Evening star., 1939-04-16
War Threat Submerqes
Old Domestic Issues
BIZ O1Ue7l L. Scott

~ OUeH l.. SCOLt
With the world on the brink of war, q
| quick glance around Washington re-
veals the Senate and the House plugging
along, all excited by the hope that, If
| only President Roosevelt can be stopped
| in his tracks, war clouds will fade, recov-
| cry will dawn, unemployment will disap-
pear and the Governments finances
| magically will right themselves.
And what of glance at the White
| House?
| Here the President is seen preoccu-
| pied with Europe and Asia-his deep in
terest in the New Deal, about which
Congress is SO excited, something of a
memory-with world politics rather than
domestic politics q major interest, and
with attention centered on the chess
board that is to shape the course Of
| events on a world stage rather than on q
domestic stage
Caught between q Congress thinking
In terms Of the good old days of Calvin
| Coolidge and q President thinking in
terms of the world of tomorrow. the
country gives some, signs Of going TO-
the dogs.
1t is this fact that is giving rise to q
violent disagreement within the group
| of one-time White House advisers.
On one side. the State Department
with its allies is pulling the President
| without much difhculty-into world lead
ership of a stop Hitler" bloc. Cunning
for Hitler and Mussolini is vastly more
exciting than arguing with Congress or
| wrestling with what seem like such i'm
personal and such ponderous economic
| problems.
On the other side, some Of the So
called New Dealers are pulling the Presi-
dent-with q great deal of dificulty-to
q recognition Of the fundamental trou-
bles at home that continue to keep busi-
ness in the doldrums. A farm program
that has gone haywire, or a spending
program that is on the rocks. or budget
that looks like sieve can't be compared
in interest with a real live dictator on a
rampage in the overcrowded little region
known as Eastern Europe.
The facts of the economic situation,
at home and abroad, ara becoming over
whelmingly apparent and are pressing
urgently for attention.
These facts are forcing the United
States to start copying Germany's bar
ter system-after violent abuse of that
nation for doing the same thing. They
are forcing this country to dump surplus
products-again copying Germany-and
to start on the uncertain course of max
ing political loans to foreign nations.
President Roosevelt has been jolted suff1-
ciently by events to tell the country that
the force OF circumstances may make
necessary choice of three courses, each
Of which is distasteful: Cd Isolation (2)
subsidized exports on a broad scale, or,
90 lowered wages and prices to enable
world competition
But Congress doesn't believe it. The
prevailing sentiment in the Senate and
the House is that, II only Government
will be kind to business men by easing
taxes, or amending the Wagner Act or
using language that sounds less raucous
in the ears Of employers, all will be well.
Is Kindness or is, even, a balanced
budget enough to give this country the
economic recovery that it has been seek
ing without success for 10 years?
The men, without any AK to grind, who
appraise the situation for the highest
Government officials say that kindness
and balanced budget and lower taxes
and an end to Government interference
all thrown together are not enough to
tor A,,ry
to permit sweeping recovery
Reasons advanced for this conclusion
are many
In the first place, there is the world
disorder. The world economy of the
prosperous periods of the past has func-
toned through the automatic controls of
free market, where the forces of supply
and demand, reacting on prices quoted
through group of currency systems
based upon gold standard, kept the
economy in balance.
Today, not a major nation in the
world has its finances In order There
Is no gold standard. In the place Of an
automatically operating free market
there are barter and dumping and en-
pire preference and quotas and tariffs
such as the world never saw before.
Controlled economies are operating in
Russia. Germany, Italy and Japan, with
multitude of countries tagging along.
War requirements, not demands of in
dividuals or Of industries, determine the
flow Of trade. Germany, Italy, Japan,
France-even Great Britain-strive for
-sufhciency, with disastrous results
on the American cotton belt and the
American wheat belt.
Nearly everywhere, capital is in flight.
An avalanche of gold is descending on
the United States. Nothing is stable.
Capitalists are in q mad scramble to
find some measure Of security Nowhere
but In the United States do investments
seem even moderately safe.
X
Under world conditions Of that kind,
there is no chance for q return to the
good old days when trade flowed with
relative freedom, when loans flowed
freely to develop backward nations and