Montana labor news., 1935-05-16
Rainbow Over The White House

When President Roosevelt sent his message on
social reform to Congress recently it was every
where appraised as a brilliant political move. In
this communication the President briefly com
mended Congress for the good work it had ac-
complished, expressed his appreciation of it, and
then passed swiftly on to speak Of the plans he
had in mind for the future. among our OBJ
iectives," he said, 81 place the security OF the
men, women and children of the nation first
And, being a little more specific, he asserted that
for the consideration Of the Congress there would
be advanced three great detectives, the security
of the home. security of livelihood, and the sec
urity Of social Insurance" These it seemed to
him were "a minimum of the promise that we
can offer to the American people"
What more cheering word, the experts asked,
could be carried to the discouraged or dissasti-
fled millions throughout the country than that?
Was there ever a better talking point for Democ-
ratio candidates up for reelection? Constitu-
ents might complain of the NRA, of the AAA,
or of the effect of this or that New Deal measure,
but the candidates could brush all that aside and
direct their gaze to the rainbow over the White
House!
The reasoning seems perfectly sound, yet the
very fact that it is sound carries the implication
that the things which have SO far been done have
failed to fill the bill. They have not at any rate
brought about that feeling Of security for which
the masses long or it would not be necessary to
promise it for the future.
This is not to deny the truly remarkable ac-
complishments of the Roosevelt administration.
Like Sheridan at Cedar Creek, President Roose-
welt turned a retreating, discouraged, and panicky
army about and set their faces to the front. By
a few bold strokes CALAMITY executed he chang
ed the attitude Of the whole nation from one of
despair to hopefulness. Included among these
acts were reforms which had been proved and
were struggling for expression and others which
were in the nature of radical experiments. The
power-development project, the truth-in-securi-
ties law, the banking-reform act represented only
wholesome changes in existing conditions. But
the National Industrial Recovery Act and the
Agricultural Adjustment Act we're new in con-
ception and their consequences incalculable.
But what some beloved they saw then
and what the sponsors did not see was the Nat
ional Recovery administration purposes were
mutually antagonistic. And in the crumbling of
the NRA which has been going on for several
months it's original critics find justification for
their position. The broad purpose of the NRA
was to add to the total purchasing power by
shortening the hours of labor and increasing
wages. 1t is easily seen that to attain this object
it had to be supposed that the industrialists, who
had greedily exploited the public for several de-
cades, would become Christians over night and
meet the increased cost Of production out Of their
own usual profits and accumulations To induce
them thus to act in the general interests the
antitrust laws were suspended for their benefit
in order that they might Cooperate" If the
industrial world did not meet the increased cost
of production out of profits at the previous rate,
but tried to recapture the whole of it through
higher price and increased profit, then it is OBJ
vious that no addition would be made to the
sum total of purchasing power but all the increas-
ed cost would come out Of the public.
1t did not take long to demonstrate that this
was exactly what the business community pro-
ceeded to do. Their cooperation was solely for
their own advantage and not for the general vel
fare. They combined among themselves to raise
and fix prices and they manipulated wage scales
so that as many workers as possible were thrown
into the minimum-wage class. The result has
been no increase in total consuming power, com
plant about high prices, and endless labor dis
putes. From the start there has never been a
NRA to enforce labor provisions of the codes.
The problem Of the AAA as seen by its adj
illustrators was to shorten or eliminate the