The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-07-02

! Harry Elmer Barnes, Phi. D.. the achievements
and outlook of the New cal after of opera
| ton.
IONE can not judge fairly the merits Of the
~ Roosevelt program unless he sizes up clear
| " the magnitude of the problems which faced
the President at the time of his Inauguration.
| The American economy in March, 1888, well
may be described as a frst-claSs high-priced
motor car which had been driven from the close
| Of the World war to Mr.. Hoovers days at high
| speed without ever having been overhauled and
with little or no attention to water or lubrica-
| ton.
BY the fall of 1929, it had been so abused
that it was moot question whether it ever could
be overhauled and made to run again or
would have TO be junked and replaced by some
new stream-lined model Fascist or Socialist
1t IS or course, wholly arbitrary matter to
| try 10 fix upon any specific number of ma jor
evils" of the old-line capitalism But certainly
| there were at least seven outstanding weak
nesses Of the old system, all Of which helped to
| head 1t toward the ditch in the decade before
| 1929
These are: Cd The gross discrepancy between
our material civilization and our institutions
and social thinking; 90 the rape of sound busi-
ness in every field by predatory finance; CD in
adequate purchasing power on the part of the
masses; a. industrial anarchy which ignored
any pasSable adjustment between industrial pro-
auction and consumptiYe capacity under exist
ing purchasing power; 90 a stupendous debt
burden; 80 scandalous prevalence of crime
ana registering, far exceeding the situation in
any other civilized country and Cd the ereaE
financial burden of past wars and of ornaments
in anticipation of future wars
IN our material civilization We already are
i model 1884, if not in some cases. model 1928.
We live in an age of Skyscrapers airn1anes
IaoloS' suoWays, automatic machinery and the
like. AT the same time, most of the control
which we have employed for this t. ,e of civil
lzatlon rarely Gate from anything more recent
tnan the eighteenth century, and in some cases
they come down from prehistoric times.
Henry Clay would be utterly at sea in the
lace OF our machinery, transportation systems
and urban life, for example, but he could step
INTO an American court and pick up the law
and argument in almost any case at any point.
He could discuss labor policies and tariff
questions with American induStrialists in terms
which both would understand completely. We
i've IN a civilization in which one of our feet
is in an oX-cart and the other in a Ford tri-
motor airplane
The major development in capitalism in the
twentieth century was the triumph of predatory
finance over industry and productive business.
AS Ripley, Berle, Means and others have made
clear, the holding company and it's devices en-
abled a narrow clique of insiders to get control
OF our greater corporations through a relatively
slight investment and the ownership of only
small minority of the stock.
IRON this time on it became more profitable
l. for the insiders to rob company than to
operate it efficiently. The slogan of finance
capitalism came to be: Cd Launch an enter
prise when enough suckers can be found to
gob5le up the paper and water; (2) build ex-
pensiyely in order to make profits for affiliated
construction companies; 90 run in an extrava-
CANT and incompetent fashion in order to make
a receivership inevitable; "a throw into re-
ownership, get a friendly judge and steal the
whole enterprise, leaving the original suckers
Che investors) holding the bag. That this in
dictment is no exaggeration has been admitted
by the foremost corporation lawyer of our gen.
Grafton.
Capitalism can not be operated unless suf-
1cent quantity of goods can be sold at a reason
able profit. But such sales are possible only
when there is a wide diffusion of adequate pur-
chasing power on the part of American salaried
classes, wage earners and farmers.