Evening star., 1934-03-04
ROOSEVELT SEEN
AS REVOLUT|0N|ST
Reviewing His First Year,
Editor Finds Absolute
State Being Built.
Continued From First Page.)

world OF revolution. obviously ne pro-
poses to erect a state as absolute as
that of the Fascists, Nazis or Com
munists. But he believes 1t can be
built upon the structure of democracy.
Europe east Of the Rhine, the Eus
rope OF Hitler, Mussolini, Pilsudski,
Stain and the Balkan dictators, scorns
democracy and democratic processes.
These have been swept away to guar
antee economic security to the COM
mon man.
ROosevelt's Goal.
Evidently Roosevelt visualizes a
land in which the ancient political
liberties Of the people shall be secure
the right Of parliamentary debate,
Of free speech, Of free assemblage, of
majority rule, of a trial by jury. But
while clinging tenaciously to political
liberty as an anchor upon the Federal
Constitution, the liberty OF the dollar
Is to be drastically curtailed.
The Rooseveltian plan for abolish
ing the free movement of capital
seems to be this: To provide for the
regulation and control of speculative
investments and all other investments
under corporate management; to
control and regulate the wages and
working conditions Of labor. Thus
he would bring industry under a
form Of state capitalism.
Men in agriculture would be SINH
larly regimented for the common good
by Federal advice by Federal sugges-
ton, and ultimately, perhaps. by Fed
eral power. Thus the possibility Of
overproduction would be lessened and
prices for farm products would re-
turn to the farmer a living wage.
Then, In addition to all this, there
is certainly much evidence to indicate
that the President will not shrink
from the experiment of bringing the
whole social and economic structure
OF the country into some sort of be-
nevolent Federal channeling.
The T. v. A. Project.
The Tennessee Valley Authority
has set up a new kind of Federal
corporation which will not merely
electrify the Tennessee Valley, but
will take charge of its citizens So
cially, moving them from one region
to another. from one Job to another,
from one way Of life to another, and
all this not merely for their own good,
but also for the good of the Nation.
Good and evil will be determined
by trial and error-not by individuals.
not by the population en- masse, but
by intelligent experimentation under
Federal authority.
There in breaf lies the revolution,
which still is in the embryonic stage
1t has legislative sanction-plenty Of
it. The legislative sanction has been
obtained under the guise of recovery.
Those who have dreamed this revo-
lutionary ideal and framed this rev.
legislation are few highly
specialized sociologists. Their palace
revolution Is cherished in the hearts
Of probably fewer than half q mil.
lion people, most Of whom are directly
with the Federal Govern
ment.
Day by day the President Is under
pinning the structure Of his ideal
with enabling laws. He Is shaping
the Federal judiciary to sustain his
laws. He, of all the lot of high
patriots at work on the new
deal, Is the practical politician.
Other than he, most practical politi-
clans are outsiders, or are on the
other side Of his barricade.
Masses Satisfied.
The mass Of the people, seeing their
President in action, doing something.
getting somewhere In his plans for
recovery, fighting the ancient dragons
of political corruption and special
privilege, are satisfied.
For the most part, they do not
know what 1t Is all about. For the
most part, they do not care. II men
get jobs and If the hungry are fed
and business speeds up, that will
satisfy the people. If they are sat-
isfled, nothing can stop the progress
Of the plans for the Roosevelt re-
construction.
His first years work has proved
Franklin Roosevelt political genius
Of the first order-if he can 90 on
But even now he has accomplished
things. His powers of per-
suasion, his hold on the people, have
never been equaled by any other man
In the White House.
Not even Theodore Roosevelt at his
high tide could do what this Roose-
velt has done-so smoothly, so quietly,
with such inexorable directness, NOV
Ing with electric swiftness and force.
Theodore seemed to function like q
tornado. Franklin resembles q process
Of nature.
A New Political Courage.
Even II . cataclysm comes, even If
popular revllsion shall stop his course.
historians will look at this year and
marvel at the man who has done so
much so quickly, 80 noiselessly, with
such intelligent purpose and such as
audacity. Indeed, this suave
audacity Is q new kind Of political
courage never exhibited before in q
democracy.
anu apparently TTdIlA11l 1tOOccNCiC
has done it all in the name of de-
and hopes for all that he
,hall do to be done in the same name,
all the rights Of free men
md claiming the dollar to their use
Ind benef1t-a new ideal in q new
world.
So much for one year. Now for
he next. Roosevelt's great problem
tor the year may be stated thus: Can
chain its dollars, harness
them to the common good, and still
retain free men and free institutions2
Il has never been done before. Po-
itical liberties always have gone down
when economic liberty u circum-
Bcribed.
But this Is a new world. Our de-
mocracy for a hundred years has been
! new order. Probably America can
DO this new, strange thing-establish
= new revolution Of free men and with
their dollars In shackles!
tcopyrisht. 1e34.)
SOCIETY
GIVES PLAY TOMORROW