Evening star., 1934-09-02
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.


Have f1nanciers and industrialists
become the real forgotten men" of
the New Deal2 To hear their pri-
vate plants in Washington Is to con-
clude that they believe so. and grieve
for it.
But Is there a basis for this belief?
Is there anything to show that the
men who finance and operate the
country's industry and its business
are being ignored? The answer must
be no. There Is nothing TO show
that the spokeSmen for capital are
deliberately ignored. Neither, though,
Is there anything to show that they
are in any way favored at the White
House.
A glance over the Presidents
calendar of appointments provides q
clue to what may be going on. That
calendar reveals Mr.. Roosevelt cer-
tainly is not leaning heavily on one
time industrial magnates'' and
financial titans" for advice. It
shows that. from the time he returned
to Washington after his Hawaiian
trip to the time he left for Hyde Park,
total of four industrialists were on
the schedule.
The present period is one border
ing on crisis in the life of the New
Deal. Unemployment Is increasing,
business appears frightened, the Sec
retary of the Treasury feels it nec-
essary to reassure the country con-
cerning Federal finances, the chair
man of the Securities Exchange Com
mission attempts to placate specu-
lators and unsettlement appears
worldwide.
This dearth Of big business names
on the White House calendar, how
ever, is not a new phenomenon. 1t
has been noted during much of the
period that MIR. Roosevelt has been
President. If Bernard Baruch or j.
p. Morgan or some other figure of
prominence in the business and
financial world crossed the threshold
that fact Immediately became news
and was subject to wide interpreta-
ton as the forerunner of a possible
truce.
AS a result of this seeming GOODNESS
between big business and the Presi-
dent there are heard murmurings in
the industrial circle. Business men
and financiers wonder whether Mr..
Roosevelt really understands their
problems. His failure to encourage
them directly by soothing words
causes them to conclude that ne
feels they all are greedy and narrow.
with determination to go back to
the old days Of financial excess and
exploitation.
What, then, lies back Of the con-
tinued breach? Why does not the
President seek to make peace with
the leaders of industry and of
finance? Who is it that Mr.. Roosevelt
does depend upon for advice? Dog
matte answers to these questions
hardly could be given. But it is
obviously the view of Mr.. Roosevelt
that induStrialists and financiers are
quite well able to take care Of them
selves in the struggle now going on.
Also, he knows that he Is turning
the country in new direction and
the changes being worked are un-
likely to be supported by those who
have been most favored in the past.
The process involves some loss Of
power by them. If Mr.. Roosevelt has
not taken the advice Of big indus
trialists, neither, it is pointed out,
has he taken the advice of labor lead
ers, who are on the other side of
the picture.
Among all of the advisers who most
often have the ear of the President,
Gen. johnson alone harbors the ira
dtional businessman viewpoint. He is
regarded by the liberals in the ad-
ministration as big business Spokes-
man and a big business watchman
In the Government. The Recovery
Administration is accepted by them
as a haven of industrialists. who have
gained more power under its codes
than ever they had in the past.
That is why SO much attention Is
being paid to the trials and tribula-
tions of the picturesque administrator
If he should throw up his job at this
stage industry probably would accept
the gesture as evidence of a decision
to discard the johnson policies. In
their stead would come changes fav-
ored by the liberals and those changes
are likely to be less palatable to in
dustry.
Gen. Johnson permitted business to
write pretty much its own ticket in the
codes Of fair competition now on the
books. The essence Of the program he
sponsored lies in the power given in
dustry to control prices, to restrict
production and to devise trade prac-
tices that open the way to discipline
for recalcitrant minorities. This
policy is in the traditional form of
price recovery by curtailing output.
II opens the way for industry to make
q profit on o small volume Of business.