Evening star., 1934-03-04

A Serious Indictment.
This is a serious indictment of the
new deal. 1t implies that even though
the President himself has none of the
characteristics of q dictator, his good
nature has prevented him from curb
ing the highhanded impetuosity OF
some Of his advisers. Only that, for
example, can explain the imperious
abrogation Of the airmail contracts.
condemning in advance all airlines
alike without a hearing, thus aban-
doning the American tradition that
a man is innocent until proved guilty,
and substituting for it the European
conception that man is guilty until
he is proved innocent. The super
cilious and arrogant attempt of one
of the Presidents secretaries to be-
little COL Lindbergh's telegram to the
President by implying that the colonel
was merely a publicity seeker likewise
showed a spirit of impatience with
all criticism which Is more charac-
teristic Of dictatorship than q
democracy.
This unwillingness to tolerate criti-
cism of any sort is ominous because
it is part of the strategy with which
a small group Of determined reform
ers" close to the President are forcing
an unsuspecting nation to accept
fundamental changes in the Ameri-
can system. Realizing that the only
hope of nationalizing the ec2nc-lic
and social structure of the county
as they wish it-substituting paternal-
isnl-is to prevent discussion and
force through the desired measures in
the guise Of emergency relief, they
have acted accordingly. Violating the
tradition that bills shall be drawn up
by Congress, the administration sent
measure after measure to Congress
with the direction to put it through"
and waste no time discussing it. Not
content with this unusual procedure,
the Presidents advisers in one case
the Tugwell bill-used the Govern
ment frank to send out propaganda
in its behalf before the bill had been
introduced and supplied free motion
pictures on the subject so as to arouse
public support.
Our good-natured public, reposing
full confidence in the stanch Ameri-
canism of Franklin Roosevelt, refused
to heed the warning of such men as
Mark Sullivan and Ogden Mills that
the Presidents advisers were in truth
planning fundamental changes in the
American system. Even today the
public will not face the evidence in
the measures already passed, showing
beyond doubt that the new deal is
leading to a planned economy, which
is merely another name for a pater-
nalistic RECOMMENDATION and control of
our economic life by the Federal Gov
ernment. Call it collectivism, or State
socialism, or fascism, or State capi-
talism, or economic nationalism. or
what you will-the concept is alien
to our traditional democratic system.
It assumes that the individual exists
only for the State-that henceforth
he Is to be not citizen but a subject.
The Growth of Power.
Into the hands of the Federal Gov
ernment are being gathered all sorts
Of hitherto ra-governmental p0w-
ers. Through the A. A. A. Washing
ton is telling the farmers what and
how much they may grow. Through
the N. r. A. and the new security
act it is reserving the right to check
the expansion of industrial plants. It
is fixing wages and hours of work. In
the name Of farm relief 1t is main
tanning artificial prices of certain
agricultural products. Through the
R. F. c. it has acted as banker, money
lender and financier. The H. o. L. G.
and the F. o. L. G. have put It In
the mortgage business. Under the T.
". A. Il - building and 0xpect0 10