The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-06-02

irrita ting as well as disturbing to the advance ing nominees did no particular damage except to MT. Borah's own chances. But the flying scraps did indicate that when The Great Beginner began to use his high explosive shells and laid down Q box barrage around the directing generals of his party the casualty list would be bloody enough to suit even his thirst for political slaughter. The conservative Re- publican newspapers, which hate Mir. Borah almost as much aS he loathes the conservatism they preach and the interests they serve, are pretty generally agreed that Thursday nights barrage contained nothing but duds. Once again, they announce, Wild Bill from Idaho has turned loose noth- ing but his customary destructive criticism, his ir1grained fault find- ing without offering a remedy, and his shrewish harping on such favorite antiquities as opposition to foreign alliances, monopolies, price fixing, and corporation-boss rule. Whether or not his editor ial critics are justified in their analysis of the radio address does not interest this department. It is interested, however, in certain statements of his which deserve study not only by Democrats but also by Republican voters who think along liberal lines.
 Credit
 Unlike most of the Republican carpers who insist that everything done by the Democratic national administration was unnecessary to restore prosperity and that all President Roosevelt had to do was let things wobble along until re- covery just happened in the nat- ural course of events, MT. Borah IS willing to recognize the truth and tell 1t.
 "When the National Recovery Act, now held unconstitutional, was proposed, 1t was supported almost by the entire nation, by % per cent of the press, by an overwhelming ms ajOrlty of Con-
 gress, by the Executive. It is
 believed now that, had this law become permanent, it would have wrought fundamental changes in our form of govern. ment. Only five men stood in the way of It's permanent adop- ton. Behind this measure at the time--and which alone made it pOssibIe--was business chaos, hunger and threatened starva. tlOn. Something had to be done. How near we were to 8 most fundamental change in our whole constitutional structure" Greed
 The distinguished citizen from Boise Is no more at Q loss to dis- cover the reason for the appalling economic and financial conditions which confronted the nation than is the President himself. It was the greed (which had robbed mile lions of @ decent living or even the opportunity to make a decent living, the same greed which MT. Roosevelt has done his best to dc. stroy and the forces of which to e man have been allied in increaS- ing numbers day by day against him because they regard them selves as untouchable under the law. of the land. Just how un. touchable these forces are MT. Borah, Q real constitutional lawyer is under no delusions:
 'These oil companies are now, as private corporations, exertlng a power over the private citizen
 in the respective States which
 Che Constitution has declared
 the government does not pos" Sess.
 "The Supreme Court has 0e.
 cIared the Federal government
 has no power to control pro.
 duction nor any way to affect
 farm prices on the farm. That it is declared, is matter with which the. states alone may deal But five corporations, in no wise
 hlndered by state lines, may, and do, control production and
 affect farm prices by fixing prices on the implements without which production cannot go forward. What the government may not do afEirmativeIy, or