Evening star., 1936-05-09
Bp MarrCarter Roberts.
PAY DAY. BY David Milton Proctor.
LE..a. Ezit.L. rf,lao I2rc,,r,a Ia.aal. q,


~ guase as the plain citizen can
understand, this little book
will probably make an early entry into
the best-selling lists. Already it has
had four printings and the demand for
II continues.
1t purports to be the letters of a
Missouri farmer, Van Cleve Ball, to
his son at law school Ball is Jeffer-
sonian Democrat. His correspondence
covers the period between September
81, 1882, up to January S, 1896. 1t is
record Of disillusion, record Of
optimism growing cold and changing
into foreboding for the country's fu-
ture. 1t is the book which contains
the much-quoted line:
I'VE Democrats could sue President
Roosevelt for divorce on the grounds
Of desertion and win"
The observation which follows this
sentence has not been so widely pub
licized, but it is worthy of repeating,
too. 1t is:
Personally, I would be willing for
him to retain the custody of all the
children born to the union since March
1, 1888"
OF these children" it is the A. A. A.
and other pieces Of legislation affect
ing farmers that the book examines
most closely, although passages are
also devoted to the N. r. A., Relief Ad-
ministration and the tax program.
The farming industry" says the
writer, lis treated as a sort Of kinder
garten, and Secretary Wallace is in
complete charge of us beginners. At
the rate they are going it won't be
long before We will have to obtain a
permit in writing before planting corn
They will probably require that no
farmer can plant corn unless accom-
panied by two inspectors. We will have
the right TO work but we will be denied
the privileges of ownership"
The result of the processing tax, he
continues. has been to change the
United States from a food-eXporting
nation to one which now cannot feed
itself" And he produces import figures
to support the statement.
He describes a typical incident Of
Government regulation of agriculture
by telling how cotton plantation lost
its crop through a storm. The cotton
would normally have been picked be-
fore the storm broke, but under pres
ent conditions no one dared start the
work because tags" had not yet been
received from washington. The owners
would have been jailed if they had
gone ahead tagless. The owners had
written. wired and telephoned" for
the tags. While they waited the hur-
ricane came and the years work was
lost.
He also describes the incident Of the
throwing Of Government owned pork
into the Mississippi River.
He points out, too. that, while the
Government is paying premiums for
production and encouraging peo-
pie TO be idle on land already cleared
for cultivation, it is using taxpayers
money to build up huge Irrigation
projects which will add vast acreage
to our total farm territory.
Sardonically he remarks, apropos of
such vast undertakings, Il heard a
few days ago that a man " had
written to Washington suggesting
that the Government level the Rocky
Mountains for the purpose of remov-
ing barrier which now prevents rain
clouds from reaching the dry plains
of Kansas. According to the story an
official in Washington answered the
letter and said that the Government
would not be able to consider it be-
cause, after investigation, they con-
cluded that the cost would not be
sufficient to justify its being classi-
fed as major project"
Unpleasant aspects of the relief
administration are brought out in the
passage which describes how a local
administrator was ordered to put
more people on the rolls, the order
coming from the district relief CO.
ordinator." If only a small number
received the dole, apparently the dis
trict was making a bad showing. The
administrator was told that if he did
not increase his rolls he would lose
his job.
Think of it," comments the au-
thor. The Federal Government,
through its clustering bureaucracy, is
begging self-respecting and independ-
ent citizens to become dependents.
He contrasts this attitude with that
of Cleveland, who said, Though the
people support the Government the
Government should not support the
people"
He also quotes Thomas jefferson:
"Were We directed from Washington
when to SOW and when to reap, we
should soon want for bread"
OF the "soakthe-rich" movement,
he remarks, Il noticed in the paper
today that there are 80 men in
America each with an income amount
ing to one million dollars or more
fiscated. If the Government con-
fscated their incomes entirely they
would pay the present operating ex-
penses Of the Government for less
than three days"
President, at heart. is probably not
undertaking to overthrow our Gov
ernment or undermine the Constitu-
ton, but he is shallow and does
not think things through. Every day
he receives suggestions for new
schemes, many Of which he adopts,
without thinking them through. I am
constantly reminded Of the firm of
Amos n Andy. Andy's answer to
every proposition made to him is:
Sounds great; what Is it?'
"The President f1irts from flower to
flower and sips little political nectar
here and little there. Before he
has digested it, however. he passes it
out to the bedraggled public in his
6reSide chats"
The book closes with a strong ap-
peal to Americans of all parties to
expel the present body Of officials.
1.-THE next President" it points out,
twill undoubtedly be called upon to
I'LL several vacancies on the Supreme
Court. I feel that a majority Of the