Evening star., 1934-11-26
NEW DEAL |SSEEN
TURNING right"
Movements Away From
Meft" Declared Becoming
More Frequent.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

washington rs DetWceu cCOQOIIllC
right" and economic left" is zigzag. |
But the movements toward the right"
60 farther and are more frequent. |
Several events of the week just closed !
constitute, in the net, measurably |
strong progress toward restoration Of
the system Of private industry as
against the tendency toward Govern
ment industry.
The announcement from Federal
Emergency Relief Administrator
Harry L. Hopkins that hereafter
wages of persons on relief projects
throughout the country shall be de-
termined locally and shall have rela-
tion to local standards Is q step
toward making it possible for private
industry to resume, and thus to
absorb unemployed persons now on
relief rolls. Nearly year ago some
public officials in the South COM
planned that the wages fixed by WASH
ington for relief workers in that sec
ton, especially in connection with
the comparatively easy conditions of
relief work, had the effect of drain
ing employees away from private in
duStry. Farmers and heads Of local
industries found 1t difficult to get
as much labor as they needed.
johnson Supported Protests.
Gen. Hugh johnson, then admin
| istrator of N. r. A., supported the
| protests from the South, saying 1t was
! ridiculous that men on Federal relief
work should be paid higher standard
' - L. kyyH .
J codes as the minimum for some pri-
vate industries.
On that occasion Mr.. Hopkins was
distinctly "cocky" and defiant. He
let Gen. johnson know where he
could get off," Mr.. Hopkins present
retreat, it is surmised. hardly origi-
mated with himself. The surmise-
and this is only a surmise-is that
the present action originated with
President Roosevelt and may be
result of his conference with some
Southern Governors last week.
Another step toward the economic
right" is the admission by some
authorities in political life that wage
rates fixed by unions in some con-
struction industries are too high in
proportion to wage rates in general.
and that this excessive and artificial
standard of wages is principal i'm
pediment to resumption Of building.
Ickes Recognizes Condition.
This condition has been recognized
for months, but public admission Of
it has been difficult for men in po-
litical life. Last week, however, Secre-
tary Of the Interior Harold L. Ickes,
custodian Of funds for much public
building, said rather bluntly that in
order to get the building industry going
it might be necessary to bring about
lower hourly wage rate for workers
in that industry. AS it has been put,
men in ordinary industries, white col
lar workers and the like, earning so to
80 cents an hour, cannot readily un-
dertake to buy houses built at q wage
rate Of as high as $l.65 an hour.
A marked movement toward the
economic right" consisted of the re-
sistance Of James A. Moffett, housing
administrator, to suggestion from
Secretary Ickes that the Government
60 into the building Of homes on a
large scale. Mr.. Moffett, as head Of
the Federal Housing Administration,
has spent several months in a success
full effort to mobilize the building of
homes by private capital Mr.. Ickes'
suggestion was that the building
should be done by the Government
and that the interest rate on mort
cages arising out of the transactions
should be 3 per cent. Thereupon Mr..
Moffet pointed out that Inauguration
by the Government of such an enter
prise would have the effect of para
lying his own attempt to organize
private capital on large scale for the
same purpose. Subsequently the dis
partly on misunderstanding, was COM
posed.
Private Building Needed.
As in many such situations. 1t is
desirable that the average man should
understand why building by private
capital Is preferred to building by the
Government. If private capital goes
into building on a large scale, the
following results ensue Men now
unemployed and receiving relief from
the Government are taken of the
Governments hands and made self
sustaining. As second result,
large amount of private capital goes
to work, produces profits, and out Of
the profits pays taxes. Both these
results compose long step toward
saving the Government from the threat
of disastrous imitation
On the other hand, if the Govern
ment puts an immense amount into
building, two results follow which are
quite different. The Government in
creases by that amount the aggregate
of its borrowing and of its debt. At
the end of the program the men en-
ployed by the Government in building
are just where they were before, and
the Government must continue to take
care of them. The threat, to the
Government. Of disastrous imitation, is
more imminent than before.
As the net resultant of many acts
and conditions, it is not to be doubt
ed that, for the time being at least,