Evening star., 1934-08-12
A.F. OIL. is SEEN TURNING
BACK ON ssNEW ECONOMY"
Writer Finds Quick Support for Predic-
ton That Reaction Toward Old
Ideas Is About Due.

against stereotyped wages and II Il
against stereotyped prices. And what
Is the record OF the Roosevelt admin.
iStration or these points,
The Roosevelt administration has
earnestly striven TO keep the wages o.
Government employees reduced TO
correspondence with the reduction In
the cost of living. It has encouraged
the steel industry TO go new deal ane
to raise the wages OF steel employees to
the 1929 level. 1t has done It's best to
keep the wages of its own employee
below the 1929 level On this point
the new deal administration does moi
at all agree with the new deal.
Nor does II agree with the new de.S
in the matter OF the prices of thu
commodities which II itself needs sne
buys. That fact about II Is too noto.
rious to need much illustration. The
new deal administration is constantly
demanding that manufacturers shall
sell II their commodities not at code
prices. but at competitive prices.
The new deal adrninistra ton be.
lieves in flexible wages and in flexible
prices for itself as business insti.
tuition. For itself as a business insti.
tuition II is orthodox" The outcome
then. of the conversation between Mr.
Green and Mr. Roosevelt might be .
bright beaming Of the Roosevelt smile
and characteristic Roosevelt laugh
as follows:
"Ah, Mr.. Green. What you want
me to do. see Is TO persuade all
these private business men to be ~
orthodox as / am in my capacity a.
a governmental public business man.
And it's right there that we come
to the living heart of the whole prob
lem. The pumping apparatus which
sends the blood Of life into all oui
present output-planning and price.
planning devices in the N. r. A. e.
not Mr.. Roosevelt and not Gen. John
son. but the American business com.
munity itself I was talking the other
day in New York City with the man
aging director OF an extremely large
and extremely influential national or
ganization Of American business men
of many different industries. said
to him:
do any Of your members believe
in competitive capitalism"
He replied:
None. They are all capitalists,
but they none Of them believe In
capitalism. None OF them believe In
the essence of capitalism, which II
free competition. They believe In
security President Hoover started II
for them. He said not to reduce
wages. That was security for labor
He started lending money TO business
institutions to pay their debts. That
was security for capital. He estab-
lished the Federal Farm Board, and
the board proceeded to try to sta
bilize' farm prices That was securit,
for agriculture. These securities did
not turn out 10 be securities, but they
were attempted securities. President
Roosevelt has simply enlarged the at.
tempts. That Is, he has enlarged them
except where the Federal Government
Is itself an employer or a buyer. And
he has enlarged them, so far as prices
are concerned, under the NJ R. A., at
the request and in truth at the in
sistence of business men themselves.
These business men no longer wish 10
fight and expand. They wish TO sit
down in safe contracted market and
divide the spoils. That Is the reason
why business does not 60 ahead"
Speaks 10 Fletcher.
Which makes me feel that I must
say word to Henry Prather Fletcher,
chairman Of the National Committee
of the Republican party.
Mr.. Fletcher, in your speech last
Thursday to the Illinois Republican
State Convention, you blamed the new
deal and the N. r. A. for legaltxing
price fixing" and for eliminating
competition" and for thus increasing
the costs and the prices OF finished
goods. Surely you should have added:
Fellow Republicansl Most North
ern business men are Republicans.
And it is business men who have
pushed the N. r. A. into every piece
Of price fixing that 1t has ever legal.
lied. 1t is business men who have
crowded the N. r. A. into every speci-
men OF production restriction that Il
has ever sanctioned. Virtually never
in such matters has the initiative
been taken by the N. n. A. Virtually
always the initiative has come from
business men. And in the North, /
repeat, most of those business men
are Republicans. Fellow Republican
business men, as long as you refuse to
resume being Siamese fighting hsh,
and as long as you insist upon being
tame and regimented fish in a govern
mentally legalized and sanctioned
warm-water aquarium, how In the
world am 1 going to rebound a Do
ftical party OF rugged individualism7"
And then Mr.. Roosevelt might take
up the tale. He might say to the
same outfit:
Rugged Republicans Recently ]
have embarked upon my first enter
prise for really reviWng and enlarg.
ing private business. In the A. A. A.
tolerated agricultural business re-
striction. In the N. r. A. I tolerated
large amount of industrial business
restriction. But in my grand new
Housing Administration I am all out
for business expansion. I want more
houses repaired and more houses
built. Therefore. In this branch OF the
new deal, l am for competition. ]
have conflded this notion to my friend
James Moffett. who is housing admin
istrator. He has called In the manu-
facturers and distributors OF build
ing materials and he is trying TO get
them to go in for competitive prices
and lower prices. I will now confide
to you the fact that in some ways he
Is having quite tough time. Ths
housing program is not making prog.
ress as it might. Building nateriak
prices have risen some as or 30 be,
cent in the last IL months. They ar.
not coming down as they might. Nov
most Of the eminent building mate.
rails industrialists In the most de.
veloped part of our country ar.
Republicans. So appeal to you Lett
see some really rugged Republican
nti-price-fixers Let's see some reall,
rugged Republican price-cuttersl'
IL would be thoroughly in line with
William Green's exhortations. Mr.
Green Is in effect asking our business
men please to go rugged again ane