Evening star., 1934-07-17
SOC|AL|zED STATE
IS SEEN BY KNOX
Chicago Publisher Charges
MonopoIies Fostered by
Men in Washington.
b. ne Associated Press

b. ne Associated Press.
CHICAGO. July I7.-Col. Frank
Knox. publisher of tthe Chicago Daily
News. IN a radio address last night.
said that huge monopolcs are being
fostfred deliberately by some men in
Washington as a step toward a social
lied state.
Knox, speaking on the subject Of
Roosevelt VS.. Roosevelt" appealed
from the new deal Of Franklin
Roosevelt 70 the square deal Of Theo-
dore Roosevelt and called upon "all
true ProeresSiveS to renew the battle
against monopoly. even when It is pa
raded under the banner Of a new eco
nomic order
Il say 10 you in all soberness that
there are those in Washington today
who deliberately foster the growth Of
great combination. so that when the
inevitable smash comes and the people
rebcl-as they Will rebel-they may
readily convert such huge combina-
tions into Goyernment-opersted units
and achieve that which they seek-a
socializcd state he said.
Sees Rescue by People.
When the people UNDERSTANDINGS
thcv surely will In the months Of edu-
cation ahead Of them-What is pro-
posed under the new economic order,
the sober common sense OF the AmeTi-
can people, which has never yet failed
in a crisis, will rescue us from the
doubtless well intended, but fearfully
mistaken purposes Of the new deal"
One Of the domestic evils which
brought on disaster to the economic
system was the swift and unprece-
dented growth OF huge business units
Knox said These were permitted to
grow until they became unwieldy and
inefficient. They gobbled up the
smaller and more efficient competitor
to throttle competition and passed
the cost along to the consuming pub
lie in the form of higher prices.
"A competitive system which per-
mitted such practices was inevitably
destined to collapse" he said. 1T
served to destroy the underlying
principle of competition which was
essential to the successful operation
of the system.
What has the present administra-
tion done to meet this evil?
Instead Of freeing competition and
cleansing the system, it has, through
its National Recovery Administration
gone into partnership with every great
combination in the country, put the
whole power of the Federal admins
tration behind price structure that
would make the most inefficient unit
in the industry profitable. 1t has ig-
nored the right of the consuming
public to competition in prices and
has gone fare to fix monopolistic con-
troll in many lines of industry.
Criticizers Denounced.
This is precisely what has hap
pened in the planned economies Of
Europe; it is in process of achieve
ment here and now. Those of us
who have dared to criticize this
sweeping change in our economic sys-
TEN, who have sought to point out
the perils of such a course, who have
even had the temerity to suggest
alternative policies. have all alike
been denounced as tories. diehard
conservatives and blind reactionaries.
That is what Gen. Johnson called
me when insisted I would sign no
newspaper code which did not include
a specific guarantee against any in
fringement upon the freedom Of the
press. And now Gen. johnson saws
he understands better in the light of
what transpired in Germany why such
a restatement was necessary.
Thirty years ago I was fighting
against the perils of the American
system of great combination of cap
ital and industry under another
Roosevelt. l followed him in his pro-
gressive battles against the evils
of monopoly and overcapitalization
through his services as President. l
even followed him out of the Repub-
lican party in 1912 in support of the
same intelligent, progressive program.
have no need to change my convic-
tions."
Inspiration From Europe.
The inspiration for the new order.
Knox declared, comes in part at least
from the planned economies as prac-
ticed in Germany, Italy, Russia and
Austria. Explaining that he had re-
Gently returned from a personal study
of conditions in these four nations.
Knox concluded:
In every instance in the four
countries where the new order OBJ
tains, individual rights have been ut
terly and completely destroyed. 1t
seems to me. therefore, fair deduc-
tlon that the practice of a planned
economy necessarily involves the de-