Evening star., 1939-04-14


seemed revolutionary, there is
measure Of the great change which
events have compelled in the social
thinking Of the country.
We have advanced q long way
from the economic philosophy which
governed the Nation prior to the
onslaught of the depression. There
will be no return to that philosophy.
Instruments which have been set up
in response to the expressed desires
Of the people have become, in not
able instances, q part Of the warp
and woof Of government. They are
not going to be torn out. On the OBJ
vious fact Of the permanence, in
some form. of a considerable part Of
the New Deals innovations will be
built the party platforms Of the
future-Republican as we'll as DEM
ocratic.
A Fact to Be Faced.
1t is condition which the plat.
form makers face, not a theory. Mr..
Landon, it will be recalled, actually
out-promised Mr.. Roosevelt in the
matter of farm relief during the
1896 campaign.
The condition is one that gives
a hollow ring to much that is said
about economy and budget bal
ancing. Savings can and should be
effected, but Mr.. Roosevelt is right
when he says that savings of magni.
tude can be effected only through
the abolition of functions Of the
Government. Reorganization, de-
sirable though it Is in the interest
Of greater efficiency, can save but
little. The budget should be bal
anced, but we have got to make
up our minds to the fact that It can
only be balanced at high level o.
expenditures. There may be some
tax adjustments, as there should
unquestionably be. but the total
tax burden is not going to b.
lessened within the predictable
future. 1t is far more likely to
be increased.
Even with the return Of q fair
degree Of prosperity. there would
DECLARING some industrial miracls
some five or six million unem.
ployed to be taken care Of.
Relief Must Continue.
Federal relief must continue.
There will be changes in methods:
greater local responsibility, 1t is
to be hoped, will be put upon the
States: but the Federal Government
will continue to shoulder the greater
part Of the burden. and whatever
the States may do will be done ac-
cording to Federal standards. Here
Is concept of government which
has been accepted by the people and
which will not be changed.
No matter who may be elected
President. the social security pro-
gram will last. 1t will be changed
IN details. but there will be mo
assault on the idea itself. fhe
idea is firmly imbedded now in our
system of government: no presi-
dental candidate would dare To
call Tor its uprooting.
The farm problem. despite what
the majority of the Supreme Court
said in the A. A. A. case, will con-
tlnue to be handled as q national
problem-which it is.
wage and hour legislation will re.
main on the statute books.
Federal regulation of the stock
exchanges and Of security issues Is
here to stay.
The New Deal. under Mr.. Roose-
velt, Is both cause and effect. The
fundamental changes which have
come about under it were-most of
Uncomfortable. The New Deal
accelerated them, gave them direc-
ton. Mr.. Roosevelt is on solid
ground when he challenges his op-
ponents, as he often does, to say
which Of the new functions Of the
National Government they would
abolish.
Some Issues to Be Real.
This is not to say that there will
oe no real issues between the parties
IN the next campaign. A good many
false issues will be raised, but there
Will be some real ones, too. Just
how they will shape up will depend
somewhat on the economic state of
the country in the fall Of 1910. and
somewhat on the personalities Of the
candidates.
II Mr.. Roosevelt runs for a con-
secutive third term his opponents
Will have, OF course. q readymade
issue. and If what happened to him
IN the Supreme Curt fight is any
guide. he will be beaten. Leave Mr..
Roosevelt out Of it and assume the
nomination Of some one like Mr.,
Taft on the Republican side and Mr..
Murphy on the Democratic side,
(The picture would be completely
changed, Of course, If we should
have, say, Mr.. La Guardia on the
Republican ticket and MP. Garner,
say. on the Democratic0
Tags Deceptive.
Assuming Mr.. Taft (or Mr..
Dewey and Mr.. Murphy - the
nominees, we should have q con-
test between q man labeled con-
servative and q man labeled liberal
But the labels, like all such tags.
would be deceptive. For Mr.. Taft
and he is named here simply for
purposes Of illustration-is q liberal
by all the standards Of politics
that existed prior to 1885, II he
were elected President, he would
continue-whatever his beliefs he
would have to continue great
part OF the New Deal. It Is doubt.
ful whether he would press on
toward new goals. Mr.. Murphy
might. Whether Mr.. Murphy sue.
ceeded would depend on the temper
OF the people; If he tried to 70 too
far or too fast they would bring
him up short.
The point that the writer would
make Is simply this: That the
issues Of 1910 will have to do with
rather than with detectives,
with the tempo Of social progress
rather than social progress d +.
DeN.