Evening star., 1934-09-30


more in the terms of how much Of
the gross income of industry must
be spread out in salaries and wages
ket for the output of our power
economy. This Is not only socially
desirable from the consumers point
Of view, but is the only sure safe
guard Of the producers interests In
an age Of lavish productive power.
The success of private enterprise
in this power age is impossible apart
from the prompt construction of an
economics Of plenty. The survival
Of political liberty will, in like man
ner, depend upon our devising ways
of science, technology and power pro-
duction at the disposal Of the masses.
None OF the experimental govern
ments now in existence would have
risen to power had the leadership
OF the private enterprise of the last
half century proved as expert in the
development of an economics of con-
sumption as it proved in the develop
ment OF a technology Of production.
Lenin, Stain. Mussolini, Hitler, Roose-
welt and the whole gallery of political
experimentalists have flowered from
the soil of insecurity. I suspect that
not a single one of these govern
ments would have come to power in
national situation of peace, plenty
and psychology of security.
Fears Standardized State.
The masses are always more eager
for security than they are enamored
Of liberty. They will sell their liberty
at the drop of the hat to any leader
ship that gives promise of governing
them handsomely and walling them
about with sense of security.
The mass demand for economic Sc
curity will grow louder and louder.
| My fear is that the politicians will
hear it. while the business men, in
dustrialists and financiers will not.
If that happens, we shall be in for
generation of legislation that will
! level the men and enterprises of the
United States down to a slimly Sc
cure but uninspiring and, in my
judgment, ultimately unproductive
| life even for the masses. l refuse to
believe that We are doomed to the
destiny of fairly we'll clothed and
fairly we'll fed helots of a standard
lied state. And yet it is to just this
that political pressure from the
| masses will drive us unless business
and industrial leadership promptly
and effectively develops a workable
and widely effective economics of
consumption.
l want security for all as ardently
as any Stain wants it; but I want it
in terms of a civilization that knows
how to correlate security and free
dom. I want to will to my son an
America in which q great economic
leadership has boldly recast its eco
nomic policies for the distribution of
wealth to reflect its technical proc
eSseS for the production of wealth.
In such an America security for all
| will not mean ironing the life of the
| Nation down to the drab sameness of
a Shaker village. Security for the
masses is not incompatible with high
adventure and high prizes for excep-
tional genius.
| Salvation Seen in Reform.
The business men, industrialists
and financiers of the United States
should just now be more ardently re-
formist than Roosevelt. That way
lies their salvation. With their first
hand knowledge they can. if they will,
give us reforms that will save us in
stead of sink us. But if industry
does not give us an economics of
plenty, government will give us a
politics Of security. Some leadership
somehow must attempt to spread a
buying power that will give the mil
lions satisfactory access to the plenty
duce.
All of which leads me to the crucial
question: How shall we 60 about
bringing our capacity to purchase
abreast Of our capacity to produce?
BY what means shall We effect this
imperative spread of buying power?
And who shall assume responsibility
for the spreading?
II private enterprise will do it Gov
ernment will not attempt it. II pri-
vate enterprise will not attempt it
Government must try to do it. 1t will
have no choice. Any government that
refuses to effect, either through pri-
vate enterprise or in spite Of 1t, such
new controls as may have become i'm
perative will be ruthlessly thrown out
of power by a disillusioned and de-
termined people.
Two Methods Outlined.
II Government is left to take the
initiative and responsibility for
spreading buying power widely enough
to save the mechanisms of this age
of plenty from collapsing there are
but two ways in which, through posi-
tive action, it can go about it.
Through what it does respecting
the taxation of incomes, corporation
activities, excess profits, capital gains,
estates and the like, as well as
through the use to which 1t puts the
funds it thus raises, Government can
go far toward spreading the national
income more widely, and can, through
the exercise Of the taxing power, ex-
ert very effective control over eco
nomic processes generally. 1t can
stop development on this sector of
the industrial front through near
confiscatory taxation and speed up
development on that sector through
preferential taxation.
Government can, on the other hand,
apply wage, hour, price and profit
policies that will surely build q de-
pendable market for your lush out
put and lift the standard Of living
for all classes of Americans.
And, in the end, both you and the
/ masses will be better OF. But, bear
in mind, If you do not promptly give
evidence of such policies, government
must take you in hand and, despite
its limitations in the field OF creative
enterprise. try to invest your policies
with greater social validity.
Stabilization Is Urged.
| We must stabilize our enterprise.
If private leadership does not, then
public leadership must try. But we
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