Evening star., 1940-11-20

reform program.
For this reason, there are raised
eyebrows in the White House at
the various formulas which some
of the conservatives have advanced
for national unity" To listen to
some it would appear that the
price of national unity is for Mr..
Roosevelt 10 pretend that Mr.. Will
kie won the election and for the
New Deal to be dismantled. In
evidence of this strange belief are
the proposals 10 enact the Logan
bill to hamstring all the New Deal
regulatory agencies and to adopt
the Smith committees amendments
to disemboWel the Wagner Labor
Relations Act. Mr.. Willkie is some
what more modest in his blueprint
for a loyal opposition"-all that
he proposes is to abandon the
spending program which saved
America and 10 put the Govern
ment in a financial strait Jacket
during a world crisis which calls
for unpredictable energies and un-
limited action
Now it is my contention that ma
tional unity is not a one-vay street.
that at the very least it embodies
the principle of give-and- take and
that there are a number of WAYS in
which the defeated conservatives
can show their good faith in pro-
gram for reconciliation and national
good feeling
Collective Bargaining.
For example. there are certain in
duStrial concerns which have il
within their power to accept collec-
tive bargaining under the National
Labor Relations Act and to abide by
the findings Of the N. l. R. B. There
are still other business enterprises
which can comply with the wages
and-hours law and go along with
the Government regulations under
the Walsh -Healey Act. Neither Of
these moves would call for fresh
legislation, or a treaty" between
business and Government. They
simply call for living up to the spirit
Of the law Of the land.
There again. the banks might ap-
propriately resume their function
of lending money to their customers
and financing the visible prosperity
which has been engendered by the
New Deal National unity can be
promoted by abandonment Of the
prevalent financial mood IN which
local borrowers are denied credit,
while the banks buy Government
bonds and complain because the
Government uses the proceeds in its
lending-spending operations. With
guarantee of deposits and a growing
wave Of prosperity there is no eX-
cuse for continuing this stalemate IN
The realm of credit and borrowing.
Room for Cancellation.
Once more. it might be helpful
70 national unity if the mass of our
newspapers and magazines attempt
ed to follow the election returns
instead of controlling them and
showed their faith in democracy by
extending sympathy and under
standing to the Government Of
their own country. without aban-
doning the right Of criticism and op-
position, there is room for recon-
citation when 55 per cent of the
people are for the New Deal. while
IS per cent of the newspapers are
against II.
These are all moves which can
be made by individuals without
waiting for orders from Wall Street
or a wink from the G. o. P They
are all moves which will demon
strate a will for a national unity
based on the political decisions Of
the American people, as expressed
three times in the national elec-
tions of 1882. 1886 and 1910. None
of them runs counter TO Mr.. WILL
kie's campaign utterances or to the
platform promises Of the Repub-
lican party.
The election finds Mr. Roose-
welt in a mood of magnanlmity and
good will, desirous Of serving as
President of all the people ard
eager to preserve our traditional
democracy in this world crisis. II
is unreasonable to ask him to be-
tray the hopes and ignore the in
terests of those who reelected h m
when the desired goal of natioral
unity can be achieved more eas-'v
and more appropriately throu~l
conciliatory actions by those who
have hitherto been reluctant to &C.
cept the meaning Of majority r'-'a
under the Constitution Of the United
States.