The Washington times., 1935-01-21
.RABID ATTACKS
ON NEW DEAL
AREM|SS|NG
BY EARL GOODWIN

One feature Of the present
status of the New Deal, politically
speaking, is the fact that no one
has arisen recently on Soap-box
and torn his shirt in the oldtime
manner of the rabid opposition.
Criticism of the New Deal, inso-
far as it is reported at Washing.
ton, appears to be in a minor
key.
Whether or not the critics are
waiting for the Hauptmann trial
to move from the front page,
there seems to be no real heavy
hitting on the part of the G. o.
p. and the Liberty League, whose
recent pamphlet discussing the
budget was far from the explo-
sion that it might have been on
q dull dav.
Country Watches
Visitors to Washington report
the country at large is more in
terested in watching the progress
of the New Deal than in critlclz'
ing it.
Four years ago it would have
been looked upon as a sign OF
insanity to have predicted an an
nual expenditure of 5000 millions
a year, with President declar.
ing that he intended to feed the
hungry first and talk about bal
ancing the budget after that had
been accomplished.
Looking back at the course of
the New Deal for the past two
years, it is apparent that the Ad-
ministration now is steering that
middle course between conServa-
tive and radical positions which
has been predicted since before
the November elections.
The outstanding fact appears
to be, too, that President Roose-
velt will stick to this course until
it is necessary to do something
else to feed the hungry and put
the jobless to work. President
Roosevelt hopes that industry can
solve the problem, but if not, the
Government is going to remain in
the relief and public work busi-
ness.
Less than the usual amount of
comment has arisen on Capitol
Hill concerning the Presidents
plan for old age pensions and job
insurance. The biggest item in
the Presidents plan went by with
out any comment; that is the Ad-
ministration's plan for job assur-
ance, not merely job insurance.
The Government is getting
ready to work out a 25-year pro-
gram of development and use of
natural resources, oil, coal, gas,
electric power, ETC., which will be
simply one huge conservation Job.
Plan Is Accepted
Old age pensions as national
policy appeared to be accepted on
Capitol Hill except for one or two
advanced thinkers who advocated
more than the $50 provided for in
the New Deal plan.
The stumbling block for this
and the jobless pension policy
is the fact that not enough educa-
tional work has been carried on
among State legislatures. A
Georgia Representative reports
that in his State "they don't
know what it all means"
The plan has been worked out
at the top. But the practical
political work is yet to be done,
and this plan for social security
depends almost entirely on the
State legislatures which meet
this year and which will adjourn
without having done thing
about old-age pensions or any
other feature of the Presidents
national security plan.
In this social security program
the Federal Government acts as
supervisor. The people at large
support it and carry it on with
the assurance that the money
they contribute is being deposited
each pay day in the Treasury at
Washington.
There's an element of safety
there which makes the whole
business an appealing one.
AnvrpTIerMENT