Evening star., 1935-07-21
Will 1t Float?


to the American people on April % the
President compared the formulation Of
new national policies to the building OF
q ship. AT different points on the
coast where I often visit they build
great sea a-going ships" he said. When
one of these ships is under construction
and the steel frames have been set in
the keel it is difficult for a person who
does not know ships to tell how it will
finally look when it is sailing the high
seas. 1t may seem confused to some,
but out of the multitude OF parts that
60 into the making of the structure the
creation of useful instrument for man
ultimately comes"
Well, this is July 81. How goes the
building of the Ship'
One week after the Presidents radio
address a noise like something falling
down came from the shipyard. The
Supreme Court had declared invalid the
railroad retirement act; not a New Deal
measure, it is true, but certainly
substantial supporting feature OF the
cradle. Three weeks later relatively
minor explosion was followed imme-
diately by a terrific detonation that
shook the whole countryside. The
Supreme Court had turned down the
Frazier-Lemke farm mortgage act and
thrown the N. R. A after it. Even
the experienced observers of conStruc-
ton work-not to mention the casual
onlookers-could see that the skeleton
framework for the good ship New Deal
was badly askew The keel seemed to
have become separated from the frames
entirely. And in the past week major
portion of the structure listed to one
side and was left hanging precariously,
while a gigantic frame gave way, badly
twisted; one Circuit Court of Appeals
had condemned the A. A. A. as uncon-
stitutional, and another had dealt
stiff blow to the Federal housing scheme.
Amid these alarming crashes and
bangs of falling steel the shipwrights
have labored manfully on. They have
swung into place frame labeled the
Wagner labor bill, although the keel to
which it was to have been riveted has
fallen out of place. By dint of extraordi-
nary effort they have succeeded in
almost completing another frame known
as the social security measure, although
some construction engineers are inclined
to fear that its weight may throw the
vessel out of trim. They are still work.
ing over a bulky object known as the
banking bill, but difference of opinion
between the architects and the construc-
tion gang has changed its original
appearance considerably. The part
known as the work-relief bill was de-
livered as designed at the shipyard, but
has been considerably altered in feverlSh
efforts to make it work, there still being
considerable doubt as to how-and when
it will function. And although the
rough blue prints have been completed
for a propeller, the blades Of which are
labeled Share the Wealth" Soak the
Rich" and Balance the Budget" no
one has yet been able to determine
whether, when set in motion, such a
propeller will send the ship forward,
into reverse or in circles. The con-
struction gang. moreover, is becoming
restive about overtime work and some
of the seasoned old salts are saying
unpleasant things about that propeller.
AS a matter of fact, the spectacle of
the sea-going ship now under con-
struction has become sadly confused.
The shipwrights themselves give occa-
sional evidence of bewilderment. An
increasingly large number of observers
have quit guessing about what the ship
will look like when it is completed.
They are beginning to wonder If it will
float
And this, naturally, leads them to ask
whether it would not have been better,
In the first place, to patch up the old
hull, which, if leaky. was built along
sound lines, than to begin the con-
struction of brand-new one that may
not even stay up.