Evening star., 1936-03-01
Experiments Are
Now at a Discount
By O,cen L. Scott.

1nnaClOn, vast SuDSlQleS IOr SIum clear"
ance and home building rigid neutrality
plans, rural electrification on broad
scale, plans for turning farm tenants into
farm owners, attempted curbs on the
power of the Supreme Court, N. r. A.
substitutes-all have been offered to Mr..
Roosevelt, only to get a cold shoulder.
Congress is only slightly more interest,"
ed. 1t has extended mild and uncer-
tain resolution on neutrality, rushed
through farm program that generated
little controversy, mufaed inflationary
proposals, squelched many controversial
plans preparatory to fighting out tax and
relief battles before going home, prob
ably in May.
The White House is asking for next to
nothing in the way Of additional expert
mentS.
Rather, the administration Is inclined
to be shocked just now by ideas it well
coined only few months ago. AS a re-
suit, the lid is being put on comments
of New Deal left wingers in the relief ad-
ministration and elsewhere.
~ u
Something resembling shudder was
noted among officials when they heard
of new book by DR.. Mordecai Ezekiel,
economic adviser to Henry Wallace, Sec
retary of Agriculture. DR.. Ezekiel who
once qualified as member of the Pres
idents brain trust" used his book to
outline method to assure every family
at least $2,500 year.
His method would involve close Fed
eral control over industrial policy. When
Justice Roberts wrote the opinion that
accompanied the Supreme Court decision
killing the original A. A. A. farm pro-
grams, he called attention to the pos
sibility of using the processing tax prin-
ciple to bring about Federal domination
of industry.
He wants to tax industrial. production,
using the proceeds of the tax to help
balance up the industrial system SO that
production could be expanded and so
that workers could, If the thing worked
as he planned, enjoy relatively high
standard of living.
The chief trouble with the plan, aside
from the question of whether it would
function, is that the Constitution stands
across its path.
Another trouble, from the point of view
of the administration, is that DR..
Ezekiers book serves to revive realiza-
ton out in the country that the brain
trust still lives. The fact Of its continued
existence was emphasized again during
the week with the announcement that
DR.. Rexford Guy Tugwell, Undersecre-
tary of Agriculture and resettlement ad-
ministrator, is getting another years
leave from his university.
Instead of stimulating the policy-guid-
ing New Dealers. ideas such as those of
DR.. Ezekiel simply frighten them at this
stage Of the game. They are trying to
sit on the public works program and to
bring other experiments under closer
control.
Why the emphasis on calm and quiet?
For one thing, spending experiments were
getting out of hand. When Congress
voted the bonus and the Supreme Court
upset the A. A. A. Government finances
became so disarranged that the President
was forced to act to get control over his
budget. That meant the beginning of
hard-boiled attitude toward large-scale
spenders. The attitude became apparent
with veto of seed loan bill.
For another thing, whether guessing
rightly or not, the New Deal leaders are
convinced that Alfred Landon, Governor
of Kansas, is to be the Republican pres
idential nominee. AS a candidate he
would stress economy and a common
sense administration of governmental af-
fairs, minus many frills. Mr.. Roosevelt
would like to beat the gun on his op-
ponents and start Tightening the reins
before they get out of his hands.
For third thing the New Deal Is
worried by troublesome administrative
situations that admittedly are loaded
with political dynamite. The White
House is slowing up on new ventures
while trying to get better control over
the old ones.
The situation in work-relief is full of
explosives. Maj. Gen. johnson Hagood,
until this past week commander of the
Nations principal Army corps area,
touched off some of them and paid with
his job for doing so. He had told an
appropriations subcommittee that it
ought to give the Army some of the
stage money" floating around, to be used
in housing program.
II call it stage money!" he said, "be-
cause you can pass it around but you
cannot get anything out of it in the
end"
That reference to relief spending an
gered the relief administrators, who
asked and got action against the general.
But while Gen. Hagood was CENTER
ing discussion on one phase of the work.
relief program, f1rst-water New Dealer,
Senator Rush Holt of West Virginia, was
leaving that critic far behind by the
character of his attack on the program.
He charged, among other things, that
w. P. A. jobs were passed out only to
those who were approved by county po-
litical bosses; that large salaries were
being paid to local administrative Of
ficials, while unemployed were being de-
MED work; that officials of the organiza-
ton were selling materials to the Gov
ernment; that nearly 100000 out of
100000 allotted for relief in one dis
trict is going to politicians and their
aides.
Somebody high up in the New Deal de-
cided year ago that it would be wise
to permit Senators to have a hand in
administration of the work-relief pro-
gram. When that decision was made it
involved injecting politics into the relief
set-up. The thought at the time was
that this would assure support for con-
tinuance of the program and would be
helpful politically.
Now the results are turning out to be
anything but those expected.
Within the last few weeks orders have
gone out to remedy matters by requiring