Evening star., 1938-03-05
Full Steam Ahead?
Changing Conditions Cast Doubt on Whether Ship
of State Will Keep Same Course

dents Of corporations. Did Mr.. Roose.
velt approve that omission?
Mr.. Roosevelt's reply was 10 ample
and ready End we'll phrased that he
may have anticipated the question.
But maybe. from Just having heard the
18th Psalm, he was merely over
flowing with religious zeal. In any
event, he had much to say. Decidedly
he thought the public ought to know
the salaries Of corporation oficials.
He paraphrased . familiar American
saying-1 think 1t was Grover Cleve-
land's-"Public once Is q public
trust" Mr.. Roosevelt's phrase was
that private office Is . public trust. He
mentioned some cases specifically. the
million dollar salary and bonus which
Mr.. Eugene @. Grace once had from
Bethlehem Steel.
Some one else asked Mr.. Roosevelt
II he had anything to say appropriate
to his nth anniversary as President.
He had much to say. It was al to
the effect that the New Deal Is still
going strong. It has precisely the same
objectives and the same ideals. We
must distinguish, he told US, between,
on the one hand, objectives and pol
icies and, on the other hand. methods
Objectives and policies remain the
same-as to them there is no change
and will be none-they are the law
and the gospel. AS to methods, he said
there is elasticity. Even though q
ship continues on the same course,
there are occasions when the captain
must-Mr Roosevelt fell into nautical
terminology-bear hard aport, or as
the case may be. But these variations
are adopted precisely for the purpose
Of keeping the ship on its true course.
He illustrated by fiscal policies, in
cluding prices In order to proceed
toward the permanent objective. 1t
has been necessary, when possible in
flation threatened. to take one kind
OF tack, and when possible denation
threatened, to take the other kind
Of tack.
Agreement Increases.
More and more. Mr.. Roosevelt said,
business men are agreeing with him
and his policies. More and more they
agree about putting a floor" under
wages and ceiling" over hours. A
wage-and-hour law must come
whether in this session OF Congress
does not matter, 1t must come some
time. The detail Of it, the method, is
not rigid.
And so on and so on. 1t was all
summed up in an eloquent phrase
"On the fifth anniversary the old
ship of state is still on the same
course" Some one asked Mr.. Roose-
welt if We could quote that. Mr..
Roosevelt said We could. That phrase,
1 imagine, is the one that Mr.. Roose-
welt, if he were the headline writer
which he often says he would like to
be, would put in big type.
1t all amounted to strongly
stressed animation that the New Deal
will go on. Yet one wondered. He
had just been to church to commence
rate his fifth anniversary. and he had
heard the 18th Psalm. Emotionally
moved. he rededicated himself to the
fight. Nevertheless, in the light Of
conditions-the changing mood of the
country, the clearly changed mood Of
Congress, the business recession which
is the negation Of the New Deal prom
ise Of more abundant life-in the
light of all that, one felt that perhaps
Mr.. Roosevelt's spirited declaration
had the nature of gallant sortie, de-
fensive in nature. . minor action in
a rear-guard fight.
(Copyright, 1881