The Washington times., 1935-02-26

decision, so ~
that the effects Na1A'
are hardly Lewis Haney
apparent yet in the cold statistics.
Maybe some benefits of the re-
moval of doubt will be seen later.
But even so, it may be doubted
that the gold case has had much
to do with business, and the
action of the stock market shows
that spectators found it to be
q "dud." Furthermore, COM
modify prices and steel produc-
ton have both clearly receded
since the decision.
Steel production has slumped
distinctly and is now reported at
less than so per cent Of capacity.
My earlier suggestions that stocks
of steel were accommodating are
now amply supported. Recently
announced steel prices for the
second quarter show no advances.
It is true that automobile pro-
ductiOn continues to gain a little,
and is very large. But evidently
some of the producers had &C
cumulated steel in advance. And
anyhow. neither the steel in
dustry nor the country as a
whole can live by automobiles
alone. Personally, I have re-
garded with some miSgivings the
spectacle Of America spending
most of its money for "the Gar"
while housing languiShes, mil
Hons are short of food and
clothes, and talk Of consumer
resistance is heard in retail
trade circles.
Railway carloadings slumped
q week ago. Recent fluctuations
have been much affected by coal
movements, but even so it is fairly
clear that the distribution" Of
goods has not kept pace with the
squirt in production. Nor is it
likely to do so as long as peoples
employment and incomes are so
subject to the artificial mixture
Of stimulants, burdens, and reliefS,
aS now has been the fashion for
several years.
It continues notable that less
Ehan-carload merchandise ship
ments are very low and backward.
Strangely enough, the gold de-
eiSion, which was supposed to re.
move a threat of deflation, was
soon followed by reaction in COM
modify prices. Last week, the
wholesale price averages closed a
little lower. Declines occurred in
wool, cotton, corn, butter. tin,
coffee, lead, zinc, steel scrap, and
gasoline. But hogs, lard, meats.
and sugar were higher. In gen.
eral, the declines are due to un-
certainty concerning the trend of
business activity, legislative
threats, and large supplies of
some commodities.
The Washington situation is
quote chaotic, with the Presi-
dent meeting a sharp reverse
concerning his work relief pro-
gram, his security" program
showing up as hopelessly messy,
and Judge Grub of Alabama
ruling that he has no legal
right to put the Federal Gov
eminent into the electricity
business in competition with its
citizens.
His sweeping proposals to
destroy public utility holding
companies, and to put the banks
into the real estate business,
are meeting deserved OppOsi-
ton.
The Presidents proposal of a
law security wage" of $50 a
month for workers on relief pro.
jects is clearly better than at
tempting to pay prevailing high
wages for such work. If his bill
is to go through at all, it should
go through on the basis he pro-
poses. Yet here he has met de-
termined opposition.
His error has been that he has
not stood for economy and sound
economics from the beginning,
and that even now he does so
only in small part.
The more radical "bloc" now
forming in Congress may we'll
ask: If you can spend billion
dollars year and manufacture
bank credit or over-valued silver
currency in payment. why boggle
over a couple of billions more? If
you can make everybody happy"
by providing them with useful
government jobs, why not make
them happier by paying them
high wages?
Plainly the New Deal chief, hav-
ing taken the bear by the tail,
now finds it hard to let go. Will
he not have to do one of three
things-backtrack toward tn e
conservatism of southern democ.
racy, go along with the radicals
who are stealing his thunder
about more abundant life" and
social justice" or fall between
them?