Evening star., 1936-06-24

the powers Of Government had been
exercised to promote the ends Of in
justice and bring palsy to the efforts
Of the people exerted in their own
behalf.
Because the streams intended for
the unretarded flow of the people S
energies were choked and we found it
necessary here and there to cut new
and straighter channel instead of try
ing to clean out an old and crooked
one.
I find no relish in picking or point
ing at ancient wounds. But in order
to assess the wisdom of the remedies
we have administered. let us diagnose
the ailments from which we suffered
They are of such recent existence
that it ought not to be necessary to
recount them. But my distinguished
friend, the Senator from Oregon, who
was temporary chairman of the Re-
publican Convention. forgot to men,
ton them at Cleveland.
Those Who Were Rescued
Now Complain.
And some Of those who suffered and
have been cured are now the most
arrogant in their antagonism to the
process which brought them through
the crisis. Some of those who were
rescued from drowning in the eco
nomic food-waters let loose by the
previous II long" years now COM
plain because in lifting them out We
were forced to pull their hair.
When the present administration
assumed Office on March 4, 1888, all
classes of society bore the marks of
such a combination of maladies that
it is only possible to mention them
in the vaguest outline.
These maladies were not local. They
were not set off by metes and bounds.
They were not walled in by territorial
barriers, nor quarantined by yellow
flags nailed to tree.
They were maladies which took root
deeply in the whole body of our social
and economic fabric and were, there
fore, chronic.
They have been fostered by enduring
neglect, magnified by political folly,
aggravated by venality and perpet-
uated by the frantic effort to cure
them by their causes.
No nation can prosper long or truly
which finds no outlet for the surplus
products of its genius and labor.
But in four years-yea, -four long
years"-under the guidance of the
man who was applauded but not re-
nominated at Cleveland We saw our
trade with the world decline from
5000 100000 to $4,000, 900, 900 per
year, setting the feet of 5000, 900 men
upon the streets and turning their
faces toward the lengthening bread
lines.
For 10 "long" years the condition
of the American farmer had steadily
declined, in spite of the hectic flush
of prosperity found on other portions
of the economic body.
Each recurring season saw him COM
PEELED to accept for the products Of
his toll less than the cost Of their
saw his debts enlarged
and his ability reduced; saw one-half
the farms Of the Nation under mort
gage and one-f1fth of these on the
verge of foreclosure: saw his foreign
markets lost and his home markets
reduced: saw mounting and upsalable
surpluses in all the basic products Of
the farm.
The farmer was losing not only his
home, his toll, the rewards Of his life
and energy. He was losing faith in
the ability or willingness Of organized
society through its only agency, gov
ernment, to give him the same kind
of break it had for generations given
to others.
He was losing faith in political
promises which had made him the
victim of cynical indifference and
devasting greed.
AS if to pile Ossa on Pelion, the
avenues of public and private credit
were closed to him and the cry of
the auctioneer was heard at every
court house door.
In the realm of finance chaos
greater than was ever seen in this
or any other nation spread its shadow
across the country.
In the four years from 1928 to 1882
more banks had closed in failure than
had ever closed before, and more than
in all the rest of the world in the
same length of time
Production
Declined to So Per Cent.
The impact of the crash was so
terrific and convulsive that through
terror men cried out in the anguish
of their souls at the loss of their
life's savings and their economic in.
Industrial production had declined
to SO per cent of normal, while indus
trial employment declined to 81 per
cent. The purring wheels of produc-
ton were silent, and smokeless smoke
stacks were silhouetted against the
heavens like monuments on deserted
battlefield.
excess and by the false signals flashed
from the doors of the Treasury and
the Executive Mansion, millions of
men and women found themselves
stunned by the falling debris of worth
less securities foisted on them by in
vestment pirates. They saw their sub
stance drawn from their hands as If
by some unseen, magic force.
Archaic and unethical methods of
business competition obtained illegiti-
mate profit regardless of merit and
strangled smaller units of production
and distribution.
Sweat shops, long hours, low wages,
working conditions and
the physical and mental degradation
Of children remained the crowning
Infamy of portions Of American in
dustry.
Unemployment rolls never dreamed
" BY the accumulated pessiniMn a