Evening star., 1940-03-05
Senator Schwellenbach:

senator ScnWellenDacn.
Seven years ago today Franklin
Roosevelt became President. To
get the whole picture, it may be
we'll to think briefly of that day.
am going to let one of the Ma
tion's most respected and reliable
newspaper correspondents describe
1t to you. Yesterday, in the New
York Times, Turner Catledge said
this:
That day dawned a dark one
IN every respect. The great de-
preston hung over the country
like a darkening cloud. Banks
were closing literally by the hum
dreos. Life savings in bank ac-
counts and securities were being
blown away like so much dust.
Homes and farms were going on
the auction block in ever-in-
creasing numbers. In certain
sections citizens were beginning
to grow desperate.
President Roosevelt quickly
changed those conditions. Within
q week the hearts of the American
people, which had been filled with
despair, found new hope and
courage. They had leader whom
they trusted. Never in our history
has one man accomplished what
Roosevelt did then. He was ac-
claimed by every one. 1t is hardly
understandable row man who
had accomplished this much and
had been so acclaimed could have
been subjected to the wrath, rancor
and even ridicule which have been
the Presidents lot the last six and
a half years.
Some Liabilities.
Tonight Senator Taft and are
supposed, in IL minutes each, to
set up sort of balance sheet on
Roosevelt'S seven years as Presi-
dent. Balance sheets invariably
have two sides. On one are the
assets and on the other are the
liabilities. The business whose bal
ance sheets shows no liabilities
hasn't done very much business. I
am not going to be foolish enough
to claim that there have been no
liabilities in the Roosevelt record.
We have had Presidents who have
made no mistakes. They are the
ones who have accomplished moth
ing.
What are the Roosevelt accom-
plishments?
First was the rehabilitation of
banks and the establishment of
Federal deposit insurance. The
number of failures has been brought
down from $500 per year under
Hoover to 81 per year under Roose-
welt. Even in these failures, 99a4
per cent of the depositbrs have
been paid in full.
More than 2,500,OO0 young boys
have been taken off the streets and
rehabilitated physically and men
tally in the c. c. c. camps.
Two million nine hundred thou
sand homes have been built or re-
built under the Federal Housing
Act.
National farm income has in
creased from $4682 100000 in 1882
to $7,711 100000 in 1899. Farm
wealth has increased $2,250,OOO ,0O0
Farm foreclosures dropped from 38
per thousand to 13 per thousand.
The rural electriication program has
brought cheap electricity to 100000
farm folk. Six million farmers now
participate in the soil conservation
program.
Education Fostered.
Since 1885 the National Youth
Administration has made it possible
for 2,500,000 young boys and girls
to get high school and college edu-
cation.
Under the Presidents foreign trade
program our exports increased from
q billion and a half in 1882 to three
billion one hundred millions in
1899.
Under President Roosevelt Con-
gress has written the Social Security
Act, which is our first recognition of
the responsibility of government to
the aged. 1t has adopted Fair
Wage Standards Act under which
wages of 100000 have been in
creased. 1t has regulated stock
selling and public utilities. 1t has
given those who labor the right to
organize and bargain collectively.
It is of interest in reference to
these controversial questions that
the Republican party Policy Com
mittee, under Glenn Frank, in its
recent report did not urge abandon
ment, of a one of them. The Re-
publicans say they will keep all
these reforms. They claim they
can operate them better than can
the Democrats. In that regard, I
simply want to say this: 1t is very
seldom that a parent who did not
want to have children turns out to
be very good father or mother.
Our Republican friends have Ger
tainly proved in the last seven
years that they did not want these
reform children to be born.
Now. let us turn to the liability
side of this balance sheet. Let us
examine briefly the most serious
charges made against the President.
The first is that he has only half
solved the unemployment problem.
Our friends say that he has only
reduced unemployment from IA or
IS million down to 8 or million.
Therefore, they argue that he has
failed. Yet the figures show that
Roosevelt has done much better
job than he is given credit for. In
1929 there were 48 million laborers in
the United States, Al million of them
at work. On December 81, last year,
there were 54 million laborers in the
United States, 46 million of them at
work. OF the 8,428,0O0 unemployed
at the present time, approximately
Z million are accounted for by in
creases in the laboring population
of the United States. President
Roosevelt has come within l million
Of the 1929 figure.
Debt Claims Exaggerated.
The second charge is that we have
increased the national debt. That,
TN is trlle Rlt that statement iS