Evening star., 1934-11-19

Business follows banking in making
peace with the New Deal. That Is
the true inwardness of the pledge
of cooperation which has just been
taken by the Chamber of Commerce Of
the United States. Its action formally
ends what threatened recently to be-
come a bitter feud between the White
House and the big citadel of trade
across the square. The chambers
QUESTIONABLE, virtually seeking to ex-
tort from President Roosevelt a
promise to be good, and his refusal
to be put on the spot, denoted a
distinct breach between them. Thence
forward ensued the gumshoe opera
tions of F. D. RS Col. House, Prof.
Moley, and the cooperation agree
ment now announced is the egg that
was finally Matched. The fracas winds
up without victor or vanquished. In
duStry and finance convinced the
President of their righteous intentions,
and Mr.. Roosevelt, on his part, is open
to suggestions from them for speeding
up recovery. So all's well that ends
well. The lion and the lamb lie
down together, determined to live
happily from now on.
4 \ \
1t probably is pretty bitter pill for
Silas H. Strawn, chief author of the
Chamber Of Commerce cooperation
resolution, to swallow, to have to admit
that 1884 election results leave busi-
ness no alternative but to climb aboard
the Roosevelt bandwagon and whoop
things up. The Chicago corporation
lawyer Is a dyed-in- -the-wool Repub-
lican. What has happened is simply
that November convinced the cham
ber that the New Deal is here to stay
for at least two years, If not six, and
that the sooner business faces the
music, the better. So, on the theory
that discretion is the better part Of
valor, business is going to get into
step and play the game. If there is
teamwork and bygones are allowed
to be bygones, all concerned are con-
fident that happier days will come
along in jig time.
X **
Business Is all the reader to push
forward because recent events pro-
duced two distinct indications of
Roosevelt conservatism. First came
the announcement that the Home
Owners Loan Corp. would receive no
new applications for mortgage re-
financing-a sign that the Govern
ment is curtailing operations which
compete with private capital agencies
like building and loan associations
and mortgage bankers. The H. o.
L. G.. decision treasures those ele-
ments which oppose Government in
business" and New Deal encroach-
ments in that field. Then followed
Mr.. Roosevelt's refusal to approve i'm
mediate enactment OF, any social Sc
curity legislation except unemploy-
ment insurance. Radical reformers
hoped the President would plump for
unemployment insurance, old-age pen
sions and health insurance at one
gulp. On the whole, business has
come to believe it is backing an
essentially conservative horse in sup
porting the squire of the New Deal.
That is the high light of the new
recovery alliance.
Il 4 Il =
Nothing much Is said about it in
this honeymoon hour, but undoubtedly
big fly in the ointment, from the
standpoint of business, is the fear
that the T. v. A. "yardstick," glorified
by Mr.. Roosevelt's inspection of the
project, points the way to Govern
ment ownership of public utilities.
The President has just indicated that
II T. v. A. makes two bulbs of glass
glow where only one glew before" it is
the intention to apply the plan
throughout the United States, espe-