The Redwood gazette., 1939-03-02
What It Means: Hopkins Iowa Speech
By MORGAN M. BEATTY
AP Feature Staff Writer

AP Feature Staff Writer
| Washington-The heat is on to
| produce an 0-billion-dollar ma
tional income.
The New Deal is openly court
| ing private business in the hope
that this policy will encourage
capital to go to work and yield
that income
The national annual income at
the moment is estimated by Pre-
sident Roosevelt to be lowering
around 100000, ,O00,0 900. In 1929 it
was 81, in 1882 it was down to 40,
and in 1887 up to 70.
An 80-billion-,dollar income
would solve many problems for
the New Deal and the nation. It
would yield enough taxes at the
present rates to balance the bud
get. 1t would automatically en-
ploy much of the nations idle
private money, producing new
jobs and cutting the unemploy-
ment to a minimum. It would also
demonstrate to the world that de-
| mocracy works in the worlds
most powerful nation without the
much toutei efficiency" methods
of dictatorship.
Harry Hopkins finds himself in
! the role of peacemaker and pace
setter because his department Of
commerce is the governments Of
ficial meeting ground with busi-
| ness, and because he is generally
accepted as the closest of all New
! Dealers to President Roosevelt.
= #
Two Schools To Consider
| Hopkins recognizes two schools
of thought on the subject of ma
tional income. The confidence
school, believes the Government
should put itself on record as
promising NOT to harass business
with more taxes and onerous re-
gulation. Men in this school argue
that confidence will coax money
out of hiding, and eventually pro-
duce an 80-billion income.
The "hardboiled school, on the
other hand tells you investment
money won't come out of hiding
until the national income reaches
the 80-billion mark, no matter
how much confidence business re-
ceives from Government. They
insist that the income must be
| lacked up to the maximum by
hook or crook before confidence
can be restored.
| Without disclosing his mind on
the two schools, Hopkins has Civ
en- his first attention to the con-
fidence school.
For that reason, you may ex-
pect him to:
| l. Cooperate with Congress on
incentive taxation-the kind of
taxes that leave business with the
incentive to make profits, instead
of feeling that Government takes
| all the profits.
2. Promote labor peace be-
tween AFL's Bill Green and CLOS
John Lewis, and to explore the
theory of annual wages for work
ers as means of bringing them
Il steadier and, higher overall in
4 come, and at the same time afford
business cheaper per unit cost
! of operation.
3. Favor writing a definite fed
eral power policy, telling the
great electric power industry that
it can plan for future with NO
fear of further Government inva-
sion.
4. Extend friendly hand to
big business as such, SO long as
there is NO attempt to crush a
weaker independent, or interfere
with past New Deal reforms.
5. Take great interest in Con-
gress's SO called monopoly inves-
tigation, NOT with view to
cracking down ON bigness as Such,
but rather as the possible birth
place of future national business
policy. Such policy might af-
ford way to tell business in ad-
vance what it can or cannot do.
Today, business doesn't know
about violating the antitrust
laws until somebody complains.
= =
Others Interested
Other departments than Hop
kins' are interested in the peace
drive. The whole push takes its
keynoteS from the Presidents an
nual address to Congress, where
he suggested the New Deals
social reforms were completed,
and the time had come for in
vigorating recovery.
But the one common denomina-
tor on the business front is Hep
kins, because his department is
naturally interested in all the ele-
ments of business upswing-
labor, industry, transportation,
electric power, and so on.
/ The main difficulty of his posi-
ton at the moment is the danger
| that other cabinet members sand
; shining lights might become sus-
| picious that Harry Hopkins is
tending to everybody's business,
or, worse, that left wingers will
suspect that he has deserted their
cause, aEd gone over to the con-
SerVative camp.
/ The next hurdle might be the
suspicious of business men them
/ selves.