The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-09-07

co AHEAD
TWO and half years ago. when Franklin
Roosevelt was inaugurated, all Of us. in
GLIDING business big and little. were yelling
frantically for help The yells we're directed
at the new President. The cry was for quick
action-quick
Action came. And. as the perilous days of
March. 1888. wore On into less periIous days
and weeks We as nation came to the con-
olusion that. though things we're still awfully
bad. all hope was not lost Eventually there
arrived a time when business emerged from
the cyclone cellar. And then there arose
voice. low and feeble at first, then louder and
louder, demanding that business be let alone.
But the plan Of the man to whom help"
had been shouted contained certain ideas about
a permanent rather than merely temporary
recovery And that meant reform of those
practices which had brought all Of US, includ-
ing business. into the predicament that had
made the SOS necessary. And so it came to
pass that the voice demanding to be let alone
grew noisier and more shrill.
The course Of reform was effected in the
Congress which has just closed Now, officially
and with great vigor. there is given to business
the signal TO go ahead. The breathing spell
is here-very decidedly so" the President
writes in an exchange Of letters with Roy w.
Howard
It would seem, therefore that the source
from which the next move should come is very
clear. It appears to be a proposition of put
UP or shut up"
And even though many, running on the
momentum Of their complaint. declare that
even if it's good they don't like it. Wall Street,
that barometer of business. responds-a Wall
Street. be it noted, washed and scrubbed and
disinfected by the man who, when his help
was summoned. made a special stipulation
about the money changers and the temple.
Anyway, the slogan from here on should
be Business, you asked for it; you have 1t;
now let's see what you can do with it."
ON that fatefu day of March 4, 1885, Presi-
~ dent Roosevelt said: This great nation
will endure as it has endured. will revive and
prosper. We do not distrust the future of es-
sential democracy"
out of the action that was called for, and
a
terical opposition has developed-an opposition
to whom only the old order is sacred and
change is vile Its theme has been that all
efforts toward reform have been efforts toward
revolution Some have said the sinister design
Is Fascist. Others that it is Communistic. Still
others have chosen to talk fearfully of the
coIlectivistic and others of the totalitarian
state. And all this despite what the President
had said at his inaugural, and repeated many
times since about nation that would endure
as it has endured-a democracy.
Because Of the growth of that propaganda
it is particularly fitting that the President
should summarize as he has the detectives of
his program to date and in the future. so that
the great mass Of the people may judge
whether revolution turks therein. He writes:
1t was necessary to seek wise balance in
American economic life. to restore our banking
system to public confidence. to protect in
vestors In the security market. to give labor
freedom to organize and protection from ex-
ploitation, to safeguard and develop our
national resources, to set up protection against
the vicissitudes incident to old age and I'M
employment to relieve restitution and suffer-
ing. and to relieve investors and consumers
from the burdens of unnecessary corporate
machinery"
The calm statement of that creed should
do much to improve the sleep OF those who
have been seeing things at night. And as it
acts as a sedative it will contribute greatly to
the confidence which his whole letter inspires.