Evening star., 1938-03-24

QuulIlS " Z CduSt
it is important s
that the Ameri- #
can people begin n..,,,-
to appraise the
articulated wisdom of Chief EXecu-
tive who is trying to establish an alibi
for bad times and trying hard to avert
responsibility for what is now becom-
ing known historically as the "Roose-
Welt recession"
Today says the President, ma
tional progress and national prosperity
are being held back chiefly because of
selfishness on the part of few"
This Is simple way to dispose of
the present unemployment problem
and heavy losses being suffered by
business and industry. 1t is always
easy to blame somebody else in poll
tics. especially when the assumption
is that the people, to use a Harry Hop
kins phrase, are too damn dumb" to
understand the truth.
Signal to Country.
When Mr. Roosevelt makes public
address in the midst of period of
bad times and says it's all due to
selfish few" it is sign that leader
ship can no longer be expected from
the White House and that no remedy
except invective and vague general
ity may be looked for from the Chief
Executive. 1t is signal to the coun-
try to demand that Congress recover
the vast powers it has delegated to the
Executive and begin pulling the Ma
ton out of the throes of depression.
Who are the selfish few?
Presumably. the opposite of selfish
few" are the "unselfish many" And
who are they?
Here in Washington are many pub
lie officials who are very unselfish
with other peoples money. Mr..
Roosevelt has, by one means or an
other, spent in excess of $25 900, ,O0O,-
600 since he has been President. The
public debt was $19,000,000,000 on
March 4, 1898, when he took Office,
and 1t IS around $4,000, 100000 today.
Not Confined to \ Few.
Perhaps one definition of selfish
person is one who does not like to
give away money he has ,actually
earned or that he has toiled for by
the sweat Of his brow. This charac-
teristic is not confined to few. It
Is rather widespread, and yet when
1t comes to making contributions for
charity and philanthropy generally
the class who have actually earned
money always give substantial share
Of their savings.
Mr.. Roosevelt never earned any sub
stantial sums himself, having Inherit
ed his wealth, so he cannot be award
ed the distinction OF being one of the
selfish few" though lately his desire
to sell public papers and documents
that are not his private property
would seem to indicate that he has
some instincts in that general direc-
ton.
The President does belong to the
class of "unselfish" persons or Glib
erals" who give away and spend other
peoples money. Therefore, more
accurate description of the present
business recession would be to say
that national progress and national
prosperity are being blocked by the
selfish politicians who demand that
their own political fortunes and po-
litical power shall be maintained at
the expense of the taxpayers.
A. A. A. and w. P. A. Funds.
There was nothing very selfish, it
will be recalled. about the way the
last national election was won by
A. A. A. and w. P. A. funds. There
is nothing very selfish today about
the stubborn refusal of the admins
tration to repeal the undistributed
surplus tax-the one that penalties
thrift and causes unemployment by
stagnating capital funds and business
generally.
If "selfishness" is to be made con-
crete 1t will be found to be the biggest
single attribute of a political admin
istration which refuses to acknowledge
that it ever might make a mistake,
and which insists on clinging to mis-
taken policies even after public opin-
ion has in various ways shown its
condemnation of them.
Pride Is relatively unimportant
when the ordinary individual allows
1t to supersede common sense, but
pride and pique and prejudice In high
office can be detrimental to the pub
lie interest, especially if as conse-
quence unwise laws are kept on the
statute books in spite of public clamor
for their repeal.
Class Against Class.
Between elections Presidents get the
notion sometimes that they are mas
ters Of public opinion. The present
administration, which has spent pub
lie money to maintain a gigantic
propaganda machine and which would
really like to do away with the press
because it dares to criticize its mis-
deeds, believes it can control every
election by blaming small groups Of
successful or thrifty citizens and by
arraying class against class. These
tactics have been noticeable in the
pre-Fascist periods abroad. Mr..
Roosevelt now links "feudalism" and
"Fascism" as the same thing, but a
more realistic synonym for Fascism
Is New Dealism, which is nothing
more or less than the desire OF the
"selflsh few" in political life to use
public funds at will for political pur-
poses and to concentrate all govern
mental power in the hands OF q