The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-05
ON EXPERIMENTATION

OERtAHS Cne cnle1 item OF charm and
promise in the Roosevelt administration
is that which relates to his zest for expert
mentation. He stands in marked and alluring
contrast to the standpatters, devoid of an
spirit Of ingenuity or intellectual daring, who
have sat in the White House since Woodrow
Wilson's collapse
Most persons blessed with red blood and
animated cerebration would prefer to run on
the rocks with dashing skipper than to found
er ANONYMOUSLY under an inert and timid COM
mander 1t is certain that the old ways were
about 100 per cent wrong. There is at least
a chance that one who traverses new and un-
trodden paths ultimately may discover the
right route to economic reconstruction.
But even in this captivating field of social
experimentation, there are certain considera-
tions Of common sense and sound logic which
we can not afford to lose sight of.
President Roosevelt recently was quoted by
a writer of the New York Times as saying that
he had in his mind at any time not one but
dozen possible solutions for any major economic
problem of today.
Now, fecundity is a virtue in the field of
experimentation, but so is broad information
and logical precision. For many of the prob
lens which face Mr.. Roosevelt there are a
dozen solutions, any che of which might lead
to moderate success. In some cases there may
not be more than one or two ways out, and
some major issues may be entirely insoluble
under capitalism.
The popular slogan that I'VE will try any
thing once" is less sound than the axiom that
To
be some reasonable prospect that 1t might work.
1t is an excellent procedure for the de-
termined experimental to get the best pos
sible advice from every possible angle and
school of thought. After all of these conflict
ing judgments have been pooled and analysed,
however, one must be willing and able to
formulate a decisive policy and then stick to it
until experiment has proved it to be either a
demonstrable success or an undoubted failure.
So far President Roosevelt seems to have
been more successful in his commendable will
ingnesS to listen to a diversity of advocates
than in the indispensable capacity ultimately
to arrive at definite judgment which he will
follow relentlessly His persistence in his gold
buying policy should not be allowed to obscure
the larger fact that his monetary and financial
policies, as whole, thus far have lacked unity
conference and continuity.
Aside from these basic theoretical observa-
tons upon experimentation, we have to bear in
mind at all times the fact that President of
the United States, particularly in a period of
great economic stress, is not operating in an
unpopulated scientific laboratory. His expert
ments always are hampered by the necessity
of taking into account the whims the passing
fancies and feeting affections of mankind.
Even If we were to admit that in vacuum,
the mind which has dozen solutions for every
problem would be ideal, such mentality would
find it difficult to operate in democracy The
people demand results especially in a period
of strain and stress when millions are hungry
and half clothed. And they particularly are
insistent that something decisive must be done
promptly by person whom they have cast in
messianic role, which is notably the case in the
instance of Mr.. Roosevelt
If several different lines of economic expert
nent are tried and failure follows, Mr.. Roose-
velts prestige will be impaired seriously, if not
fatally. Thereafter, the people will have no
confidence in him, even though his expert
mentation has all the logic and success which
accompanied Galileos discovery of the law of
falling bodies.
1t Is not relevant to argue that there is no
logic or fundamental justice in such f1ckleness
or Impotence as the populace invariably ex-
hibits. 1t suff1ces to note that this is the way
things work in a democracy. In addition to
the potential Impotence of the mass of those
who remain, as yet the Presidents well-wish-
ers one also must reckon with the malignant
hatred of our powerful tories who wish to dis
credit experimentation and the President alike.
We may rejoice that we have a President
with brilliant mind and fertile magma
ton But it is not unkind to suggest that it
will pay him or any other social experimenter
to be as near correct as possible in all of his
experiments and to put them into operation
with all reasonable expedition. Only in this
way can the indispensable technique of eX-
Fermentation be harmonized with the imper-
feet workings of majority rule.