Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-05-10

recalcitrant group in our economic
life who are determined to rule or
ruin our country, are the greatest
single menace to the perpetuity Of our
institutions. But so long as business
men see profit to be made they will
not deny themselves the chance to
make it because they hate President.
They may damn him out of Office
hours; but they will not cut their
economic Threats just for the fun Of
seeing their own blood bespatter a
political enemy. No: it was not a
conspiracy planned or otherwise. It
was the paradox of idle capital and
idle men with the resultant failure to
produce enough real wealth and pur-
| chasing power, that caused the present
crisis.
On April IA President Roosevelt
recognized the seriousness of the sit
uation and proposed a program to
loan more money to business, to cities
and States and an appropriation to
maintain w. P. A. employment at its
present level. This program, if en-
acted, will not provide anything more
than a temporary effort to hold
economic activity at its present low
level. There is grave doubt among
competent economists that so limited
program can even make it possible
for us to continue to try and share
our present poverty. For that is what
We are doing now. We are operating
our economic mechanism that pro-
duces wealth at about half speed.
Idle men and idle dollars mean less
for all of us. But even these limited
and temporary new proposals are
going to be fought by reactionary
Democrats as well as Republicans in
Congress.
Can there be any hope for united
action. essential to the solution Of the
complex and fundamental problems of
our day. through the outworn machine
cry Of two old political parties?
Take look at the Republican and
Democratic parties First of all let
us not forget that reactionary policies
of government from 1921 to 1892
finally resulted in the worst economic
crisis in our history. During that
period Progressives pointed out again
and again that reactionary control
Of government was resulting in q
concentration of wealth and economic
power in the hands of q relatively
small proportion of the population.
Progressives commended, during those
IL years. that in modern Industrial
and agricultural society only economic
disaster could result unless the buying
power of the people kept pace with
their ever increasing capacity to pro-
duce both manufactured and agri-
cultural products. The crash in Oc-
tober, 1929, which marked the onset
OF the crisis served tragically to DEM
onstrate that the position which we
had taken was sound.
Nation Taken Near Chaos.
From 1929 to 1882 the reactionaries
were in full control of government
and had an opportunity to apply their
theory that If the crisis were permitted
to run its course it would cure itself.
This do-nothing policy brought the
United States to the brink of chaos
when all the banks closed their doors.
This even should serve as a capstone
on the monument in the political
cemetery for the reactionary Repub-
lican and Democratic philosophy of
government. For there is no distin-
guishable difference between q reac-s
tionary Democrat and a reactionary
Republican. On the record made in
Congress, up to the conventions in
1882, there was not single issue upon
which the Democrats could 60 to the
country. There was hardly an issue
between the two old parties to be
found in their 1882 platforms.
1t was only the nomination of Presi-
dent Roosevelt and the position which
he took in his speeches that gave the
voters any real choice between him
and President Hoover in that contest.
The powerful reactionary group
which has controlled the Republican
party for 50 many years still has a
strangle hold on the partys machinery
Look at the Republican party wheel
horses in your community, your State
and in the Nation. Has the reaction
airy Republican leopard changed his
spots? True they have talked about