The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1940-02-28
BY RICHARD LAKE

% many p6fSOuS are likely 10 lee
; after reading my last weeks discus
sion of Raymond Moley's after SIEVE
Years." that | endorse Moley. Som
will approve; some disapprove. l wi
disapprove. / do not endorse Moley'
conclusions; I do endorse Moley's al
titude. | was at pains to discuss tina
attitude in last weeks column, and s
had little space in which to discus
the book The gentleman's conclusion
are interesting, whether one endorse
them or not.
In an early chapter, Moley tells 0
the banking crisis in 1888 at the tim,
Roosevelt took office. He relates
touching story of how he and Will
Woodin and Ogden Mills and severa
others worked themselves nearly tt
death, night after night, trying to saw
the nations banking system At las
the crisis passed. For awhile" Moley
says 1--WE weren't Democrats and Re
publicans; we were just a group o.
men trying to save capitalism AnG
he concludes, in the tone of a mar
| ''@AO ifeo oSOii S1tdoJi Opu0 dfCl leu
with paragraph on how fortunate
they were to have saved capitalism
Some of us are likely to respond
thanks for nothing, Moley."
But it is fair to ask a question:
What happens when revolutions are
touched off before the people are
ready for them?" History's answer is
that they become juggernauts of de-
struction Maybe it was better to save
capitalism in 1888. Just maybe.
Moley could perhaps properly be
classified as an exponent of reformed
capitalism, But, more important to
me, he is an exponent of the idea of
social unity. Moley's criticism of
Roosevelt for lambasting big business
has earned him the accusation of be-
ing on capitalism's moral, if not &C
tual, payroll. 1t is a gross and unfair
criticism, for reasons / pointed out
last week. What Moley believes is that
social progress won't go as fast as it
should If class hatred stands in its
way; if one group gains at the expense
of another. He probably feels that his
record is clear as to matters of pro-
gressivism-that he is on the right
side in those matters Surely, then,
he understands that in the United
States there is disproportionate con-
centration of wealth and power in the
hands of few
Why, if this is so, does Moley de-
fend the capitalists against Roose-
velt's attacks?
Well, man can lift himself only
so far by his bootstraps, I agree with
Moley that, if your objective is re-
formed capitalism, you are just laying
up misery for yourself by delivering
blasts against the economic royalists.
If you want to save capitalism you
should run your government in good
capitalistic way with balanced budg-
cts and so on. After all, capitalism
has its pride. 1t doesn't want to be
spanked With hairbrush and washed
behind the ears-at least not in pub
lic
I give Moley credit for champion
ing the ideal of social unity But it
could be that social unity might not
work toward the ends he seems to
esteem. Suppose you didn't care so
much about saving and reforming cap
talism?
You would still have to have social
unity You would need it much more
han capitalistic governments need 1t
now. l repeat what have said many
lines before in various ways: The
'uling classes are thankful for the |
class struggle, for the social thought |
hat sets the HAYES against the have
lots, the good against the bad Such |
! division permits them to fence off |
hose who oppose them with q sani-
AIRY Gordon made up of such words as
dangerous radical" wild eyed utopi-
ln," crack Drained social experiment
n" and so forth.
And so long as we insist that it is
capitalism or the selfish capitalists
hat are wrong with our society, just
70 long are we playing their game;
nd we will get nowhere. We have
OuSlI uCleu capitalism out OF our
elves, and there is where we have to
tart in the business of getting rid
f it. We can have social unity if
Te start doing that job inside of us.
Is not monster to be
lain on hilltop.
The triumph for capitalist propa-
anda was that in 1882 so many peo-
lie thought Roosevelt was the answer
, the common mans prayer; is that
l 1910 so many think he should run
)r third term. The beauty of it is
nat this year the capitalists don't
ven have to write their propaganda;
e write it for them. | shouldn't be !
if the big boys were really /
| favor of re-electing FDR, provided
lat he runs. They like his foreign ,
olicy. If they want us to, we'll re- /;
ect him for them. !,
1t doesn't do any good to be on :
lie right side If you don't understand !
le genesis of points of view. Take
lie sad case of Miss Dorothy Thomp-