Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-04-03

see the Communistic Soviets in their
place. Commodore Perry of the United
States Navy reached the shores OF
Japan in 1850 and found the Sho-
glnate. Shortly after that the jap
anese established a responsible parlia-
mentary form of government. China,
which had for centuries lived under
an imperial government, has In recent
years expelled the Manchu dynasty
and Is now struggling to establish
republic.
Changes IN Great Britain.
And even in Great Britain, from
whom We have inherited so many of
our concepts of liberty, We find as late
as 1911 the House of Lords deprived
of its equal legislative power with the
House of Commons and relegated to
secondary position-a distinct and
substantial change in the British par
liamentary structure. While all these
changes have been going on in prac-
tically all the nations of the earth,
during this 140-year period the Gov
eminent Of the United States has
stood alone. unchallenged. substantial,
secure. I mention this historical fact
to answer, in part, the suggestion that
we hear so often these days that the
old American system has outlived its
usefulness, that 1t has failed, and that
something new must be erected upon
its ruins. Let me say to you that a
government that has weathered storms
as severe as those of the Civil War
must have been founded upon human
truths, and that being so, it must not
be cast aside lightly. And yet it is
now proposed to do that very thing.
When 1t is done the whole picture of
American life will be transformed into
something never dreamed of by any
respectable number of people prior to
1893.
Instead of Federal Union of
States. We shall have, in effect, an
imperial government centered here at
Washington, with its tentacles reach
ing out into the smallest community
and creeping into the very homes of
the people. To all intents and pur-
poses the States will be reduced to
provinces. for the powers which they
now enjoy in regulating their home
affairs, and within reason the daily
conduct Of their citizens, will have
been taken over by the new National
Government. This transformation is
to be achieved in order that the peo-
pie may be regimented and made ODE
dent to whatever economic plan is
deemed to be good for them by the
Washington bureaucracy. We may
anticipate a series of four-year plans
under such system, each one CORE
spending to a presidential term, with
Its consequent change in the bureau
cracy. Russia furnishes something of
an analogy in this respect, for we
learn that the Soviets are now en-
parked upon their second five-year
plan.
Cites Examples.
Remember when we speak of eco
nomic planning we really mean that
the Government is going to do the
planning for us in the last ANALYSIS
We can get pretty clear idea of
some OF the details OF this thing by
observing the regulations now being
imposed upon industry and agriculture
under N. r. A. and A. A. A. MANY
OF you nave seen them in operation.
An industry is told that it must not
produce more than a certain quantity
OF goods. and that quantity is di-
vided, presumably. amongst the men,
bers OF the industry in proportion to
what is regarded as their normal
capacity. Then every person in the
industry is put upon a quota system
and told, moreover, that he must not
charge less than a certain amount
for the goods which he produces.
Furthermore. in many instances he
is told that he must not add a new
machine in his factory. lest the
amount of his production be in
creased or its unit cost decreased.
If he disobeys the code, he finds
that the code has the force of law,
and that he may be hailed into a Fed
eral court and punished for daring to
produce more or charge less than the