The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-03-12
Liberal Viewpoint
by DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

Editors Note-This is the first of two articles by
Harry Elmer Barnes, Pm. D., commenting on John
W. Davis attack the Naw Deal
4 was to be expected, the actual enforce
IA ment of the new deal is producing a def
mite separation of the sheep from the goats.
Realistic persons will be glad to see this
frank lineup. 1t will enable us to know clearly
Just where we stand. Even Mr. Roosevelt prob
| ably will welcome frank declarations of oppo-
Sition
Open antagonism is preferable to hypocritical
support, accompanied by secret chiseling and
back biting Once the enemy comes out into
the open, it will be possible to know who they
are and take an effective potshot at them.
Picking up the rotogravure of the New York
Times recently noted picture of the eminent
| attorney, John w. Davis, motoring with j. P.
Morgan in Porto Rico 1t was explained that
Mr. Davis was a guest of Mr.. Morgan on a
yacht trip through the Caribbean.
Quite appropriately, there appeared in the
following Wednesdays issue of the New York
Times bitter attack by Mr. Davis upon the
new deal.
Mr.. Davis had no hesitation whatever in
aligning himself with the great Wall Street
powers in assaulting the policies Of Democratic
President who has at least promised to drive
the money changers from the temple.
WHATEVER its validity, Mr.. Davis attack
w on the new deal is one of the most i'm
portant onslaughts which has been made upon
the President and his program 1t is such for
at least three reasons: Cd 1t is not cheap and
perfunctory political attack, but carries the
battle where it belongs, namely, into the realm
of economies; ~ Mr.. Davis is a person Of such
prominence as not to be easily ignored and CD
he brings together very we'll indeed all of the
stock arguments employed by reactionaries in
attacking the policies of Mr.. Roosevelt
| Mr.. Davis takes his cue from the excellent
h o10i1ra w Wallace
Must Choose which has been run serially in
the ScrippS-HOWard newspapers. But he passes
over this rapidly and launches into a headlong
attack upon the planned economic order which
the new deal is endeavoring to establish.
Very cOgently but with the great risk to
his argument in the hands of any facile debater,
Mr.. Davis raises the question of who is going
to give orders to the American people in the new
regime which Mr.. Roosevelt is trying to estab-
lish
IF there are to be orders, somebody must
give them Without impugning the high pur-
pose and integrity of the great majority of our
public servants, are we SO sure Of their constant
wisdom, their dsinterestedness, their ability to
resist temptation, their freedom from political
influence, that we are willing to trust them with
| unlimited power?
II VERY Socialist, every advocate OF social dis
Z cipline, of a planned economy of nation
dllSC T6Sl6UIdIlOl-Cdil III WIldJ you Wlll-lIluSG
answer in the end this question: Who is to sit
in the drivers seat and hold the reins and the
whip? And the answer can not be made in such
vague collective terms as the state, the govern
ment or society, for these only move by human
hands. Who are the men, the gentlemen, that
you would set to rule over us?"
Such query as this indicates a strange lapse
of alertnesS on the part of SO clever a lawyer
as Mr.. Davis. 1t provides an opening for a
"haymaker" which any honest publicSt, even
if as clumsy as a Firpo, could land squarely on
Mr.. Davis exposed jaw.
The obvious and crushing answer is that if
the new deal amounts to anything the orders
are going to be given by the elected and re-
sponsible representatives Of the American people
and their advisers.
They no longer are going to be given, as they
have been for the last fifty years, by Mr.. Nor
gan, and the other great moguls of speculative
finance.
1t means that we are to have an end of that
Invisible Government" which has been very
we'll defined by Mr.. McConaughy, in his excel
lent book, Who Rules America"
1T perhaps may be best described as the po
litical and economic control of the community
Or the political control for selfish, if not sin
lister. economic purpose-by individual men, or
groups Of organizations, who are careful to
evade the responsibility which should always
accompany power.
They operate behind a mask Of puppets in
politics and business, and these must take the
blame in courts Of law, and before the bar of
public opinion, for any errors in the technique
of knavery."