Evening star., 1937-01-10
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

w YE HAVE had Mr.. Roosevelt's
M message on the state OF the
Wv Union. And we have had
from many experts the
turn-of -the-year summaries OF condl-
tions. Yet there Is one not much
noticed incident that constitutes
landmark.
The year-end saw the resignation OF
several members of the administration.
One, a lawyer, gave his reason-1 sum-
Marie newspaper account: He Is
resigning simply because he has been
in Government service for nearly four
years and believes that under our cur
rent conditions of business and COM
munity life it is inadvisable to remain
longer out of direct professional work"
The same reason, it is assumed, lies
behind practically all the designations.
What can we infer from this? First,
that America is going to continue to be
o country of individual enterprise, OF
private ownership and of business for
profit. Had there been any expectation
that the Roosevelt administration Is
going to take America into different
order Of society, these men would not
have resigned; they would have re-
manned to direct the new order. Clearly
Prof. Tugwell. for example, whose
writings seem strongly to suggest belief
in collectivism, would have kept his
post had he thought America was
going to become a collectivist country,
for if collectivism were to come. DR..
Tugwell would have been close to being
the directing head of it.
In another way the designations OF
these New Dealers are convincing on
the same point. They go out into private
business because they believe private
business is going to continue to be the
backbone of American life. They believe
that there will continue to be abundant
opportunity for the able and energetic
to acquire private competence. They
not only think individualism will con-
tinue; they think it will provide OPP
portunities as good as ever before.
There have been other designations
from the Roosevelt administration,
important ones-Director of the Bud
get Lewis Douglass, and at least five
fiscal officials. Those past resigna-
tions came because the resigners felt
Mr.. Roosevelts policies. at that time,
were taking America toward changed
order of society. The present group
Of designations come from precisely
opposite cause-these men resign now
because they are confident America
is going to continue to be an indiVld-
ualistic society.
CoIlectivism Vanishes.
The dream of collectivism has van
ished. To what extent it ever existed
will not be known accurately for years,
not until private diaries and letters
are made public. Without doubt there
was a good deal Of it during the early
DAYS of the Roosevelt administration.
At the time Mr.. Roosevelt took office
the individualist order of society was
Mt the lowest ebb America has ever
seen. It was at the lowest ebb IN
America. and it was at the lowest ebb
IN the world. One great country, Rus
sia. had abandoned individualism ut
terly. had treated it as odious, had
0eCeTHlIlCu W CAti pau ~ ~ASN
in Russia but In the world. Two other
countries, Italy and Germany, while
purporting to keep individualism, had
adopted forms of society and govern
ment which ultimately, If they go on,
would destroy free enterprise and prl-
yate ownership as completely as Rus
sia.
These experiments had supporters
In America. To the effect Of the ex-
amples in Europe was added the fact
that we were in the worst depression
in our history. Millions were unem-
ployed. Scores Of our institutions,
especially banks, had broken down.
Another group Of institutions, life IN
surance companies, had been obliged
to default partially on one OF their
obligations, their undertaking to loan
or pay to policy-holders the cash val
ues of their policies. The conditions
that caused this paralysis were in
creasing Credit was continuing to
shrink. During part at least of 1882,
Grices of commodities and securities
had continued to fall.
But 1t is not necessary to reproduce
the picture. It was common say
ing that the capitalist system had
broken down. Some thought it had
gone forever, that restoration OF 1t
was impossible. Future historians will
get some amusement out of quoting
the predictions-not merely predic-