Evening star., 1937-11-21
Counter.Revolution..
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

BY OWEN L. SCOTT.
What is going on in Washington today
already is being dubbed by some New
Dealers "the second Roosevelt revolu-
ton" This one looks to them more like
q counter-revolution reversing the field
on the first.
Yet hard realities are forcing Presi-
dent Roosevelt to turn in his tracks. Just
as they were forcing President Hoover
to turn before him. The, difference Is
proving to be that Mr.. Hoover sought
recovery by protecting and helping those
at the top Of the economic scale in the
expectation that benefits would trickle
down, and Mr.. Roosevelt sought recovery
by protecting and helping those at the
bottom of the economic scale in the
expectation that benefits would flow up.
Before he got through one term, Presi-
dent Hoover was being forced by events
to alter his methods, and, before he has
finished one year Of his second term,
President Roosevelt Is being forced to
alter his.
Revealed by this strange bit of turn
about is the difficulty Of beating the busi-
ness cycle. As voters expect 1t to be
beaten.
The trouble-as demonstrated BY eight
years Of practical experience-turnso out
to be that, to get full recovery, either
private agencies or Government must
borrow and spend on q vast scale. II
private borrowers slow their borrowings
and spending, Government Is forced to
borrow to care for the resulting unem-
ployed and to try to revive activity But
when Government borrows private in
dustry Is inclined to be frightened away
from borrowing on Its own account
How to bridge that gap in the absence
of any machinery for an orderly transi-
ton is the Presidents big present prob
lem.
The banks are full of money that could
finance the biggest and most thorough
recovery this country ever has SEEN
There Is backlog Of needs in the field
OF construction greater than ever In the
Nations history. The problem is to find
the catalyzer.
Congress thinks that the necessary
catalyzer will be tax modification to
encourage business Mr.. Roosevelt thinks
it may be balanced budget. He also is
trying out gesture Of friendship to
business in the form of a slower reform
pace. Along with this will go Govern
ment guarantees designed to encourage
private borrowing and investment The
Roosevelt counter-revolution is based
upon aid and encouragement to large
scale private finance and industry
But during this counter-revolution-
with Government appraisers estimating
that the present recession in business
will end with large-scale replenishing
OF inventories before many months have
elapSed-the country is in position to
see some popular ideas go through the
wringer.
For example: The President convinced
himself and much of the country that
he had planned" the recovery that took
place after 1888. But his planning failed
to include any method of influencing the
an-important price-setting policies of
private business or the very important
spending proclivities of Congress. The
result is the present upset.
Also. in recent months. people have
heard much about the right to work"
Employers raised this point when strikes
were under way on large scale. They
told the country that those who wanted
to work should have the right to work
But now, when unemployment is rising
rapidly, this slogan is found to work both
ways Employers now might have difh-
Guilty meeting the argument of jobless
demanding the right to work
Then there is the carefully developed
idea that Secretary of Agriculture Henry
Wallace has been flying In the face of
common sense and reality by seeking
machinery to control the production and
price OF farm products at time when
people need food and clothing. There
Is frequent reference to pig killing" and
cotton plow-ups. Yet many industries
today are maintaining prices of their
products behind q Government erected
tariff wall by the simple method of plow-
ing human beings into the streets in q
process Of reducing production.
Ofacial figures show that industrial
production fell from 121 per cent of the
1923-25 average earlier this year to 1O8
per cent in October and to point that
Is estimated to be under 100 In November.
This means that industry is cutting
down its production at time when there
still are untitled needs for clothing and
houses and automobiles and all of the
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Production Of houses is not 50 per cent
OF normal and steel production Is down
to about 80 per cent of capacity. But
agricultural production during the past
year was above normal.
Right here may turn out to be the
crux OF much Of the country's trouble.
Mr. Wallace thinks that 1t is and so do
many of the Governments principal
economists. They argue that the trouble
Is real enough to make it necessary,
sooner or later, for Mr.. Roosevelt or his
successor to 60 back into the business of
using governmental powers to make ad-
1ustments in the country's industrial and
financial mechanism.
The central control over the country's
economy Is supposed to be the free
market"-the meeting place of buyers
and sellers where supply and demand
control.
In this free market" competition is
supposed to keep prices in balance
thereby correcting the inequalities and
disparities that tend to bring boozns and
deprestons. But tariffs were created to
curb the competition of foreign goods
In this market. and industry has learned,
I