Milford chronicle., 1938-05-20
ECONOMIC HICHLICHTS
HAPPENINGS THAT AFFEcr THE DmNsR
PALS. DIVIDEND CHECKS AND Tax
BILLS or EVERY INDIVIDUAL
National and International ProbleWs
TH5efaEabie from Local Welfars

well as opponents that the Presi
dent and his official circle apparent
ly greatly undercstimated the i'm
portance and the severity Of th,
slump i'm business that began las
October.
Whether or not tlle President ac.
tually took this attitude, il is obvious
that he now views the recession as
a major crisis which has endangered
all the gains made since the depths
Of 1888. Two dramatic events Oc-
curing recently, vividly illustrates
this.
First. his last ''fireside chat" was
almost startlingly different i'm tone
and attitude from most of its pre-
decessOrs. AS one anti-Administra-
tion newspaper. the Portland Ore
gonian, described it, There was no
batting of business, no hatefulness
Of phrase. nor any appeal to class
consciousness. Instead there was
gratefully evident the recognition Of
all classes Of Americans in a COM
mon AmeriGanism, confronted by
Identical questions to he solved by
fraternal solution" In other words,
the talk was highly cOnciliatOry.
Whether the President will continue
to hold such an attitude cannot be
said-but it is a reasonable deduc-
tiOn that at the present time the Ad-
ministration has reached the con-
clusiOn that IL is essential to extend
friendly hand to all elements in
and bitterness. to cement so far as
possible the warning factions. and
to precede reform" with an attempt
at recovery.
Second. hte Presidents message
to Congress shows how seriously he
regards present conditions. And this
message will continue 10 be the sub
ject of a tremendous amount of de-
bate and difference of opinion.
Briefly. the Administration proposes
to fight bad times now with the same
weapon it used TO fight bad times be-
fOre-a so-called pump-primiDg pro-
gram of a size unprecedented before
1882. It has three phases: l. Direct
government spending, through the
WPA, the Farm Security Administra-
tiOn. the National Youth AdmiDistra-
ton. and the CCC 2. The release of
about $4,000 .OOU.0n0 in new credit
through changes il the gold and fed
eral reserve policies. 3. The crea-
tiOn of new jobs through slum clear
ance. highways. food control and
other public works. II was also sug-
gested that the SEC relax its regula
tiOns somewhat in order to make it
easier for small business to get new
money.
The entire program would result in
the government spending $4,500. .00O,-
900 more than it is spending now.
Yet, while no provision is made for
increasing revenue, it is said that
this will increase the national debt
by only a third of that sum. That
seemingly magical trick would be
accomplished by de-sterilizing part
of our vast gold reserve against
which no gold certificates exist.
The former spending program.
which began almost as soon as the
president took office, was approved
almost unanimously by Congress and
by the nation as a whole. The pres
ent program will not meet so enthu-
siastic a reception. One bloc be
lieves that the former spending pro-
gram failed. and that another will
fail, too. Another bloc, even though
il favOrs increased spending. will
be unwilling to approve it unless
some means of raising the money is
found, so as to not further boost the |
debt. A third bloc thinks that tax
and labor troubles should be cor |
rected before we try anything else
and believes that If business were |
aided i'm this manner it would go !
ahead and spend on its own hook, !
.hus Obviating or lessening the need /
'Or government spending on large |
scale. All such blocs are important /
md influential-and are manned by
Democrats as well as Republicans.
L is the members II the presidents
Dwn party. not the opposition, that
ave made the present session of Con-
,ress. eliminating in the startling
lefeat of the reorganization meas
Ire, stormy one for the White
IOuse.
There is the situation as Il exists
Oday. We are i'm period of lethar-
tic business and, while the consensus
4 expert opinion does not anticipate
urther decline. it does not antici-
Iate substantial betterment i'm the
ear future, either. The Congress is
n a rebellious mood. The President
as taken a more conciliatOry stand.
nd it is believed that he will sug-
est no new unusual" legislation :
his year. What that all adds up TO
, anybOdy's guess. One good guess
J that we will have greater spending.
nd a shot of infiatiOn-but not on
s big a scale as the President would
Ike to see.
The Republicans will gain about e
NO seats In the House next NOvem-
by a recent survey made
y the Institute OF Public Opinion. (
hey will gain some seats in the =
enate. But both branches will re-
Iain Democratic by heavy majOri- !
es. Il is mathematically possible ,
n the Republicans to gain control :
the House-but no one thinks that a
IN happen. II is mathematically int b
lssible for them to gain control OF c
le Senate.
AS result, more attention will be $
led on the Democratic primaries a
see how anti-New Deal candidates n
re against pro-New Deal candi-
ties. $,
q
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