The Daily Alaska empire., 1937-05-17
Integrity in Office
(New York Times)


 President Roosevelt has taken an entirely req sonable position in warning Government employees not to speculate in commodities stocks bonds. There special why such speculations might be unethical. In some cases Government em- oloyees have advance information of policies, of findings of fact which may affect market an other when the is published In other cases they called upon to make decisions which ought rot be influenced by incidental considera ons of speculative gain But where these factors are not present there sound for encouraging the of savings for what MT Roosevelt describes las bona fide investment purposes rather than for marginal trading. and it is this conservative policy which the President recommends to the em- ployees on the Governments payroll.
 Doubtless he is taking opportunity to give hem a word of advice for the future. rather than seeking correct abuses which have actually oc- cured. In the matter of personal integrity the Roosevelt Administration has had clean bill Of health and its record in this respect is all the admirable because of the unprecedented range of the Governments activities. Production agreements have been signed with many thousands of farmers: billions of dollars have been advanced loans rural and urban real estate railway properties and bank assets: contracts for public works have been awarded a gigantic scale; type of Federal regulation has had to be worked out for the issuance of securities and the sale of stocks in the speculative markets; exper ments involving an enormous outlay of funds have been undertaken by such agencies PWA and the Rural Resettlement Administrations for the first time in it's history the Federal Government has been en- gagged national scale in the distribution of re- II lief funds. All these activities have been criticized on various grounds of public policy. But none has been coupled with charge of lack of personal in- tegrity the part of the Federal officials who have directed these enterprises
 The responsibility of maintaining a high stan dard of personal honor has been greatest of all in that depar rtment of the Government having to do with monetary and financial matters. During the last four years the United States Treasury has deeply involved in such affairs the devauation of the dol lar the establishment of gold standard the re- funding of great blocks of Government securities. Time and again it has made decisions which if known in advance of their announcement by any group of spectators. would have resulted in the reapng ot fabulous profits This true during the days when the Treasury marking up the price of gold from week to week; true, it deciding whether to purchase silver what price to pay for it. and whether to "natonalize' it. true when the question Of establishing international currency entente with France and England Yet throughout the whole period of these experiments breath of scandal has touched the Treasurys undertakings, and whisper has been heard of private profit for any group of favortes The Treasury under Mir. Morgenthau has stood as a pillar of rectitude, it's standards in doubt its integrity unquestioned.
 It is only by considering what might have hap pened had the facts been otherwise that the record of the Roosevelt Administration in this matter can be valued at it's worth. Confidence in the persona integrity of those in public office is indispensable democratic Government is to function successfully and the Stavisky affair in France showed how easily such confidence is lost and how slowly its loss car be repaired. On that have been more for tunate.