The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1939-07-20
CAPITOL
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Consressn,anKnutSon.
Insists On Neutrality Bill

Insists On Neutrality Bill
On Friday last the President
transmitted to Congress message
urging the passage of neutrality
legislation before adjournment.
Accompanying the message was
strong statement from Secretary OF
State Cordell Hull, wherein he stat
ed that opponents of the Admins
tration's neutrality legislation were
misleading" the American people
to rely upon the false and ilogi-
cal delusicn that an arms embargo
would keep America out of war"
OF course, there are two sides to
every question but in this instance
I cannot follow Mr.. Hulls reason
ing. He is against embargoes on
war material in time of war. He
would have Congress confer upon
the President the power to say what
nations shall and shall not have ac-
cess to the American market in
such times. Isn't that precisely
what drew us into the World War
% years ago! Had we refused to
sell war materials to all the belli-
gerents at that time we could prob
ably have stayed out of that
war. Why not benefit from past
experience?
whittier, Uncle Sam?
Fantastic as it may appear, the
possibility of Fascism in America
is sufficiently alive to warrant SER
ious consideration by all thinking
citizens. William Yandell Elliott,
Chairman of the Department of
Government at Harvard University,
recently discussed the growth of
this form of dictatorship abroad,
and finds certain definite ominous
parallels in this country.
"FaSciSm," said Mr.. Elliott
comes in various guises, but al
ways as a receiver in bankruptcy.
is most obvious IN the economic
sphere, but it betrays a more fun
damental failure-the breakdown
of a nations faith in it's institu-
TONS" The trend in this country
toward national bankruptcy is in
escapable. Within the past decade
we have added more than 20 billion
dollars to the federal debt. More
over, according to latest reports,
the annual cost of government will
rise a billion dollars during the
next fiscal year.
Most of this staggering debt in
crease, we are told, is due to the
failure CT private enterprise ito
take up the slack" in the economic
machine, and until it does demon
strate an ability and willingness to
forge ahead (regardless of debts,
confiscatory taxation and political
attacks) there can be no SUBSTANTIAL
let-up in government spending.
Thus we have rising deficits and a
threatened breakdown of faith in
American institutions-requisites
of Fascism.
".... Sooner or later" concludes
Mr.. Elliott, "the pinch of public
credit will take us into this dam
gerous region (chronic economic
disorder). If the way out that is
chosen lies along the familiar lines
OF Fasclsm even relative free
dom is done. Fascist discipline
tramps upon the very hands that
lift it to power" In the meantime,
the politicians continue to beat
business to its knees with fanatical
legislation, regulation and taxation,
while asking it between blows to
struggle up and carry a heavier
and heavier load.
Would Rather Have Jobs
The other day an attack was
made on WPA workers by a prom
lnent Eastern writer. He placed all
WPA workers in one class and in
ferred they would rather be on
WPA than to have a regular job.
1t seems to ME that any straight
thinking man should know better.
The continuance OF ten million un-
employed on WPA in a country
that possesses the greatest natural
resources of any in the world is a
blot on our administration that only
time will efface. WPA is a bare ex-
1stence to men with families. Not
enough to live on and too much to
Starve on.
The uncertainty under which all
forms OF industry are trying to OPP
crate in competition with the gov
eminent calls for constant re-
trenchment. Every incentive for ex-
pansion has been destroyed, as wit
messed by our banks full of idle
capital, our factories running but
part time, or closed down, because
OF competing commodities coming
in from foreign countries where
labor is much cheaper than ours
and standards of living unbeliev-
ably lower than in this country.
For instance, the press has been
carrying reports from Japan that a
diet has been worked out by one
OF their chemists than will supply
the necessary calories to maintain
perfect health at a daily cost of
10 sen approximately 5 cents).
Fish heads, dried blood, skins and