Evening star., 1938-04-01

newspaper CORE
Spondents VIII o
were awakened at
midnight at Warm Springs, Ga, to be
told that sensational confession must
have rubbed their eyes and poked
their ears to find out If they were
dreaming
To announce solemnly that the
President of the United States does
not want to be dictator is an almost
incredible procedure, but these are
strange times and it may be that Mr..
Roosevelt's saying so makes him think
he can make it so.
Certainly, the fight on the reorgan-
ization bill in the House has raised
the dictatorship issue and the Chief
Executive must have been much wor-
ried about the fate of the measure
In the House to issue a statement
denying the dictatorship aim, which,
Of course, has been the principal
charge levelled against him for want
ing the bill passed.
No "SuccessfVI" Dictator.
AS dictatofs come and go, there is
probably no such thing as a success
full" dictator over course of time,
because. as Mr.. Roosevelt. who says
he knows his historical background"
must admit, sooner or later all dicta-
tors are overthroWn and turned out CT
power.
Looking back five years, however,
Mr.. Roosevelt somewhat belittles and
underestimate his own qualifications
when he says he could not become
successful dictator. Opinions will
vary, to be sure, but there are those
who will contend with bit of vehe-
mence that Mr.. Roosevelt has made
pretty good start and has at least
paved the way by concentration of
power in the executive branch for
someone to come along and run the
Government by Executive decree in
stead of by law. After all, the Ger
man Republic in pre-Hitler days wit
messed a gradual REIMBURSEMENT by
the legislative body of all powers to
the executive for supposedly "emerg-
ency" purposes, so that. when Mr..
Hitler came in, everything was ar
ranged for him in supposedly consti-
tutional fashion
Roosevelt Achievements.
Mr.. Roosevelt's record looked at
from the standpoint Of whether or not
he can qualify as successful die
tator, might well be examined anew.
Here are some of his achievements in
that direction:
l. Mr.. Roosevelt removed Mr.
Trade Commission because his mind
and the commissioners didn't "go along
together" The Supreme Court, by
vote Of to 0, said this was unconsti-
tutional, but Mr.. Roosevelt turned
around and did the same thing last
week when he held public trial and
removed Chairman Morgan of the T.
V. A. Refusal to heed Supreme
Court is one of the principal things
the more or less successful dictators do.
g. Mr. Roosevelt ordered confisca-
ton of everybody's gold and buried it
all in Kentucky and dictated that only
paper money-not redeemable in gold
could be used. He dictated that the
dollar should be SO cents instead of
100 cents in gold value.
Dictated $4,000, ,ooo, 900 Use.
3. Mr.. Roosevelt dictated the ex-
penditure of $4,800,000 5000 for what
ever purposes he chose and set up the
system whereby Federal beneficiaries
Of funds and his own political party
were able to carry the 1884 and 1886
elections.
4. Mr.. Roosevelt dictates how much
the farmer shall plant and what he
shall not plant or produce on the farm.
S. Mr.. Roosevelt didn't like the in
dependence of the Supreme Court of
the United States, so he began public
campaign OF coercion and intimidation
and has never stopped debating to the
highest court in the land. Control of
the judiciary and making courts re-
sponsive not to legal principles, but
public sentiment" is one of Mr.. Hit
ler's favorite devices.
6. Mr.. Roosevelt dictates death
sentence" to a s12,ooO,oOO 900 public
utility industry and sanctions loans to
cities together with subsidies so that
he can drive privately-owned COM
panies out of business. This is no 50
unsuccessful a piece of dictatorship
as some timid souls might imagine.
1t Is working
Pay Roll Tax Dictated.
7. Mr.. Roosevelt has dictated that
pay roll tax be paid out of every
pay envelope. This is one Of the
things Germany started out early to
achieve. It helps to destroy business
by forcing prices and costs up and it
helps also to produce that economic
chaos in which dictatorship is most
often accepted by the people as the
desperate but inevitable alternative
to anarchy.
g. Mr.. Roosevelt dictated that there
should be no surpluses saved up IN
business to take care Of rainy days and
unemployment, or at least that sur
pluses might be accumulated only un-
der heavy penalty tax. This is one
devastating way to destroy the capital
istic system and is good dictatorship
technique,
There are lot Of thing Mr.. Roose-
welt has not accomplished as yet to-
ward the dictatorship goal, but which
he has had very much in mind. He
wants, for instance, to dictate the
number of hours that workers shall
work and the minimum pay they should
get, knowing that this is one way to
acquire vast political power over the
electorate and to maintain himself In
power.
Finally, Mr.. Roosevelt has not yet
said publicly that, under no circum-
stances, would he accept third term
for the presidency.
Also, Mr.. Roosevelt may deny his
dictatorship aim and one need not
discount his statement to recognize
that he thinks q dictator is only q
malevolent person and that benevolent