Evening star., 1936-04-06
Shackles for the People?

Herbert Hoover, continuing his cam
paign against the Roosevelt New Deal
in an address at Fort Wayne, Ind, Sat-
Irday night, struck at "invaSions Of
liberty" by the New Dealers both through
the laws they have passed and through
the corruption of clear thinking" The
corruption of clear thinking, through
propaganda, "raucous denunciation" and
finally intimidation" in the opinion Of
the former President, is a more serious
event than the passage of laws which
strike at the liberties of the people. The
Supreme Court, he pointed out, can check
the passage of laws which violate the
liberties of the people guaranteed under
the Constitution. Propaganda, denun-
citation and intimidation are birds Of
another feather. When used as weapons
by an administration which has been
given tremendous and concentrated
powers, they become a menace to the
Nation.
Mr.. Hoover seized upon the attempt at
14lIAllANtdC4OA4 "iASkI LC saw III GA4C
seizure of private kilograms by the Black
Senate Committee, seizure of tele-
grams sent only by persons critical of
the Roosevelt New Deal. I'VE witness
today" he said, "the seizure of private
communications of innocent persons and
the press. That is a gross violation of
the spirit of the Bill of Rights Any ef-
fort to check the critical faculty of the
people by governmental power, the former
President said, would prevent the advance
of civilization. He might have added
course would inevitably bring about
dictatorial and tyrannical government.
President Roosevelt, whose New Deal
and concentration of governmental
power in Washington are now under
attack by Mr.. Hoover, in a speech de-
livered in 1880 in New York when he
was Governor of that State, said: "The
doctrine of regulation and legislation by
master minds in whose judgment and
will all the people may gladly and quietly
acquiesce, has been too glaringly appar-
ent at Washington during these last
ten years. Were it possible to find
master minds so unselfish, so willing
to decide unhesitatingly against their
own personal interests or private preju-
dices, men almost godlike in their
ability to hold the scales of justice with
an even hand, such government might
be in the interests of the country; but
there are none such on our political
horizon, and we cannot expect a COM
plete reversal of all teachings of history"
Here, it would seem, in this speech of
the then Governor Roosevelt, is found
an exact agreement with what former
President Hoover is preaching today.
But President Roosevelt's New York
speech in 1890 may be contrasted with
his speech on the "state of the Union"
delivered to Congress when it opened
here last January. Addressing himself
on that occasion to the concentration of
powers placed in the hands of the New
Deal government, the President said
"They the people, realize that in
thirty-four months we have built up
new instruments of public power. In the
hands of peoples government this
power is wholesome and proper. But in
the hands of political puppets Of an
economic autocracy such power would
provide shackles for the liberties of the
people"
The admission by the President that
these instruments of public power have
been built up seems to be an admission
also that master minds so unselfish" and
almost godlike" have been found, de-
spite his earlier declaration that I'VE
cannot expect complete reversal Of all
teachings of history"