Evening star., 1934-02-25
COLLECTIVISM DECLARED
AIM OF ADMINISTRATION
Radical Element in Roosevelt Regime
Is Seen Determined to Bring
u. S. to the Russian System.

game that is being played
1t is not possible to be completely
| candid without saying that Secretary
Hull (using him as a type Of high
minded Democrat Of the old schooD
as an influence upon the really funda-
mental thing that is going on at
Washington, is as ineffective as a
sparrow In front Of steamroller. II
is pity. Mr.. Hull is a scholar, a
gentleman and a man of deep fidelity
TO principle. But the principles he
holds dear have no weight in what is
going on; indeed, they have almost no
relation to it-certainly no considera-
ton is given them.
Revolution Is often described as a
movement arising from great masses
OF people. Fully as often, revolution
Is engineered by ShreWd daring and
ambitious men who take advantage of
emotions or conditions they observe
among the masses. That is what rev.
olution consisted Of in Germany, Italy
and Russia. If the leaders happen to
occupy what Prof. Tugwell calls the
strategic positions" of power, their
leverage is secure.
1t Is the technique of social revolu-
ton, OF revolution Accomplished with
out violence, that one step leads to the
second, the second to the third. and so
on until the revolution is complete.
In several different areas the Govern
ment at Washington is Just in the
midst of this process. A sufficient
| Illustration Is in the area of crop re-
striction.
Last June the administration deter
mined to reduce the quantity of cot
ton grown in the United States. For
last years crop the means chosen was
to pay farmers to pillow under one row
out of every four. For the coming
year the method contemplated is to
pay each cotton raiser to reduce his
| acreage by Is per cent.
Those two methods taken together
constituted the first step. The char
acteristic of it was that it was wholly
voluntary. The individual farmer took
part in it only if he felt like doing so.
Right now the administration is at
the end of this first step. 1t turns out
to be mistake, or at least not to be
successful. 1t is not successful be-
cause, among other reasons, some
farmers do not unite in it. Some
farmers, seeing that the intended pur-
pose of the whole process of reducing
the crop is to raise the price, propose
not to accept Government pay for
limiting their acreage but rather to
increase their acreage IN order TO
have as much cotton as possible to sell
al the higher price.
Second Step Necessary.
The first step turns out to be mis-
take or at least not successful. Blu,
what happens? Does the administra-
| ton turn back? Not at all-it is the
lew of revolutions that they go for
ward and that the first step makes
the second inevitable-those who pro-
mote the revolution understand this
and take advantage Of it.
| We are Just now on the threshold OF
the second step. 1t departs from vol
untary action by the farmers (Which
vas the first step and introduces
compulsion. The cotton raisers are to
/ be compelled to reduce their crops
the bill is in Congress and it has the
| Endorsement of President Roosevelt.
! The bill contemplates that in the
Spring of each year the Secretary OF
Agriculture shall fix the amount OF
| cotton to be raised in the whole coun-
try. With the amount for the whole
country fixed, quota is set for each
State: within each state a quota Is
| set for each county; within eacn
! county a quota is set for each farm
at the beginning of the season a Gov
ernment agent will tell each farmer
that he is to raise so many bales OF
cotton and no more. So, A..
In the first draft of the bill the
Governments compulsion was 70 Oe
achieved by fine and imprisonment
| any farmer raising more than MS
quota would be subject TO oO Gays
Imprisonment and $500 fine. Consid-
eration seems to have suggested that
this is rather too early stage OF the
revolution to introduce imprisonment
as penalty for infraction OF orders
DhOSe Of the bill the cOmPulSion upon
the farmer is to be achieved by put
| ting a prohibItive tax upon the extra
bale or bales, tax amounting to the
total value of the cotton. 1t is most
doubtful if this tax is constitutional
It is not a tax to raise revenue Tor the
Government, it is tax devised as
penalty for doing what the admins
tration does not want done. But the
constitutionality of the means OF
effecting compulsion is waived for the
present. The point is that this-limi-
tation of the crop by compulsion-iS
the second stage in the revolution that
is under way in this particular area.
| (And similar revolutions directed
from Washington are under way in
nearly every area of American life)
Third Step Question.
What the third step will be no one
knows mo one" that is, except the
radicals at Washington. I suspect the
third step, or at least one of the early
steps, will be price-fxing; the same
Government agent who in the Spring
tells the farmer how much cotton he
may raise, will in the Summer or Fall
tell him the price that he is to be
paid for it.
As to the further steps we can only
speculate. We know, however, what
the objective is-Russia, and we know
the Russian system.
I suspect an early step will be to
/
only limited amount of cotton is to
be raised, it should be raised on that
soil upon which cotton can be raised
with least expense. This soil is to be
found mainly west Of the Mississippi
River; and this process logically car
ried out will mean that substantially
all the cotton will be raised in Texas,
Louisiana and Arkansas. When and
if the process reaches the point at
which the Eastern cotton States-the
Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia
and Tennessee-are abandoned for
cotton raising purposes-at that point
or before it, suspect, will arise the
political opposition that should inter-
rupt the progress of the revolution.
| I suspect that at some step the
revolution Will be interrupted. whether
by political resentment from a large
section or group, or by, congress
sional election possibly. What am
saying here is merely this: that if