Evening star., 1938-01-19
Administration Pattern.

@AAAAAA11ASlIdtlOu / dttern.
Despite seeming contradictions, the
administration pattern unravels itself
controlled production in industry is basic
In the design. The President, apparently.
has set himself to the task of bringing
to industry a kind of "ever-normal
granary" for manufactured products. as
ne IS seeking to bring the ever-normal
granary to the farmers and agriculture,
Ihe objective has pleasing. if Uto-
plan' side. To the President and those
supporting him there is revealed a nic-
cure state. in which industry produces
only what is needed and what can be
consumed. The wheels of industry are
to be turned to maximum speed onlv
when there is need. Ordinarily they are
TO proceed only at pace which will pre-
vent the accumulation of surpluses,
The dangers in controlled production
however, are numerous. They have al
ready made themselves manifest in the
years OF effort to manipulate the crops
OF the country-to cut them down. so
much depends upon the master mind
which directs the controls. If there is
error, then what happens to labor and
10 the consumer? And in controlled pro-
ouctlon what happens to labor in any
event? And if production of manu-
tactured goods is curtailed deliberately
Will there not be a corresponding in
crease in manufactured goods in other
countries? Already it has been demon
srated beyond the peradventure of a
doubt that when the production of cot
ton is curtailed in the United States the
cotton which American farmers failed
to produce is found in the increased
crops abroad.
Beyond the objective of controlled
production there lies in some minds the
control by Government of the activities
OF the producers-whether they be in
dustriallsts or farmers. Government
control has become a fetish. It is to
dominate. and will dominate, when the
people no longer dominate the Govern
ment. All that is said and done is said
and done IN the name of greater free
dom OF the people. Before a Senate
committee an Indian chief has Just testi-
ned that he and his people had believed
That they were to obey the Ten Com
mandments. They had discovered, how
ever, that they were hedged around by
q myriad of Government regulations.
HIS testimony has prophetic sound for
the people of America. Indeed. already
Government regulation is settling down
like thick fog.
The President continues his confer
ences with industrial and labor leaders
while his recommendations to Congress-
IN regard to business legislation wait.
Occasionally, outside of these confer
ences, there are glimpses of what the
President and his advisers have in mind.
There is talk of cooperation with busi-
ness and industry. 1t is clear, however,
that "co-operation" means a yielding to
the administration-and that the ad-
nlnlstration does not intend to yield an
inch. The President has thrown out in
press conferences and elsewhere pro-
posals to eliminate holding companies
some OF which are bad and some of
which under the present industrial and
economic set-up In the United States are
necessary. He has attacked installment
selling-a custom, good or bad, which has
grown to huge proportions.
To what extent the administration will
be able to bend the country to it's present
plans has not been revealed. The busi-
ness recession has brought first check
to impatient New Dealers. It has also
brought its douche of cold water to some
who were implicitly following the White
House lead-even to some of the leaders
OF labor. They are no longer sure that
as the administration plans so does
prosperity lie. The New Dealers, on the
other hand, are seeking to convince the
people that the economic planning has
not gone far enough, that further steps
must be taken to insure success. They
have taken to belaboring big business
again-which they do not seem to realize
means frightening all business, despite
the repeated assertions that the Presi-
dent has In mind only small minority
Of business when he makes an attack.
Not once has the administration ad-
n1itted mistake or taken a step in
retrograde. Its pattern is grounded in q
stubborn determination to have its way
and to control.
Tlo D.. K:lu: