Evening star., 1938-04-03
New Deal Now a Growing
Chaos of Ideas and Plans
BY OVEN L. SCOTT.

toiHlIlB lISeII rapldly into ShambleS.
One glance under the surface of affairs
here reveals growing chaos of ideas
and plans.
President Roosevelt is tired, disillu-
stoned and beWildered. He tried his ex-
perlments and now the country is back
not far from where it started in 1888.
This causes the President to be wary of
his one-time advisers. Those one-time
ADVISERS, on their part, are distrustful
and out OF patience with the President.
The most notable attitude in Washington
today is provided by the detection of the
one-time planners.
Then Congress is Ginning in with its
idea that the best prescription for recov-
cry Is to do nothing positive A growing
number OF Congressman are possessed of
the obsession that. If President Roosevelt
can only be stopped in his tracks, the
Nation automatically will 60 places.
AS result. the Roosevelt taxes are to
be made over in way to satisfy business
men, Wage and hour legislation is either
to be abandoned or emasculated. All ex-
periments are being quoted at heavy
discount. Right now, the first objective
of Congress is to get out of town by
June !.
The country. the Congress and the
President all obviously yearn for the good
old days when business pretty much ran
Itself and when politics was a game not
all cluttered up with the battling intrica-
cies Of economics.
In those good old days, England ran
the overall controls of a world economic
system that revolved around the gold
standard and relatively free exchange
OF goods between nations. The British
did the banking, financing the develop
ment OF undeveloped regions while COM
petltlon gradually ironed out the diff
culties that arose occasionally to jam the
machine.
But something drastic has happened
to that system.
The gold standard of exchange to
which world trade was geared is gone
beyond recall. The British no longer have
surplus capital to lend for the develop
ment OF undeveloped nations The United
states mas the surplus capital. but is
pared by law and by inclination from
ienolne IL TO foreigners. And-as Mexico
Is Just now demonstrating-the unde-
veioped nations do not necessarily want
to go into debt to foreign lenders
Then in addition. the British now have
tarlns and strong trade controls. They
nave pulled far away from the system
thev once ran. Russia is completely ont
OF that system. Germany is just about
as far out as Russia, with the most rigid
controls over foreign exchange and over
internal prices and trade. Italy has
pulled long way out Japan is going
the same way. France is on the verge of
loiloWlng the road taken by Germany in
tne way OF money and economic controls
Many Latin American nations are copv-
ing the tactics Of the totalitarian states
In other words, vast chunks of the
once Incorporating world economic svs-
tenn nave broken away to function under
new system Of management and con-
trolls.
1hls leaves the United States rather
lonesome in its determination to rebuild
DIT OF machinery that its tariffs helped
70 ofeak down during the l920s Cordell
Hull is throwing his reciprocal trade
agreement program into action as his
contribution to return to "normalcy."
The Official idea now seems to be that,
II this country can Just sign a trade
agreement with the British by June /,
that fact can be hailed as a return to
the good old days and everything will be
well.
But a glance at the situation inside
this Nation also reveals some startling
and very hard facts. Neither the coun-
try. the Congress nor the President is
prepared as yet to face those facts and
to act accordingly. Many of the Gov
efnments principal economists think
that this failure to recognize facts under
lies today's chaos in Washington and in
the Nation
The facts are these:
More than 2000000O individuals. or
about one-sixth of the Nations popula-
ton on the basis of official estimates. are
living from Federal. State and local gov
ernment relief Of one kind or another.
lhese people are completely outside the
OLD economic system and represent relief
clients and their dependents
X
More millions of individuals, wanting
to work and able to work. are unable to
find jobs and yet are not on relief. These
people, too. are at least temporarily out
side the old system.
Another 15,000,0 900 individuals, or about
one-eighth of the population, are sup
ported by the 3,50O,0oO employees of Fed
eral, State and local governments Pen
sioners add to this total
The agricultural industry. supporting
30,0000O0 individuals, or about ne-quar-
ter Of the country's population now looks
to Government rather than to the once
free working economic laws to provide 1t
with overall controls and a measure of
security. There are price controls, pro-
duction controls and marketing controls
that place this Nations farmers outside
the old system.
A million workers in the railroad in
dustry and their dependents are looking
to the Government and not to bankers
or industrialists to solve the problems of
their industry and to protect their Jobs.
The same is true of half million bitum-
inous coal miners who have turned their
problems and the problems of their in
dustry over to the Government.
This means that at least one-half of
the population Of the United States now
looks to the Government of this Nation
rather than to private leadership and pri-
vate business and finance for a solution
of its problems.
Again internally as well as externally,
big chunks have been ripped out of the
once Incorporating economic set-up.
But other facts deserve attention as
we'll.
Government credit. and not private
credit, now does the bulk of financing for
the farming industry. The Government