Evening star., 1934-02-15
The Political Mill
BY C. Could Lincoln.

Subsidies, according to Senator
Mcclellan Of Tennessee, Democratic
chairman Of the Senate Post Once
Committee, are the root Of ell evil.
There never was o subsidy, he insists,
where there has not been graft and
corruption. He was speaking apropos
Of the eirmail subsidies. He has been
q critic for years Of the ocean mail
subsidies, too, designed to help build
up and maintain an overseas Amer
ican merchant marine. Perhaps the
Senator from Tennessee Is right about
subsidies leading to graft and cor
ruption. II he Is, what Is going to
be the fate of the system under which
hundreds of millions Of dollars are
being passed out in subsidies to wheat,
Gotten and other farmers? These
farmer subsidies are paid, not to build
up agricultural production but to keep
it down. But they are subsidies,
nevertheless, and they are all coming
out of the American public, one way
or another. They may be necessary.
But they give no assurance Of keep
ing down agricultural production o
moment longer than the Government
continues to pay them. The ocean
mail subsidies and the airmail sub
sides were declared to be essential to
a proper development Of the merchant
marine and the commercial airline
service, for freight, passenger and mail
transportation. They were paid by
the Government, not to tear down, but
to build up.
The farmer subsidies go to millions
Of people. The mail subsidies 20 to
a comparatively limited number Of
persons, although it must be remem-
bered that they aid in the employ
ment of a very much larger group Of
persons and in the support Of the de-
pendents Of those employees. Whether
the farmer subsidies are right or
wrong, whether they will lead to graft
and corruption or not, they certainly
are more popular. They are popular
because they put money into the
hands OF so many more persons, Just
as the civil works are popular and
the huge sums expended for relief.
Perhaps subsidy by some other
name smells sweeter than the Gov
ernment payment which bears that
familiar and odorous title. The farm
er subsidies are not called subsidies.
But they are just that, when given by
the Government for services rendered,
even II those services are merely turn
ing under planted cotton or refrain
ing from planting wheat. The ad-
ministration has just come forward
with a new plan, sugar bounty plan,
whereby American sugar beet pro-
ducers are to be paid bounties until
the American sugar production has
been wiped out, and the sugar used
by Americans will be imported from
Cuba. the sugar bowl of the world,
and from the Philippines. This sub
sidy, like the other farmer subsidies,
is not to pay for the building up of
American farm production, but for
the reverse.
1t has long been charged that the
protective tariff system provides q
subsidy to industry. 1t also provides
in many. instances q subsidy to the
farmers, although any protection
given the farmers is usually spoken
of much more kindly. The tariff
however, has been levied to aid In
the building UP of American produc-
ing enterprises. And while it has
helped the manufacturer and the
farmer, 1t has also aided industrial
labor and farm labor, brought higher
| standards of living in its trail There
are a lot Of Democrats today who
would scream with just as much pain
as Republicans If there was a sudden
wiping out Of the tariff duties i'm
posed by law on many articles And
yet some Of these tariff subsidies are
too high and need attention by the
administration and the Congress just
| as surely as the mail contracts.
Postmaster General Farley in hi.
| letter to Senator Black setting forth
the reasons for his action in annullins
all domestic airmail contracts makes
q strong case. 1t Is, Of course, ar
| ex parte statement. 1t does not at
tempt to give the other side of tht
| picture. There has been no appear
ance Of former Postmaster Walter
Brown before any committee of tht
Senate or other tribunal to explain
the acts Of which Mr.. Farley com.
plains. Perhaps Mr. Brown will mo-
be able to explain them satisfactorily
That Is something still to be de.
termined, however. Col Charles A
Lindbergh wrote President Roosevelt
strong telegram the other day, pro.
testing vigorously against the blanket
order annullling all the airmail con.
tracts. His statement, like that o.
Mr.. Farley, was an ex parte state.
ment. The sooner the arguments anc
| facts are joined before some tribuna
the better.
On the surface, it looks as though
the commercial aviation companie.
were going through the process oi
overfinancial development, with a 10
Of watering" Mr.. Farley charge.
that the airmal appropriations have
been expended for the benefit Of 8
favored few corporations, which coulc
use the funds as the basis of wild
stock promotions resulting in profit,
Of tens of millions Of dollars to pro-
moters who invested little or no cap
ital." That is not pretty picture
If the Government can succeed ir
squeezing the water" out of this new
agency Of travel and communication
before it is too late, so much the bet
ter for the travelling public, and sc
much the better for the air lines ir
the long run and the less danger fol-
them to go into the hands of receiver:
in the end If Mr.. Farley's charge
sticks and Is proved entirely correct
1t must be attributed not so much tc
subsidy system, which, after all, may
have been necessary to give com.
mercial aviation a start In this coun-
try, but to the fallibility of men.
|
Senator Joe Robinson of Arkansas
having seen his party take away tn
political shirts of the Republicans
undertook to remove Abraham Lin
/ al - -