Evening star., 1936-09-27
Next Presidents Job to Be
No Bed of Roses.
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

next Chief Executive. The problems in
volved promise to be more wearing on
the reputation and more exacting in
their test of political and administrative
skill that those of the last four years.
Napless afternoons and even some sleep
less nights are in store as a result.
It formerly was said by critics of Her.
bert Hoover, intent upon disparaging his
European war relief activities, that any
body could give away q billion dollars.
The first four years Of the Roosevelt
administration have been smoothed by
the opportunity to pour out huge sums
of money in q way to make various i'm
portant sections of the people feel bet
ter. Success often was gauged by the
size Of the bounties.
4 y
But the next President, whether
Roosevelt or Landon, will have neither
the same opportunity nor the same re-
sources to use in dealing with the Job
that lies ahead.
This time, success or failure will de-
pend more directly on the quality OF
administration; less directly on the
quantity Of money to be handed out.
A Government that already has out
grown the physical facilities Of WASH
ington in an amazing expansion Is going
to make necessary some drastic admin
istrative adjustment.
Before that, however, tax and farm
and relief and social security problems
will crowd in, with legislative and labor
and electric power and neutrality and
legal problems not far behind.
In January the National Government
starts the stupendous task Of forcing
$4,000, 900 individual American workers
to save against a rainy day and to force
between 5000, 900 and 1000 600 employers
to augment those savings. The promise
is Of security in old age. But responsible
officials express grave doubts over the
workability Of this understanding as 1t
now Is outlined in law.
4 &&H
Skill and understanding will be re-
quired of the next President as he seeks
to work this new and complicated sys-
tenn of social security into the business
and governmental structure OF the coun-
try. The job promises to be more dif-
ficult than any vet undertaken.
While tangled with old-age insurance
and unemployment insurance problems.
the new President will have to try to
find an answer to the question: What's
wrong with the relief situation?
This country today is confronted with
the anomoly Of rapidly rising industrial
employment and rapidly rising relief
rolls. President Roosevelt says that
| 6,000,0 900 persons have gone back to work
since March, 1893. Yet w. p. A. rolls
are increasing. and 3,427, 900 are at work
on Federal works projects, with 1900, 900
| other destitute cared for by States and
localities The total Of 5,277,00 is near
the depression peak.
After seven years Of depression the
| Federal Government is attempting to
deal with unemployment without know
| ing anything very definite about the
unemployed-who they are, why they
are, how many of them there are. A
| new President will need almost at once
| to find answers to those basic questions
| and to revamp relief on the basis of the
| findings.
Both candidates are seeking to guar
antee the American farmer against de-
preston. drought and high interest
rates Either one. in power, probably
will have trouble delivering before
another four years have elapsed. The
| trouble is that the farm problem runs
deeper than crop insurance, or tenant
| relief, or conservation Of soil. and can
hardly be solved by bounties, however
| large.
Essentially, as most officials will admit
when not thinking in terms Of politics,
| there are about 40 per cent more farmers
than are needed to produce goods for
the available market. Agriculture Sec
| retary Wallace called the attention of
newspaper men the other day to the
fact that. If there had been average
weather this year, farmers would have
produced nearly 1000, ,0o0 900 bushels Of
wheaton more than 300, 900 900 bushels
| above market needs.
The hard facts of the farm problem
If weather is normal-will be borne
in on the next President to cause Q
major official headache.
More troubles are wrapped up in the
now overgrown Federal establishment
Water will need to be squeezed out Of
a pay roll that has expanded every
month for three years, and now is not
far from 10000.
There are half a dozen organizations
dealing with housing. another half a
dozen helping the farmers. still another
batch extending relief to the unem-
ployed. an even larger assortment con-
cerned with soil erosion. Jurisdictional
disputes are becoming a common prob
lem Of Government departments.
So rapidly has the personnel Of the
Government grown that Washington is
without space to provide offices even
after an immense Federal building pro-
gram. Houses. hotels. warehouses city
auditoriums. former department stores
and Office buildings have been turned
into Government Offices, and yet there
isn't room to house all of the workers.
-
Mr.. Roosevelt, II reelected, will need
to adjust and amend his revolutionary
new tax on the undistributed portion Of
corporation income. That tax, as hastily
put together and jammed through Con-
gress, promises to force changes in pol
icies of corporation management and to
create injustices severe enough to cause
the Treasury even now to consider
amendments.
This tax, coupled with rising corpora
ton and individual income, and with
pay roll taxes, Is counted on by Presi-
dent Roosevelt to give the next admin
istration enough money to get the budget
under control. Gov. Landon, however,
has promised to repeal the tax on un-
distributed corporation earnings. That
would leave him with the problem of
finding about $500. 900 in additional
revenue.