The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-12-08
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National Topics Interpreted "a fEY1T1TY6&
by William Bruckart Al@r5aF
by William Bruckart

seasoned observers size it up, namely,
that the Republican party eventually
viii be the completely conservative
party and the Democrats will carry
the banner Of the liberal thought Of
the country.
Pursuing this reasoning further. it
is made to appear that eventually we
may see the party divisions formulated
sharply in accordance with the type OF
commerce and industry in each sec
ton Of the country. For example, the
manufacturing cities Of the East may
be expected to be hide-bound conserv-
alive as one extreme, while hard-driv-
en- farm areas In the Middle West may
as naturally be expected TO 60 lib
eral, II not radically liberal Liberal
and conservative thought obviously d.
vide on economic lines. The stage
seems to be set for consummation Of
that which has been in the making
since the "Bull Moose" days when
Theodore Roosevelt bolted the Repub-
licans.
General johnson, the national re-
covery administrator, burst out with
new threat the
J0hnson's other day, and the
Threnf chorus of chortles
that 1t evoked leads
me to believe he has moved out on the
wrong foot. The general, once
hard-boiled cavalry officer who re-
mains hard-boiled, says that the fed
eral government is going to police"
business unless business policies itself
under the codes Of fair competition.
All Of which is possible, Of course, but
in my wanderings around the capital
city and in conversations with busi-
ness men from other parts of the coun-
try, feel that the general would be
biting off more than he can chew Ii he
proceeds far on the program implied
by his announcement.
There can be no honest doubt that
"chiseling," as Mr.. Roosevelt de-
scribed it, is taking place in almost
every community to a greater or less
extent. 1t is evident to anyone taking
the trouble to look about him. There
are hundreds of businesses that have
signed the codes Of fair competition
with their fingers crossed. They knew
II would be dangerous to refuse to
sign and so they signed in order to get
the famed blue eagle" insignia, but
they had no intention Of living up to
their obligation. It is sad common
tary, yet it is true, that certain ele-
ment of business, and quite large
element at that, cannot be trusted.
So, as l see the problem, perhaps
General johnson is right in demanding
that business be policed. The weak
ness Of his plan, however, is inherent
in the scheme for controlling business.
Federal control necessarily means that
the national government has to inject
itself into the private affairs OF all.
and that is the sort Of thing that led
up to repeal Of the Eighteenth amend
ment. People resented interference
from the government In their personal
affairs.
Then, there is another phase Of the
problem, difficulty as applicable to
prohibition as 1t is in General John
sons plan. Thousands of persons will
be required for this policing job, just
as thousands were used In prohibition
enforcement. There will be as many,
or more, ''meddlesome matties'' get in
to the johnson police as were found
in the prohibition police, and there
will be some few straight-out crooks
get jobs. The 'meddlesome individuals.
either through fanaticism or through
a misguided sense of duty, will stir
up more fuss in a few minutes than
they ought to stir up in a year.
Crooks. If any get in, will "bleed"
business which will be forced to pay
for protection, exactly as occurred In
the case of prohibition.
o tH
Washington newspaper correspond
ents who devote their time to writing
Of financial affairs
Morgenthau in the treasury have
Ro.8. Do,,,, lately come through
D brisk, although
brief, battle with the new acting Sec
rotary. Henry Morgenthau, Jr. No
sooner had Mr.. Morgenthau, who is
only forty-two years old, been In
stalled as acting secretary, than he
sought to curb the rights Of the cor
respondents by forbidding his subor-
dinates to talk with the writer's. It
was censorship, II ever censorship was
attempted. The writer's rose up In
righteous wrath and with an announce
ment that there would be no compro-
mise on the principle.
The battle lasted, as a matter OF
fact, only three days before the act
ing secretary called the correspond
ents to his Office to invite them to
''agree" to a modification Of his gag
rule. He was met with an absolute
refusal to "agree" to any proposal I'M
less that proposal contemplated free
dom, Of the writer's to- seek and obtain
factual information that was a mat
ter Of record and properly available