The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1938-07-09
NEWSPAPERS OPINIONS
ANCIENT BABYLON HAD NEW DEAL

sharp-tongued critic of the Roosevelt way,
Amos Pinchot sent letter to the White House the
other day pointing out that the basic idea Of the
new deal is not new but is as old as the ruins Of
Babylon.
Managed economy" Mr.. Pinchot wrote, "s a
product imported hom the old world, and is even
older than pump printing. Managed economy was
the pet hobby Ct Hammurabi, sixth King of the
first dynasty of Babylon who around $3.50 b. c.,
regned happily for SIS years. This enlightened
ruler described himself as the perfect king, chosen
by the gods Bel ana Anu to supply the people with
luxurious abundance"
Hammurabi (some scholars spell the name Ham
murapi) was the man who wrote rather die
tated, the celebrated code that regimented Babylo
MAN religious, social and business life. 1t d
mighty comprehensive piece of legislation, engrav
ed on q pillar of black rock. The sands of time
buried the rock and Hammurabis prescription for
the abundant life forgotten and lost for thou,
sands of years. 1t was unearthed in 1902, just 30
years before the NRA idea promulgated for
this country under the second Roosevelt dynasty.
Hammurabi the champion of social justice,
and in his code ne remembered the poor the wild
ows and orphans. He for the working man.
There is nothing to show that the king favored
labor unions, but these perhaps were not needed,
as the king himself fixed wages and working con-
dtions by royal decree.
The blue eagle sections of the Babylonian code
are elaborate and detailed The wages of skilled
workers vary. The brick maker and the tailor re-
ceive five shekels of silver day, but the present
day value of this minimum pay is hard to deter
mine, as the shekel seems to have been weight
measure, and the weight varied greatly, probably
giving leeway for "chseng" on wages. The car
penter gets four shekels day.
The pay of the farm laborer is partly in money
and partly in kind The herdsman gets a certain
measure of corn year; other farm hands Cper-
haps seasonal labor receive five shekels in winter
and six in summer when they work longer hours
during the harvest. The eight-hour day and the
fve-day week had not yet arrived
While on the subject of farming. Hammurabi
had wel-defned AAA, but it was intended to
boost crops instead of curtailing a surplus. Own
ers and tenants were en- Joined TO get results "The
man who has taken field to cultivate and has not
caused it to produce shall be put to account
for his negligence and shall pay over to the owner
Of the field corn like its neighbor" Waste land
that has been leased by tenant for three years
and has been allowed to lie idle must be hoed and
narrowed in the fourth year before it is returned
to the owner
Trade and industry came i'll for minute rcgua-
ton. All business had to be done by written con
tract even business between members Of the same
family, SO that Hammurai certainly made work for
lawyers and accountants "BabylOnia," says one
scholar, was verify paradise for the professional
scribe" Now the profession of the scribe open
to women, and the Babylonian business man had
his girl grapher--Milwaukee Journal.