Milford chronicle., 1934-01-05
GREETINGS TO 1894!


years In its history. 1t has been
year in which vast and unprecedent
ed experiments have been tried. i
/ has been a year in which govern
| mental problems and issues have, Il
greater degree than at any time
since the World War, engaged the
attention and interest of the pub
lie. II has been a year of trial and
error, of achievement and failure
And finally. it has been a year OF
astonishing change.
For the first time since govern
ment was founded, there has been
sweeping legislation TO control the
wages and hours of the entire work.
ing population, and the competitive
methods of virtually all industry. A
dramatic and frankly experimental
effort to solve the farmers problems
has become part OF the law OF the
land. The largest public works pro-
gram We have ever known has been
lnaugurated. Everything that the
present leaders of government be-
lieved would spur recovery, has been
done. Advisors who had no previous
connection with politics have been
called inland their plans have been
adopted. The whole prestige OF
government, and the immense power
of the public treasury, have been
used whOle-heartedly and sometimes
ruthlessly TO bring us stability and
prosperity.
To say that these efforts have been
entire successes is to close our eyes
to facts. To say that they have
failed is to be unjust. They have
fallen between these extremes. Men
have been put to work by the hun
dreds of thOusands-men who had
had little or no work for two or
three years, and had been forced to |
suffer the ignominy Of organized |
charity in order to keep their fam /
lilies and themselves from utter pri- !
vation. Wages have been appre- |
ciably raised and the sweat-shop, !
encouraged by the depression, has !
been eliminated. Child labor is on |
the wane. The C. C. G. camps, what !
ever their shortcomings. have served |
to provide thousands Of young men |
with useful work. under army pay
and discipline, and have kept them
away from debilitating and demOral-
izing influences.
And in other fields the administra-
tion has much on which IL can hon
estly pride itself. II has started a
program whereby the transporta-
tion difficulties of the country may
eventually be solved. II has done a
good job in sOlidifying and safe
guarding the banking structure. II
has attempted to protect the public
against stock swindlers and fiy-by-
night promoters, who reaped so fine
harvest in the boom years and
even after. II has created machinery
seeking TO encourage home financ-
ng and private construction.
This is all on the credit side of
he ledger. The entries on the debit {
'ide are not less important-and it
lOes the country and the Admins !
ration no service to overlook them.
All great experimental movements
reed errOrs-and Mr.. Roosevelt and
lis advisors would have been a great ]
eal more than human had they
voided them. II is unquestiOnably r
rue that, in working to bring re- {
overy, methods have been adopted,
nd laws passed, which will make
rid some of the springs from
thence recovery must eventually r
ow. The case of the utilities is one 7
q point. They are great employers I
nd taxpayers. They are, by and
lrge, one OF the most progressive Ii
lfiuences in the average communi-
Y. Yet the industry as a whole =,
owned by millions of investors) is I
eing politically castigated because
the sins OF the few-a policy
'hich can profit no one.
Again, in the securities act, GER
lin provisions have made it impOs-
BILE TO issue legitimate industrial
ecurities-thus depriving business
capital 1t sOrely needs, depriving
orkers OF potential jobs, and de-
riving the public of a place to put Ct
8 money where IL can do essen c.
al work. The law was designed to -.
inish the seller OF the wide blue In
Iy-and ii seems to have banished OF
le seller OF honest shares and bonds
well.
In brief, government, and the vot- III
& public, must not forget that pri- (s
tie initiative and enterprise are CO
III the most important of national
tributes. Government can do much
cure depression but after recov-
y has commenced, II Is industry -
ID capital which will provide jobs, =
xes, payrolls, progress. The pub :
) purse is not bottomless. 1t can
more easily exhausted than we
low. The Administration should
rtainly not be blamed for honest
stakes-unless II makes no effort
correct them. And now is the
ne for that. 1.
In summing up. the American peo-
; have the best of reasons for look
) to one future with confidence.
e country is still here. The land
no less fertile than It was. Its
iustries are no less great. Its
liyidual spirit is no less potent.
intellectual capacity Is no small
Factories, utilities, railroads.
urance companies, mines. banks
ms--they are all still here, and
y will be doing business as usual !
en- new forces, new changes, OF ]
ich we know nothing now; have
Irped the center of the stage.
3O-GreetinRs tn 1qa4f -