Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-13

ton badly confused by his CAM
paign. If at times he seemed to
speak as though he, and not Mr..
Roosevelt, had been charged with
the conduct of our chief magistracy,
that was obviously not intentional
and can be dismissed as mere tenn
peramental hangover from the ardor
of electioneering.
His speech, however, was such a
curious blend of democratic pieties
and capitalistic dogma. that the
party line he laid down for the
G. o. P. should be explored BY cooler
heads than those which organized
the Philadelphia convention and the
Wlllkie clubs. In this connection. il
is to be noted that Joe Martin of
Massachusetts, preceded the Willkie
speech by resigning as chairman Of
the Republican National Committee.
Mr.. Willkie has selected Federal
finance and the national debt limit
as the Maginot Line of the G. o. P,
AS for the size to which our public
debt can safely go-i. e., without in
Hatlon-there is no agreement. In
1888 the Wall Street bankers
thought that a debt of $4,000 OOO..
600 would not be too high, and We
are a richer and more numerous
Nation today than we were after
Hoover's luckless administration. So
much Of the New Deal debt repre-.
sents capital MISUNDERSTANDING,
public works, power projects, con.
serVatlon enterprises, r. F. c. loans,
etc.-that it must be segregated
from the gross debt. Perhaps the
falrest measure of safety is that
supplied by all funded debts. which
amounted to some s200.O 900 900 600
In 1929. Another measure is the
total interest charges on all funded
debt-public and private alike-as
an index Of the burden of indebted.
ness.
Called Position of Tories.
Every one-including Mr.. Willkie
himself-is aware of the fact that
Congress will appropriate whatever
money is needed for the American
people, regardless of debt limit.
The position which the defeated
candidate takes is, accordingly,
amazingly similar to that taken by
the late Neville Chamberlain. Sir
John Simon and the British Tories
up to the Churchill government.
They tried to fight a total war BY
orthodox fiscal rules of national
solvency. They compromised the
defense Of Britain and the safety
OF the British Empire, out of re.
igious devotion to sound budgetary
principles"
If Mr.. Willkie meant what he said
about the Federal finances, he pro-
poses to project America $50 far as
the Republican minority can ar
range things, which is probably not
much) into this period of world war,
world revolution, total economics,
and shotgun trade tactics. on a
self-defea.ing program of business
as usual" private profits as usual,
ay-as-you-go' finance, and the
paralytic imbecilities of trying to
balance budgets in an unbalanced
world.
Called Nostalgia Speech.
His advice to his party-nuch Of
it sound patriotism and all of it
deeply slncere-is advice which no
President, no party, no administra-
ton, no government and no people
is hkely to be able to follow in the
practicable future. There will. in
stead, be more deficit financing,
more Federal credit, more taxes on
corporate SURPRISES, more regula-
tons of business and profits, more
spending and more Capitalization,
as the American people come to
grips with the economic and social
forces released by the world revolu-
ton. And in this process. the
loyal opposition" will go along with
the majority. criticizing vociferous-
ly, but voting right on the separate
measures as they arise.
Yes, 1t was nice, simple, nostalgio
stuff-and it explained pretty clear
~ why President Roosevelt got 449
electoral votes to Mr.. Wilkes 90
and 80 States to Mr.. WILKES 10.
% per cent of the popular vote to
Mr.. Wilkes As per cent. For we
would all like to go back to horse
and-buggy economics, we would all
like low taxes. we would all like
low debts, unlimited opportunities
for profit and enterprise most
OF us, including Mr. Willkie himself,
know that those days are dead. We
cannot return to normally" in
1910. We tried that once and it
didn't work. So, Mr.. Willkie, move
over into the corner with Mr..
Hoover, as touching apostle Of
the might have been" in a world
given over to must"
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