Evening star., 1936-09-13
BY MARK SULLIVAN.
, WROTE the other day that What
America needs to apprehend are
three things: Communism, fasc-


three things: Communism, fasc-
i ism and strife between the two"
And I added: "If anybody knows
the best course to avert those three,
that is the course America ought to
take" hope no one supposed I was
implying that America ought to vote
one way or another in the coming
presidential election. I was not think
ing primarily of politics. The prob
lem of saving America from one OF
the new systems of society-of saw
ing America for democracy and indi-
vidualism-is not going to be wholly
solved by the coming election. 1t Is
not going to be wholly solved by poll
tics at all.
Let no Republican suppose that II
his party wins the election he can
comfortably say, We'll, everything s
all right now" No matter who Is
elected, If our present social system
Is to be saved. there will need to be
program Of economic measures.
Thee measures must be designed TO
make our present system satisfactory
to a larger number of Americans thar.
1t now Is.
Might Be Advocated by Democrats.
1t is possible such a program might
come as readily from a Democratic
victory as from a Republican one.
For If Mr.. Roosevelt is reelected he
will be accompanied into office by a
large number of Democrats in Con-
gress A great majority Of these will
be Democrats as distinct from New
Dealers. And the present program
Of most Of the strongest Democratic
leaders, assuming their party is re-
turned to power, is at once to throw
the New Deal out the window and
make the Democratic party Demo-
cratic again. And the Democratic
party, as the Democratic party was
before the New Deal absorbed it,
would be as likely as the Republican
party to take the steps that must
be taken if America is to be safe
guarded against new and alien So
cial order.
There is this to be said about Gov.
Landon. He knows that if America
is to be saved for democracy and in
dividualism, some drastic changes
must be made in our present system.
I think he has a definite program of
such changes in mind. suspect this
program will emerge. in part at least,
in Gov. Landon's coming campaign
speeches. And when Gov. Landon's
mind is fully known, when the things
that must be done are realized, then
it will be . headache for such Repub-
licans and conservatives as think II
possible for America to 60 back to
what 1t has been. or who think the
election Of Gov. Landon would mean
complete restoration Of what used
| to be.
Farm Tenancy Problem.
One question that must be faced II
America is to be saved for the indi-
vidualist or capitalist system is farm
ownership, farm tenancy. absentee
ownership of farms. To put it briefly,
a larger number of farmers must be-
come capitalists. They must become
capitalists by becoming owners OF the
| farms they operate. Stated another
| way, the proportion of farms owned
| by absentee landlords and operated by
| tenants must be reduced.
| The figures on this point, I suspect,
will surprise most readers. OF all the
farms in the United States the pro-
portion operated by tenants is 42.4
That was the percentage in 1880.
am told that during the depression the
proportion has increased. Today more
than one out Of every two farms is
operated by tenant.
This is the heart of the farm prob
lem. And imagine that Gov. Lam
don, In his coming speeches, will deal
with it adequately. A country in
which more than half the farms are
owned by landlords and operated by
tenants is a country headed away from
| individualist and capitalist order OF
society. A way must be found to bring
it about that larger number OF
farmers shall own the land they pillow
shall sit under their own wistaria vine
and elm tree. Ways have been found
| in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark
and some other small European coun-
tries. Largely because in those coun-
tries the farms are owned by the farm
ers it has followed that those countries
are not threatened by either commu-
nism or fascism.
High Ownership In Maine.
A person living in Maine knows
that practically every farm in that
State is owned by the man who farms
it: there are almost no tenants. Prob
ably an average person in Maine does
not know any farmer who is a renter
(The precise percentage of farms oc-
cupied by tenants in Maine is As
that is, four and half farms out OF
| every hundred)
A person in Iowa knows that In
that State more than one out Of every
two farms is occupied by a tenant
farmer. The percentage, according to
figures compiled in 1880, is 47.@that
is. 47.4 farms out of every 100. And
| q well-informed person in Iowa tells
me that the percentage In the present
year is upward Of SIS.
A man in Maine knows about his
| neighborhood. And a man in Iowa
knows about his neighborhood. But
very few persons know the conditions
in communities outside their own,
Fewer yet know all the varying con-
ditions throughout the whole country.