Evening star., 1938-01-09
President to Offer a
Five-Year Plan
BY OVEN L. SCOTT.

A1CW AA6AS Va p1ODPCiAy'
The goal is set. The methods Of driv-
ing toward that goal are taking shape
in a dozen different Government quar-
ters. Those methods are diverse and in
clude no cure-alls. They make UP what
Mr.. Roosevelt referred to briefly in his
annual message as "a program" They
presuppose cooperation on the part of
Congress, Of the Supreme Court of busi-
ness and of labor. They bank upon
public opinion and the lessons OF the
present depression to provide the disci-
pline that other nations obtain through
strong arm government.
Against that background, the Govern
ment planners who are in the saddle say
that the most significant and important
passage IN the Presidents long message
to Congress was the one In which he
said:
I'VE have raised the Nations income
from thirty eight billion dollars In the
year 1882 to about sixty eight billion dol
lars in the year 1887. Our goal, our
objective is to raise it to ninety or one
hundred billion dollars"
But, in making that statement. Mr..
Roosevelt omitted to tell how he would
attain his goal. In those methods, now
taking form, Is found Americas poten-
tlal f1ve-year plan. At the bottom of
the planning is this New Deal conclusion:
The automatic controls, that once
1unctioned to make a capitalist economy
work, no longer can be depended upon.
This Is due to the fact that 200 giant
enterprises now dominate the bulk of the
Nations industrial machinery exercising
a power over prices and production that
breaks down the working Of the once
accepted automatic economic laws"
AS result, If President Roosevelt has
his way, Government Is to enter to sl1pplv
the missing controls.
NeW-1angled trust-busting Is to be one
OF the proposals. But the President is
reported to be convinced that nothing
can be gained by pulverizing the coun-
try's huge corporations No crusade of
tnat type Is In sight. Instead, Mr.. Roose.
velt intends to convince these huge in.
ouStrlal units that the general public.
through Government, has vital interest
In and must have voice in determining
price policies and production policies
**
The realization that the MANAGEMENT
OF any vast corporation, with hundreds
OF millions OF dollars in reserve accumu-
latlons can overnight fire tens of thou
sands OF men without warning, while
making no effort to attract new markets
for their products by price adjustments.
appalls the President and his advisers.
yet. IN recent weeks, more than million
men have been thrown into streets on
just that basis.
This explains talk OF a revived modif-
cation OF N. R. A. The first N. R. A.
blew up because OF unrestrained price
nxing and production control. Indus
trial managers wrote their own ticket
and made 1t an invitation to a erab-bap
party. That opportunity is not to be re-
VlVed. But the idea of creating machin-
cry OF government through which indus
trlal managers can plan on the basis of
adequate information and with the public
interest IN mind, is under intensive Study
SUeamlined antitrust laws would then
serve to try to bring some measure of
competition among the big industrial
units.
But that is just one side Of a rounded
plan. To sell that plan, the Government
economists are drawing a factuaI pic
lure 10 snow to business men and to
farmers. They are preparing to reveal
10 each important industry what a ma
tional income OF seventy billions. of
elenty billions, Of ninety billions and of
one hundred billions would mean to it.
Mr. Roosevelt is announcing that, by
one means or another, he is determined
10 produce national income of from
ninety to one hundred billions.
with that knowledge to provide some
measure to gauge the future, manage
ment then will be offered its GLIMPSE Of
"nat any such national income increase
would mean in terms of profits, of plant
needs, OF employment and of markets
Inc estimate is made by responsible OIL
clais that, on the present price basis, a
national income of eighty-eight billion
collars would provide full employment
ana would necessitate a vast expansion
OF productive plant as we'll as the training
OF large numbers of skilled workers.
This looks like beautiful dream bit
Is there really any chance that it can be
realized? w
The President is convinced that there
IS such chance, and so are his advisers
Ihey place good deal of reliance on the
possibility OF inducing or forcing big
nusiness-and the labor employed by biz
ous1ness-to take the public interest into
consideration in fixing prices of labor and
of goods.
But more than that.
Agriculture Is on the verge of getting
from Congress the controls that can
serve to help stabilize it's income.
Pump priming is scheduled to come
back on modified scale to serve as the
new recovery self starter. The mere
suggestion OF spending on new arma-
ment served to send the stock market
higher during the past week. Mariner
8. Eccles Reserve Board chairman, told
Congress that billion dollars of bor-
rowed money, carefully spent at this
time, would turn the business trend up
ward. The President is getting ready to
do that spending, part of 1t on ar1na-
ment, part on w. p. A. and part on hous-
Ing. He can get the needed billion with
our borrowing by releasing gold that now
IS sterilized. In fact, the country has lit
tie conception Of the huge unused re.
sources Of the Treasury.
y X
Along with new spending will 90 a
more careful use Of the taxing power.
Small corporations are to get release
from the surtax on the undistributed por-
ton OF their earnings and will have other
incentives to induce them to venture
Large corporations on the other hand
are likely to be forced to disgorpe their
earnings unless they actually are put to
slSe in production