The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1934-05-10
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National Topics Interpreted a f111l1lN
by William Bruckart <SnFn}1E
Turning Conservative

Turning Conservative
There is a rising tide of belief here
in Washington that President Roose-
velt's policies are leaning more away
from the things that marked them as
the "New Deal" year ago. 1t can be
doubted no longer that he is veering
away to some extent from the exper-
imentation that constituted the pro-
gram advanced by the myriads of pro-
fessors with whom he surrounded him
self at the start of his administration.
Professors are not carrying the wa
ter on their shoulders that they did
awhile ago, and it has been noted that
Mr.. Roosevelt is less and less willing
to leap before he looks. =
Upon the cut of the fabric at this
time, / believe the consensus to be
that Mr.. Roosevelt is turning to a
more stable, as distinguished from
theoretical, foundation for the future.
The developments have been predi-
Gated apparently on swing in pub
lie sentiment. Obviously, without pub
lie sentiment behind any plan, there
will be dearth of confidence. By all
and sundry, it is said the President is
seeking to establish confidence. Most
of all, and finally, it seems he has ar
rived at the necessity for winning
confidence of business people, big and
little, so that distinct changes can be
expected through the summer when
congress is not here to worry him.
Doubtless, the trend towards the
conservative instead Of the more rad
ical course he followed earlier, is due
to the fact that the bulk of the people
now feel they have right to state
objections. Surely, objections are be-
ing stated to greater extent than at
any time since he took office. In 9TH
er words, the theories of the profess
ors have proved bad in spots, and any
nation of ambitious people eventually
will tire of preachments. The danger
is that the pendulum will swing too
far, and that the good and practicable
things of the New Deal may be wash
ed out by wave of conservatism and
reaction.
There are numerous things to which
attention may be called in demonstrat-
ing that Mr.. Roosevelt is not going to
experiment too much in the future.
His flat-footed stand against nation
alization of silver is one. His determ-
ination to tinker no further with the
currency is another. A third indica-
tion is the Presidents decision to see
that the capital goods or durable
goods industry can have some relief,
and another intimation is the way
congress has acted about legislation
to control the security exchanges. The
President could have made congress
put teeth in the stock exchange bill
if he wanted to do so. But he has held
off. Likewise, he has taken position
against payment of deposits in closed
banks by use of inflationary schemes.
All of these things are the vehicles of
those who would go far on the radical
courses.
Mr.. Roosevelt has not stressed NRA
expansion as his radical followers
thot he was going to press it. Those
who conceived NRA still do not admit
that NRA has ground down the. little
business in the interests of the big
ones, but Mr.. Roosevelt apparently
sees it. He is represented in high
places as hoping that the MIRA board
of review will show up the weaknesses
of the codes so that notifications can
be made where necessary. Many of
the "NRA crowd" as they have come
to be known here, are disgruntled
about it. They think that MIRA like
the king, can do no wrong. Being a
keen student and a master psycholo-
gist, Mr.. Roosevelt sees those things
and he has taken hold of them appar-
emily before they have become so bad
as to destroy whatever benefits that
may accrue.
Too Idealistic
What is the cause for the change
in the scenery? There are two rea-
sons of which l hear discussion most
frequently. Many of the plans were
too idealistic for use universally
among a practical people, and, the
second, there is a tendency to write
1sThou shall not" into too much legis-
lation and regulation for carrying out
the recovery program.
The American people, as I judge
them, will obey orders that change
their lives around for just so long.
Then, they blow up in big way.
For an example of what ! mean