The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-03-22

y 80
| always rathe@ a
doubtful asset. 1t
caused the people Llppmann
to expect too much; it caused the
Washington officials to be over
confident. Perhaps, then, it Is just
as we'll to be done with it and to
move on to the more proSaic level
of ordinary government.
Apart from the loss of some of
his surplus prestige, the affair of
the air mail should not have any
deep and lasting consequences on
the political fortunes of the Presi-
dent. The public is certain to con-
clude that the error was due to an
excess of zeal and that no sinister
purpose was involved.
That is easier to forgive than it's
opposite, the excessive complacency,
for example, with which the Cool
idge administration regarded the
scandals of the Harding regime. 1t
will not be easy to make very much
political capital out of a patiently
honest mistake.
NTOR is the kind of mistake
IN which could Of itself turn pub
lie opinion decisively against the
party in power. 1t could do so only
if much more general conditions
we're producing discomfort. Then
any incident might crystalline the
opposition. We saw that last au-
tumn, when for about two weeks
the administration was on the de-
fensive, because of the manner in
which it initiated the gold purchase
policy and reorganized the treasury.
That, too, was case Of bad admin
iStration.
But it had no lasting consequences
because the fundamental actions Of
the President in the field of none
tary policy and public expenditure
produced such prompt and such gen.
eral good effects. For a week the
opposition thought it could organize.
But it could not. By December the
President was stronger than ever.
His popularity rose with the sense
of economic revival throughout the
country. SO it is today. The air
mail is a blunder But it is not
disaster. The real peril to the adj
ministration lies elsewhere in the
field of its major, not of its minor
and incidental actions.
1t lies, I believe, all in the NRA
as now administered.
THERE are two very great trou-
Il blemakers in MIRA. One is the
propaganda which has taught the
people to believe that NRA is a
great instrument for restoring pros
perity. The other is that NRA has
started so many things which it
can not hope to finish.
The propaganda has given official
approval to the theory that the de-
preston can best be overcome by
shorter hours and higher wages. If
this theory we're correct, there is no
reason why we should not impose a.
seven-hour week at seven times the
existing wages. That ough to cure
the depression even more quickly
than a 10 per cent reduction Of
hours and 10 per cent increase in
pay.
Why should we not do it2 The
answer is that nobody could afford
to buy the goods produced at such
cost. Since nobody could buy them,
no one could sell them, and so there
would be more unemployment rather
than less. Now, NRA has been
working on just that principle; it
has been forcing wages and costs
up. This has forced up prices.
Higher prices have reduced de-
mand. Reduced demand has him
dered unemployment.
The theory is false. even though
in special cases of sweating it is
desirable on social and even on eco
nomic grounds to force up labor
costs.
4 S general rule applied to in
L A dustry in general it is bound
to be false because it is the demand
coming from consumers in general,
not the demand coming from the
relatively small number of indus
trial wage earners affected by codes,
which determines how much en-
ployment there will be. 1t is this
general consumer demand which has
to be stimulated, and it is not
stimulated but is depressed by the
rise of industrial prices which have
followed in the wake of NRA.
Had NRA been set up as the law
intended. in the spirit in which it
was written, no industry, except
where there is vicious sweating.
would be under code if the man.
ayers did not want that code very
badly A code would be a favor
granted, for which they would be
grateful. Then if they did not
comply the remedy would be to take
away the code and enforce the anti
trust laws. That might worw. But
when codes have been imposed, just
how are you going to compel COM
pliance? If anybody thinks the
government can do it with injunc-
tons he is deceiving himself. Or
gained labor knows that.
1t is serious. potentially very seri-
Gus. 1t is in the complex Of the
NRA, in the fallacy Of its economy
theory and in the gross distortion
which with the law is being put into
effect, that the administration is
most dangerously threatened. 1t can
stand the incident of the air mail.
1t can not stand the hating of re-
covery and the provoking Of great
industrial disturbances.