,OOO.O .OOO,-
600. While rates and subjects of taxa
ton increased everywhere during that
period. incomes from taxes dWlndled.
Many cities and counties failed to pay
their obligations-many States had to
defer theirs-while the Federal Gov
eminent borrowed sums almost beyond
the power of the mind to calculate.
Farm prices went down to almost
the lowest levels in their history. The
farmers were in desperate straits. They
could not make enough to support
themselves and their families and pay
the interest on their mortgages-much
less to pay their mortgages. Hundreds
of thousands of farms all over the
country were sold under the hammer
and the owners turned out to live or
die as chance dictated. The American
farmer was probably harder hit than
any one. and his condition has been
deplorable.
The prices of labor went down to
almost nothing. Millions of laborers
were thrown out of employment. 1t
has been estimated that probably
100000 people were without any en-
ployment at all. Idle men walked the
roads and streets in every State in
the United States. Those that were
reduced pay.
Blow to Home Owners.
Home owners, most of whom had
bought their homes on credit. found
themselves unable to pay their mort
gage obligations, and hundreds of
thousands of homes were sold under
the hammer for song. The owners
were turned out. and they and their
families found shelter as chance per-
mitted.
Industry waned. Factories closed.
Commerce almost ceased, and indus
trial and commercial corporations
failed. Prior to the depression many
banks had failed throughout the coun-
try-SeVeral hundred year-and when
the depression came these bank failures
increased by leaps and bounds. In 1880
there were l,345 bank failures in the
United States; in 1881 there were 2,298
in 1882 there was 1853 Indeed, our
banks were hardly functioning during
that period and, in the end, on March
4th all of them had to be closed. Per-
hapS the banks were not to blame for
this, because few really knew whether
they would open the next day or not.
Prior to the depression international
bankers sold millions of securities of
foreign governments and corporations
to the people all over the United States,
and these securities turned out to be. to
very great extent, worthless; bring
ing great distress and disaster to our
people The international banks made
great profits out of these sales, but the
purchasers. by false promises of good
paper and high interest rates. were
feeced out of their savings. Billions
were thus lost to our people. On the
fourth day of March every bank had to
be closed. every business house in the
land and every corporation in the land
was threatened with bankruptcy. One
OF the greatest obstacles to the reStora-
ton of the natural order of economic
things was the fact that the value
of the dollar had increased by
leaps and bounds. While the value
of labor, of farm products and all other
products had constantly decreased. and
the value of the dollar became perhaps
two to one, and this doubly increased
the burden of all those who had bor-
roWed money.
In other words. because of the de-
preston an individual who had here
tofore borrowed money was forced to
pay two dollars of debts where he had
only promised to pay one dollar Our
people. as the depression increased and
as commodity prices and stocks con-
tmued to go down and down, became
more and more respondent. Always
accustomed to looking to their Gov
eminent for relief, they even despaired
of their Government. as this palliative
failed and as this Governmental prom
ise or prophecy failed to materialize
Such was the pitiful and deplorable
economic status of our affairs on the
4th Of March, 1888
President Roosevelt was inaugurated
that day and he Immediately called the
Congress to meet en- the 9th of March.
The first measure he proposed was
measure to change the banking laws
so that the banks might be reopened
with safety, and this law was promptly
enacted by the Congress. and every
good bank in the Nation was promptly
reopened and business was re-
Sumed. The effect of this law on the
hay 1T