Evening star., 1934-09-21
In the Realm of the Blind
One.Eyed Man Is King

To the Editor Of The stsr:
To bewail the utilities of Prof.
Carothers, in his mental anguish over
the aims of the New Deal, Is merely
to tar ones self with the same stick
II the worthy doctor runs true to form
in refusing to leave the time of Adam
Smith, let US at least give thanks that
he takes us back no further than to
Hebrew chronology. His distress over
the fact that is gradually dawning
upon him, namely, that after messing
about" for q year and q half the Gov
ernment is still unable to answer his
16 questions, must awaken our SYM
pathies. But unfortunately this Is by
no means the worst of it. Let us re-
mind the good doctor that in the
realm of the blind the one-eyed man
is king. Were it merely the Govern
ment that Is running amok, we might
bear up. We can, supposedly, change
q government. But are not the in
telligent electorate, the bankers, the
business men, the princes of industry
and even the noted economists" all
in the same boat?
The professor may possibly be able
to tell us who, among these worthless,
can answer his questions. But it is
doubtful If he can tell us who can
answer them in the same way. Why,
then, the astonishment at the some
what obvious delinquencies of the
Government?
Let us glance, II but for q moment,
at few of these questions, taken
at random. What Is the Govern
ment's intention In regard to the
tariff" Fancy q noted economist, and
above all o citizen of the State of
Pennsylvania, asking q question such
as that. Next, Can a patriotic citi-
zen safely buy Government bond,
when the promises as to twenty bill
lion dollars worth Of bonds were abro-
gated last year?" To all who, like
Prof. Carothers, regard q bond as a
bullion contract. as it in fact professed
to be, the answer is obviously, GER
tainly not! Merely calculate your
chance OF getting your share of bullion,
and what your share would come to
In a case Of share and share alike.
However, the illusion was, we under
stand, first come. first served. So that
the professor, If active, might have
been one of the lucky ones. Next and
last, If consumer power is all that
Is needed to restore prosperity, why not
END depression by doubling all wages
oy law?" The catch here Is not where
IL might be assumed to be. Con
sumner power" Is, in fact, all that is
needed to end depression, but it has
nothing to do with quoted wage rates
The crucial point of all that the
good professor tries to tell us is COM
prlsed In his thesis, THE unregulated
economic order Is q planned economy
ana freedom of competition makes the
whole system automatically co-oper-
atiVe." Now this is controversial to
the last degree, but, nevertheless. the
ooctor mas here something that he can
put his teeth into, and he would doubt
less put up q good argument. But, not
content with resting on his oars and
laurels, he must write his book" He
must take club and do his own work
TO death. Note his proviso. His highly
efncient system fails when the auto.
FAoy "a competitive FORCES Is
lnterfered with. And that we NAV be
under no possible illusions whatsoever
ne quotes US, categorically, the chief
lnterferences. In his own words. they
are war. currency imitation. monopolies
class legislation, restriction of produc-
ton, tariffs, exploitation by stock rig
gers. extortionate labor unions. ma
]ority stockholders, employers of
women and children. ETC., etc. Which
leaves us in a veritabIe mess. For.
aside from the regrettable irregularity
and inadequacy Of current intestinal
elimination. the doctors list covers the
chief grievances that beset mortal man
in this vale Of tears. All of them are
with us some Of the time, and some of
them are with us all of the time.
The horns Of the dilemma are the
system would be, If, but cannot be.
because. But what the doctor does is
to snatch the critical contentious of
the "self-appointed planners, of the
messers in" and "fortuitous tinkers''
with all that should be held sacred"
and rush headlong into his opponents
goal.
Which arouses our curiosity as To
what. If anything, the worthy doctor is
trying to prove. P. r. WHITMAN.