Evening star., 1934-12-16
New Superbrain Trust Now Wanted to
Coordinate New Deal Recovery Plans

tration supported an artificial wage
scale in the building trades, while
NJ r. A. was busy giving the build
ing material industry a machinery
to be used In helping to maintain
high building material costs. Now
housing program IS being brought
forward to rescue P. w. A.
Or take the Agricultural Adjust
ment Administrators experiment in
cotton. Through production control
and through Federal loans, the price
Of cotton has more than doubled in
the past ID months. In addition,
benefit payments to the extent of
$241 ,000,0 900 have been poured into
the South. That region reports the
greatest prosperity for landowners
in years.
But side by side with that pros
perity goes an astonishing increase in
the number of persons on public relief
rolls. This increase in some large
centers amounts to as much as 100
per cent compared with a year ago.
Just what does this mean? Simply
that In seeking to aid one class of the
population, the Government appar-
emily has injured another class.
The landowner and the favored
renter have been helped greatly, but
the laborer, the tenant and the share
cropper have been cut loose from
their former jobs, because there was
cut OF 40 per cent in the acreage
planted to cotton. Just as when an
industry closes down it throws people
out OF jobs, so when agriculture closes
part OF its plant, labor loses out. The
loss In cotton Is set at about 300 900
Jobs. Those losing out are getting
Government relief, paid for by general
taxation.
Or the searcher for policies that
were designed to bring one result,
and actually brought another, can
turn to the Governments silver pro-
gram. This plan was supposed to
make every Chinese a customer of
| American manufacturers and Amer
lean farmers. It was to raise the
price OF silver. China has a lot of
silver, so with higher prices she. could
| sell her silver to the United States
and take goods in return. The Chi
nese sold their silver, all right. but
the result wasn't as anticipated. As
the silver went out, def1ation set in
and the Chinese found themselves in
financial trouble. They turned out
to be the one people buying less from
| the United States this year than last.
But American owners of silver and
| owners of silver mines reaped q rich
reward
Even the new housing program Of
fers its complications.
Just as 1t gets ready to start out
on plan to offer long-term financ-
ing to people desiring to build houses,
and long-term reflnancing to banks
having mortgages they want made
liquid, the F. H. A. discovers that
about AZ States have laws prohibit
ing first mortgages for an amount
above so per cent of the assessed
value of the property. Their loans
were to be up to 80 per cent. This
reveals the need for State Coop
Grafton.
But before any building boom gets
under way, there must be an incen-
tive to build. At present people can
rent houses or buy existing houses
more cheaply than they can build.
If the Government sets out to re-
| verse that situation by doing the
building itself, and cutting down costs
| Of construction and Of financing, it
runs smack up against the fact that
1t Is undermining present real estate
values. The Government itself will
have loaned $4,000, ,Ooo, 900 on the
basis Of present values and those
loans might be jeopardized If the
building industry should become as
efficient as the automobile industry
and offer the same type of values
, All these things simply reflect the
difficulties that arise when the Fed
eral Government sets out to help
particular groups In the population.
They don't point to any way to do
the job better than it has been done.
(Copyright. 1934)