Milford chronicle., 1936-04-24

half a year must elapse before tn
Presidential and Congressional cleo
tions, but already it Is possible t
definitely isolate issues which vii
be hammered home during the day
to come. Other issues will havl
their place, and either Presiden
Roosevelt or the Republican nOmi
nee might develop new ones, bu
right now it is certain that taxation
relief (Or boOndoggling), and unem
plOyment, are definitely on the
agenda for constant discussion dur
ing the next seven months.
aaa
Il might be said that these are
certain to be issues because they
are the points upon which the pres
ent administration Is weakest and
are therefore the vulnerable points
Of attack. A few months ago the
Constitution and Supreme Court
seemed destined to be perhaps the
dominant issues, but public reaction
seemingly has compelled Secretary
Wallace and the rest of those in
Washington who sought hasty
changes to back away. Until after
the elections. anyway.
Thus far the question of unem-
ployment has been Obscured in the
pre-cOnvention debates. But the Re-
publicans are bound to realize some
time that It is at this point that
President Roosevelt is weakest and
that there is no defense for the
fact that so little has been done TO
re-emplOy the idle. The fundamental
pledge OF the present Administration
was that it knew all the answers
when il came to the unemployment
question. When It came into Office
in 1888. estimates Of the jobless
were 100000 to 100000. Last
month the estimate was fixed at
above 100000.
Unquestionably efforts will be
made to use industry as the whip !
ping boy for continued unemplOy- /
ment. But II will he difficult to make
this case since industrial leaders
have pointed ont repeatedly that leg
islative experiments were blocking
PHI expansion attempts. At the same
lime, of course, the manufacturing
Industries have never at their high
sst point employed more than g.
,39 900 persons, and today there are
lbove 6,SlO,OOO on the Dayrolls.
ass
How far the tax issue will go is
till an open question. Naturally pO-
itically wise leaders like Postmas-
er General Farley are opposing
axes at this session of Congress
which will break the bad news to
he low income classes. But there
ave been indications that the cOun-
ry is becoming tax conscious and
Worried over both the unbalanced
udget in Washington and the dread
( taxation in the Ofing. one-fifth Of
II income already is going for
axes-Federal. state and local
nd it does not take an economist to
now that this Is hurting the buy
lg power of the great consuming /,
,asses.
aas !
Young Senator Holt snatched the
d from off the relief Pandora box,
nd charged that funds in West Vir- :
mia were being used freely for po- },
tical purposes and to build the :.
aspirations of the
ate administrator. As though by
arrangement, reports
arted pouring in from all sections
the country charging similar sit Z
itions. !
Actually, laying political consid- =,
ations aside. and assuming that
AIRY Hopkins has been doing his
,st to keep politics out of the four c
lion dollar grab bag, the situation
the best possible answer to those
hO continually seek greater con-
Dl by the Federal Government. Ar
ur Krock, writing in The New
,rk Times, points out that even II
r. Hopkins prOtestatiOns of clean
less are true and Washington -
adQuarters are Vigilant in roofing
I politics in PWA, lit proved also -
at politics does take root in the
VA as in everything The govern g. g.
mt touches" Few will contend IN
At American industry would have H
aimed its world leadership Ii It 20
d had to depend upon political "
ddling at every turn as is sought -
W by young radicals.
Ichind closed doors and after the
nal Office hours. some OF the po- ve ve
cal master-minds in Washington =
engaging in heated discussions
Jut how TO set up a "mistake-pre- 81
lting" agency. -,
Tor months some administration -
efs. especially those in Congress, m
&c felt there should be a clearing FOR
lsc to handle all matters verging -
politics. The trouble was that eg,
TybOdy wanted the final say-so, To
ice they did nothing but talk De
ut it. But the fat now is on the m
and they are trying to translate AZ
I into action. SCI
- sso
wO miShaps were responsible for -
new move. The first occurred 4
Ire the House Ways and Means cSe sSe
lmittee during hearings on the sell
corporate surplus tax. Witness ket
r witness told how the tax would n
alizo stockholders in companies tur
ch survived the worst Of the de- cub
isiOn only because they had been 81, 81,
TO save up for a rainy day.
the first week of the hearings. n
only ones IN endorse fhe idea pus