Evening star., 1935-01-01

not return. THESE people, however,
must be fed, but they cannot be fed
forever out of the Federal Treasury.
A population cannot continue to live
by sucking its own blood.
do not blame the people on relief
for their destitution. I blame those
in high positions and power in Gov
ernment, finance and industry, who
have dictated our policies for the past
20 years. During that time what
Theodore Roosevelt called malefactors
of great wealth were too welcome at
the White House and before commit
tees Of Congress.
Those who are able to work must
be given employment. This, in my
opinion, can best be done by restoring
our credit system so that exchange of
goods can resume, giving the incentive
to increase production and thus give
employment to labor. Those who can
not be taken care Of by private enter
prise should be taken care of by en-
ployment on constructive permanent
public works, and to take care of un-
employment in the future unemploy-
ment insurance of some kind must be
provided. Those who are crippled and
cannot work must be taken care of
by local county and State agencies
and those too old to work should be
taken care OF by an old-age pension.
Living for Aged Urged.
The subject of care for the aged
has become Of great importance in
the last two or three years, due to the
fact that so many old people and
those approaching old age have lost
their savings in bank failures and
through the purchase of worthless
stocks and bonds. Thousands of farm
ers have lost their farms as we'll as
their savings and working people have
lost their homes on mortgages because
of unemployment.
These people have, as rule, worked
hard all their lives. lived economically
and denied themselves many things in
order to save something for their old
age. Now their savings and homes
are gone. They are the victims, to a
large extent, Of policies and circum-
stances over which they had no con-
troll. They have helped build the
State and the Nation, they have been
producers of wealth and, although
they have not been able to keep the
wealth themselves, the wealth that
they have produced has been taken
over by others. They are now desti-
tute and too old to begin life over
again. They are entitled to security,
food and shelter in their old age. I
do not believe that the poor house is
the place to care for them. nor do I
believe they should be compelled to
depend upon the uncertainties of pri-
vate charity. have long believed that
it would, generally speaking, cost but
little more, if any, to give them an
old age pension, not as a matter of
charity, but as a reward for the serv-
ice they have rendered their country
in building it up and paying taxes to
support the Government during their
productive life.
Sounds Optimistic Note.
These are a few of the problems
that appear on the horizon at the
dawn of the new year. There are
others that I have not the time to
OloCuoo IiAlo CNCll1l6 dIIu do tilC yCoi
advances other problems will arise.
We shall approach their solution with
faith and courage. If and when we
find that drastic operations are nee
essary, we must perform them with
out flinching. Our national policies
the last 20 years have been of such
a character as to lead us to the present
disaster.
When you travel on bad road and
exceed the speed limit, as we did in
, those years. and finally land in the
ditch, as this Nation did. We must
remember it sometimes takes longer
to get out of the ditch than to get in.
We have got to get out. and we are
going to get out. We have made
some headway in 1884 and we have a
chance to make greater headway in
1885.
I repeat what I said in the begin
ning-our machinery Of production IS
the marvel Of the world and is still
intact. do not believe We have to
become content with little because we
produce so much. ! do not believe we
have to become poor because we are
so rich.
The people of this Nation are too
| virile and too courageous to sink into
the inertia of despair. With this ex-
preston of faith in the American
people and hope for the future. I wish
you all a happy New Year and bid you
ro0dnipht.