The Washington times., 1934-09-04

= eS. Many Hdu X :&}S%'
hoped for some 1.w,. H.n.v
moderation of ~
his radical attitude, and for indi-
.. cations of a return to sounder
=. economic policies. I could see no
= change, however, most Of the
talk being of further reforms"
He began by holding out
hopes of almost free electricity
in every home, which shows
that he is still unwilling to
count the costs involved in
production, especially the costs
Of capital. The taxpayer must
pay for what is given to others.
AS he want on, he aligned him
self with Prof. Tugwell who was
talking at about the same time
in attacking individualism and
competition. This means that he
still denies the validity of economic
laws, and insists that the Govern
.ment can control economic life in
ways that conflict with the law
of supply and demand.
One thing was striking, in his
prediction campaign, at Salt Lake
City, he said that man can con-
troll nature and can make economic
laws. But as he stood in the
drought-stricken Dakotas last
month, he said this is not my
fault-nature did it. He did not
admit failure, and made new prom
sizes; but the contrast should give
us fIcd for thought-though not
for our stomachs.
Ntkt, I note that there was an
3 effort to induce the Administra-
= ton to give reinsurance to busi-
ness, in order to revive the wan
ing confidence. My impression is
that the response was most dis
= appointing, and even Secretary
= Roper has recently admitted that
sentiment is at low ebb.
When the President and his
advisors talk of allowing prof
its" they always hedge, and it is
plain that they cling to the
scheme of dOling out wages"
which cannot be earned by
labor because so many employ
erS can't make a profit.
u Underlying all is seen the de-
vices for getting votes. In addi-
ton to promises of more abun.
dant electric refrigeratorS, A. F.
of L. and laborers are counting
on living on the taxpayer while
striking for recognition of the
union, etc., it is possible that we
may see a million textile workers
supported by the Government
while they tie up all textile
plants. (After all, this would be
much like the payments made to
farmers for not farmingO
Another vote-getting device is
the virtual pegging of cotton at
IL cents. This is. step in the
direction of inSuring incomes to
farmers. Will the farmers not
vote for the hand that feeds
: them?
Fourth, the Government seized
!. all our monetary silver and be-
gan fairly large-scale purchases of
foreign silver. It wants more
: money to spend and lend, and is
going to make much of this
money out of silver. AS it is over
valuing that metal, it will even
,tually write up a paper profit for
the Treasury as it did after seiz-
ing our gold.
One result was a premonitory
crack in Government bonds, at
tending a break in the foreign
exchange rate of the dollar.
These things were also related to
a threatening weakness in the
market for our issue of Govern
ment guaranteed bonds. This
weakening in Government credit
was soon checked. 1t showed an
ugly financial background, how
ever, and there is less chance of
an issue of long-term bonds in
October.
" I can barely mention two
other events which impressed me.
One was the virtual liquidation
of NRA. Reports indicate that
it will come down to a prohibi-
tion of child labor and enforce.
.ment of maximum hours and
fair competition, under the Fed
eral Trade Commission, the De-
partment of Justice and the
Bureau of Labor. Most people
have long stood for these things.
How different from last Au-
gust.
The other is the new Liberty
League formed by prominent
Democrats and Republicans.
This means that at last the
fundamental issues of the New
Deal are to be faced. They
are the American Constitution
and the rights of individual
initiative which it gives.