Evening star., 1934-06-29
Text of Roosevelt's Radio Address
PRESIDENT SURVEYS AND OUTLINES

ernment. Since January, those OF
us in whom you have rested re-
sponsibility have been engaged in
the fulfillment of plans and poll
cies which had been widely dis
cussed in previous months. 1t
seemed to us our duty not only to
make the right path clear but also
to tread that path.
As we review the achievements OF
this session of the seventy-third Con-
gress, it is made increasingly clear that
its task was essentially that of COM
pleting and fortifying the work 1t had
begun in March, 1888. That was no
easy task, but the Congress was equal
to it. 1t has been well said tnat,
while there were a few exceptions,
this Congress displayed a greater
freedom from mere partisanship than
any other peace-time Congress since
the administration of President
himself. The session was
by the extent and va
riety of legislation enacted and by
the intelligence and goodwill OF de-
bate upon these measures.
Names MAJOR Enactmehts'
I mention only a few of the major
enactments. 1t provided for the re-
adjustment Of the debt burden
through the corporate and municipal
bankruptcy acts and the farm relief
act. 1t lent a hand to industry by
encouraging loans to solvent indus
tries unable to secure adequate help
from banking institutions. 1t strength
ened the integrity of finance through
the regulation of securities exchanges.
It provided a rational method of in
creaSing our volume of foreign trade
through reciprocal trading agree
ments. 1t strengthened our naval
forces to conform with the intentions
and permission of existing treaty
rights. 1t made further advances
toward peace in industry through
the labor adjustment act. 1t sup
plemented our agricultural pollcy
through measures widely demanded
by farmers themselves and intended
to avert price-destroying surpluses.
1t strengthened the hand of the Fed
eral Government in its attempts to
suppress gangster crime. 1t took den-
mite steps toward national housing
program through and act, which l
signed today. designed to encourage
private capital in the rebuilding OF
the homes of the Nation. 1t created
permanent Federal body for the
just regulation of all forms of COM
munication, including the telephone,
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Finally. and I believe most i'm
portant, it recognized, simplified and
made more fair and just our none
tary system, setting up standards and
policies adequate to meet the necessi-
ties Of modern economic life, doing
justice to both gold and silver as
the metal bases behind the currency
of the United States.
Steps to Safeguard Life.
In the consistent development Of
our previous efforts toward the saw
ing and safeguarding of our national
life, I have continued to recognize
three related steps:
The first was relief. because the
primary concern of any government
dominated by the humane ideals of
democracy is the simple principle that
in a land of vast resources no one
should be permitted to starve. Relief
was, and continues to be, our first
consideration. 1t calls for large ex-
penditures and will continue in modi-
fed form to do so for a long time to
come. We may as well recognize that
fact. 1t comes from the paralysis
that arose as the after-effect of that
unfortunate decade characterized by a
mad chase for unearned riches and
an unwillingness of leaders in almost
every walk of life to look beyond their
own schemes and speculations. In
our administration of relief we follow
two principles: First, that direct CIV
ing shall, wherever possible, be sup
plemented by provision for useful and
remunerative work. and, second. that
where families in their existing sur
roundings will in all human prob
ability, never find an opportunity for
full self-maintenance. happiness and
enjoymet, we will try to give them a
ew chance in new surroundings.
Recovery Another step.
The second step was recovery, and
it is sufficient for me to ask each
and every one of you to compare the
situation in agriculture and in indus
try today with what it was Is months
ago
At the same time we have recog-
niZed the necessity of reform and re-
onstruction-reform because much of
our trouble today and in the past few
years has been due to a lack of un-
derstanding Of the elementary princi-
piles of justice and fairness by those
in whom leadership in business and
finance was placed; reconstruction
because new conditions in our eco
nomic life. as well as old but neg
lected conditions, had to be corrected
Substantial gains we'll known to all
of you have justified our course.
could cite statistics to you as unan-
Swerable measures of our national
progress-statistics to show the gain
in the average weekly pay envelope
of workers in the great majority of
industries; statistics to show hundreds
of thousands re-employed in private
industries and other hundreds of
thousands given new employment
through the expansion of direct and
indirect Government assistance of
many kinds, although, of course, there
are those exceptions in professional
pursuits whose economic improvement
of necessity will be delayed
I also could cite statistics to show
the great rise in the value of farm
products to prove the de-
mand for consumers goods, ranging
all the way from food and clothing
to automobiles, and of late to prove
the rise in the demand for durable
goods; statistics to cover the great in
crease in bank deposits and to show
the scores of thousands of homes and
of farms which have been saved from
foreclosure
Asks Individual Comparison.
But the simplest way for each of
you to judge recovery lies in the plain
facts of your own individual situa-
tion. Are you better off than you
were last year? Are your debts less