Evening star., 1936-12-20

clearlngS last year In this city.
Similar gains were made all over
the country.
Upon the financial pages to-
day we see such headlines as
these; Faster Pace Set at Steel
Plant; Railroads Place Addi-
tional Orders for Steel Rails;
Bicycle Industry Stages Quick
Comeback; Insurance Shares
Go Higher; wages Are In
creased" Everywhere is the sonE
of stirring industrialism, the
rising tide of prosperous times.
/ What Americans will strive
for" declares an editorial writer,
sis build-up that will have ele-
mentS of permanency, not for a
build-up merely to go into an
other tailSpin. President RooSe-
velt's position as leader in the
Nation today is position of
great power. The people, having
reelected him by a huge vote,
will look to him for direction.
What he does in the days of ap-
preaching prosperity will be of
far-reaching Importance
THAT the President himself
wishes a permanent pros
perity and no other kind can
best be judged when we recall
his speech at Atlanta in Novem-
ber of last year.
Eleven years ago I came to
live at Warm Springs for the
first time" said the President on
that occasion. That was pc
riod of great so-called prosper
ity.' But I would not go back
to the conditions of 1924, and
do not believe that you people
would want to go back either.
In that orgy of prosperity as
you can verify for yourselves, a
wild speculation was building
speculative profits for the specu-
lators, and preparing the way
for the public to be left holding
the bag In that orgy of pros
perity' the poorest We'd with the
richest in throwing their earn
ings and their savings into a
cauldron of land and stock spec
ulation. In that orgy of pros
perity' slum conditions went un-
needed, better education was
forgotten, uSuriouS interest
charges mounted, child labor
continued, starvation wages were
too often the rule instead of the
exception. Mammon ruled Amer
lea"
In that dark era, Americans
had indeed reached the conclu-
sion that there was no end to
the value of intangibleS. They
seemed to have lost sight OF
spiritual values. Again, while the
world was paying for the most
vicious, brutal. SenSelesS war in
all history. America believed she
could escape payment for that
war. But out of the distress.
. failures and dependency of that
period, America learned a bitter
lesson and lifted her face again
to the light. Her people regained
ground; they advanced on their
own motor power and the spirit
and courage they showed and
/ the results achieved were, the
President would himself be the
first to admit, quite as necessary
! perhaps more So-than any
( legislation for the alienation Of
national suffering.
( Spiritual values have been
stressed by President Roosevelt
in every step of his career. Spir-
itual values and the power of
| spiritual values to overcome
everything.
To the National Conference Of
Catholic Charities he said, in
New York in October, 1888: 81
can never express in words what
the loyalty and trust of the Ma
ton have meant to me- Not for
a moment have I doubted that
we would climb out of the valley
of gloom. Always have l been
certain that we would conquer,
because the spirit of America
springs from faith-faith in the
beloved institutions of our land,
and a true and abiding faith in
the divine guidance of God"
A few days earlier. addressing
the delegates to the American
Legion Convention in Chicago he
had said: Il want to talk to
you about national unity Let us
look at it as a living thing-not
as a mere theory resting in
books. or otherwise apart from
the everyday business of men"
IN A 'flreSide talk" last year,
President Roosevelt stressed
these spiritual values anew. ut
is more than the recovery of the
material basis of our individual
lives" he said on that occasion.
1T is the recovery of confidence
in our democratic processes and
institutions. We have survived
all of the arduouS burdens and
the threatening dangers OF a
great economic calamity. We
have. in the darkest moments of
our national trials, retained our
faith in our own ability to mas
ter our destiny. Fear is vanish
ing and confidence is growing on
every side, renewed faith in the
vast possibilities of human be-
ingS to improve their material
and spiritual states through the
instrumentality of democratic
government. That faith is re-
ceiving its Just reward"
On another occasion, PreSi-
dent Roosevelt declared that no
greater thing could come to
America today than a revival of
the spirit of religion, "a revival
that would sweep through the
homes of the Nation and stir the
hearts of men and women of all
faiths to a reaSSertion of their
belief in God and their dedica-
tion to His will for themselves
and for their world.
II doubt if there is any prob
lem," he added, social, political