Evening star., 1937-01-21

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travel the middle II
road in world ~
of dissension and David Lawrence.
amid internal de-
bates over rival PHILOSOPHERS of gov
ernment.
With the obJectiVeS as stated, with
the purposes as outlined, with the
hopes as expressed by Mr. Roosevelt,
no liberal-minded American can dis
agree. 1t was the type of address
which one can only hope and pray
can be put into practice and still pre-
serve the EZRA of good feeling" which
Mr.. Roosevelt describes.
Transition May Be Painful.
1t Is only when in explicit legisla-
tive proposals the effort is made TO
translate ideals into practically that
the pains of transition and the con-
fusion Of conflicting interests exposes
to view the inadequacy of govern
ment alone to cope with the problems
Of a democracy.
If it is on any particular point that
Q dissent might be offered to the noble
words of the President it is perhaps
that he places his great emphasis on
the functions and obligations of gov
ernment and is disinclined somehow
to remind the citizen of his or her in
dividual obligations. A nation, to be
sure, is collection of individuals, but
If the philosophy that the government
owes living to everybody fails to be
tempered by corresponding obliga-
tion on the part of the individual not
to become a parasite on his fellow
man, then the lesson of thrift and
hard work which has been the fun
damental premise of the whole Chris
tian concept of brotherhood is over
looked.
Minimum Wage One Solution.
As the President speaks Of the
underprivileged and the obligation Of
the State to see that "the lowest
standard of living can be raised far
above the level of mere subsistence"
for many millions of our people, there
can be no doubt that one of the first
steps toward such redistribution OF
wealth is the establishment of mini
mum wages for men and women alike.
This could be done by State laws,
Notwithstanding the fact that previ-
ously phrased statutes have been
struck down in the courts, but the
purpose would be achieved much
sooner by an amendment to the
Federal Constitution. Apparently Mr..
Roosevelt will try the method Of State
laws first, and later on try the other
course should the initial proposals be
declared unconstitutional.
Government subsidies and the pay
ment of benefits to groups with
revenues derived from special or gen.
eral taxation afford another method
Of achieving the same end, especially
as the Government seeks to improve
the lot OF the tenant farmer or to
provide low cost houses to the poor.
Change May Be Slower.
Some observers may see the be-
Rinnings Of State socialism in Mr..
Roosevelt's outline of liberal
philosophy. Others may see radical
turn toward more and more imitation
because OF the heavy Government ex-
penditures that must be met by taxes.
But 1t would be wrong to assume that
the entire speech holds in it any i'm
mediate change of faster pace or
tempo than that which characterized
the first Roosevelt term. The pace is
slower because mistakes have been
made. The mood is more mellow be-
cause opposition has been to large
extent stunned by the vast majority
rolled up at the polls.
Mr.. Roosevelt refers in his speech
to the need for Legitimate criticism"
and if any were to be offered at this
time it would be that, unfortunately,
all private autocratic power to
which he alluded has not been elm
mated, for there are groups who today
WELD such an unprecedented power
that they can throw out OF work tens
of thousands of their fellow workmen
and stop the biggest industry in the
United States from production.
Doubtful Peace.
MAYBE 1JuOSCNCAG I11ooS w AcAASAS
the situation in Michigan purposely
when he said he saw nation OF l3o,-
100000 people "at peace among them
selves" for there must have been thou
sands listening in throughout the au-
tomobile area who die not look at the
labor war as any more peaceful so lar
as their lives were concerned than
what is happening to the innocent
non-combatantS of war-torn Spain.
Possibly Mr.. Roosevelt, with his
characteristic optimism, thinks it is
better to think and speak in terms of
peace as one way of bringing peace.
But the unsolved problems of auto
cratic power in the fight between or
ganized capital and organized labor
are too vivid to go unnoticed as the
headlines of yesterday, today and to-
morrow may tell us.
The inaugural speech was notable
largely for what it omitted. Business
probably likes it because it did not out
line legislative procedure Of hostile
proposals. The address was a good
state paper, but not one of Mr.. Roose-
VelIS SIcdtcSt 1ifouSA' w VIC cnS'
DR.. Stanley High, who was active In
the Democratic campaign and has
helped to prepare many of the Presi-
dents addresses, which makes him
naturally an independent commenta-
tor, announced on behalf of the Ma
tional Broadcasting Co. about 10 sec
onds after the President finished
speaking that the message would go
down in history along with Washing
ton and Jefferson's inaugural ad-
dresses.
Outstanding Passage.
There is one passage in the speech
which more clearly reflects the temper
of today than any other passage in it.
Q passage that will be read and reread