The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-01-03


 crease in national purchasing power and declared need for such in- crease lis an urgency which must be met by complete and not by par tial action"
 Noting the sectional nature of some opposition to wage-hours reg ulation, he said:
 Grown Away From SelfishneSs
 Tt has been my thought that, especially during these past five years, this nation has grown away from local or sectional selflshness and toward national patriotism and unity. l am disappointed by some recent actions and by some recent utteranceS which sound like the philosophy of half century ago."
 No reasonable person." he said, seeks a complete uniformity in wages in every part of the United States; nor does any reasonable per- son seek an immediate and drastic change from the lowest pay to the highest pay. We are seeking, of course, only legislation to end star vation wages and intolerable hours; more desirable wages are and should continue to be the product of collec- tive bargaining"
 Difficult Situation
 The president noted difficult Situ- ationS have arisen in localities ana among groups" during the progress of labor organization. Tn the case of labor as in the case of capital" he said, misrepresentation of the policy of the government of the Uni ted States is a deception which will not long deceive. In both cases we seek cooperation. In every case power and responsibility must go hand in hand.'
 He noted particularly "unfortun- ate divisions relating to jurisdic- tion among the workers themselves" These, he said, ''have retarded pro- duction within given industries and have, therefore, affected related in- duStries."
 Troubled World Affairs
 Speaking of the troubled state of affairs, MT. Roosevelt declared that present facts and future hazards demand that I speak clearly and earnestly of the causes which under lie events of profound concern of all"
 Tt has become clear" he said, that acts and policies of nations in other parts of the world have far-reaching effects not only upon their immediate negihborS but also on us.
 T am thankful that can tell you that our nation is at peace. It has been kept at peace despite provo cations which in other days because of their seriousness could well have engendered war"
 He noted Americas traditional peace-loving policy and efforts to reduce military forces.
 Responsibility of U. s.
 "In a world of high tension and disorder" he said. in a world where stable civilization is actually threatened, it becomes the respon- sibility of each nation which strives for peace at home and peace with and among others to be strong enough to assure the observance of those fundamentals of peaceful so- lution of conflicts which are the only ultimate basis for orderly ex- istence.
 "Resolute in our determination to respect the rights of others and to command respect for the rights of ourselves, we must keep ourselves adequately strong in self-defense."
 Citing a surface trend" away from democratic government, the president said:
 Tt would seem that world peace through international agreements, is most safe in the hands of demo- cratic representative governments or, in other words, peace is most greatly jeopardized in and by those nations where democracy has been discarded or has never developed"
 Industry, Agriculture
 The president called attention to the integrated nature of American life with industry and agriculture each employing about one third of the population while the remaining one third transports, distributes and performs special services for the ag- ricultural and industrial two-thirds.
 Agriculture, he noted, presents problems with which the government has grappled since 1883.
 We have been discovering that vast numbers of our farming popu- lation live in poverty more abject than that of many of the farmers of Europe he said. "The prices of our products of agriculture are too ofen dependent on speculation by non farming gorups; foreign na- tions, eager to become Self-Sustain- ing or ready to put virgin land un- der the plough, are no longer buy ing our surpluses of cotton and wheat and lard and tobacco as they had before"
 Choice of Three Remedies Since 1883, the president said, the nation has faced a choice of three remedies. He cited these as:
 l. Cutting American farm produc- ton costs below those of foreign nations.
 ?. Government guarantee of farm prices and underwriting of produc- tion without limitation.
 3. Responsibility by farmers, under majority rule, for the type of con- trols they desire.
 The third method, he said, means adequacy of supply but not glut. It means adequate reserves against the day of drought. It is shameless mis- representation to call this policy of scarcity It is in truth insurance be- fore the fact, instead of government subsidy after the fact.
 Glad of Conference
 T gladly note that measures which seek to initiate a government pro- gram for balanced agriculture are now in conference between the two houses of the congress. In their final consideration, I hope for a sound consistent measure which will kppn the c0St nf lie admin iStra tior1