The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-07-03

Nnte-This
Nv Harry Elmer Barnes Pm. D.. the achievements
and outlook of the New Deal after year Of opera
ton.
THE much discussed brain trust was Mr..
i Roosevelt's logical answer to the discrep-
ancy between our material culture and our po-
litical thinking.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first Presi-
dent who gave extended evidence of any con-
viction that government demands any special
lied intelligence.
The brain trust is nothing more than Mr..
Foosevelts determination to have future oper-
ations on our BODY polite executed by political
surgeons rather than by party butchers VINO
have hacked and sawed in the past
In meeting the menace of predatory finance,
Mr.. Roosevelt was less happy and fortnight
than in summoning the brain trust ReJecVlng
the advice of his abeSt conSultant IN the praHl
trust he muffled his almost God-g1ven cnance
to assure the speedy success of his whole pro-
gram and refused to nationalize the banks ana
the credit system in March and April, 1888
Failing in this, he has had to content nlmsen
with a number of minor acts, all OF which are
good in themselves but leave the common enemy
Of a sane and safe economic order still IN Inc
control of American economic society.
~HE emergency banking act opened the banks
i and gave better supervision over our creolO
system The Glass Steagall bill divorced specu-
1ative affiliates from national banks, permltteo
branch banking and provided for limited guar
antees OF bank deposits. Inc security acC VI
1893 especially through its registration STATE
mont exposed loaded dice The Fletcher-Ray-
burn bill endeavored to make operations on Cne
New York Stock Exchange at least as honest
and safe as the goings-on at Monte Carlo or ia
Juana. 1t no longer can operate pure SHELL
game. - Sxtod
markedly from the Hoover procedure reIaClVe W
purchasing power. ,.4;o
Through his RFC, Hoover showered bounues
on the rich in the hope that little might spill
over and fall into the laps OF the poor. ,
The Roosevelt administration put billions oil
rectly into the hands of the farmers ana WorkelS'
AT the present time our national expenditures
average about S5OOOOO, 900 month, no less than
$3.50 OCo 900 more than it cost to build the Fan
anna Canal. ....:
The agricultural adjustment administration
has disbursed about 81 ,20O,000,0O0 Some S35oo'-
900 900 has been appropriated Tor puonc WorAs s
most of it allocated and some OF 1t spent
Through the CCC and IVA about $250,OOOOOO
has been spent on forestry, reclamation ana
power sites. 49,. ,.,,
The emergency appropriations also have been
enormous The CWA disbursed ABOUT Sl'loo'-
moo oO0 The Wagner-Lewis relief bill appro-
priated $500 OO000O The surplus relief corpora
ton. which mops up after the rest and feeos the
stra pclers not otherwise supported, has spent
about 500 100000 Added to these are the spe-
cial drought relief appropriations passed neal
the close of the last congress.
TINE national industry recovery act IS relateo
i more directly to the issue OF industrial
anarchy than to purchasing power, but General
Johnson contends that it put 3OOO,OOo aoolClonal
workers back into the factories and increased
national purchasing power by $30OOOoo'UOO IL
is to be doubted however, whether more than
half of the results claimed in either case can
be supported by authentic figures.
The utility problem has been attacked
through the IVA, the prospect of government
competition with private power production ana
the securities bill of last year which Will make
it more difficult to build and float paper pyra-
mids in the future.
In regard to the debt problem, the most that
has been done is to postpone the evil day OF
reckoning by ref1nancing about $85O'O0OOOO OF
farm mortgages and $4O0000,000 of village and
city mortgages.
The depreciation of the dollar to SO cents in
gold content also was designed to ease the debt
burden through making money more cheap. But
the rapid and extensive price rises necessary to
make this reality have not as yet taken place