Evening star., 1940-07-17
on the verge Of permanent loss
through the cry of the auctioneer.

The status quo became the law Of
our being, and the Government imi-.
tated that backward-flying bird
which never knows where It is go
ing but can only see where 1t has
been. :, -
American commerce with the
world, which In every great indus
trial nation has been and must be
substantial portion Of the yard
stick of its prosperity, had fled from
the seas and the marts Of trade.
Encouraged by our own example
Of folly, insurmountable barriers had
been erected by nation against ma
tion through the effort of provin-
cial minds to set metes and bounds
to the genius and initiative Of man.
In our own hemisphere, peopled by
the children of those who had fought
for the creation Of new ideal OF
democratic thought and conduct,
suspicion and fear, political and
economic, retarded the efforts to
consumate a solidarity essential to
the preservation and protection o.
the common interests of all the
Americas. y - ~
Effort to Restore Fs&
Faith In Democracy. I asss1
The effort OF, the past, seven years
on the part Of our Government has
been devoted to the task, of remod-
heling the faith of our people in their
own brand Of democracy.
We have heard much from COM
placel1t throats In recent years
about free enterprise. The spokes-
men of the Philadelphia assemblage
invoked the spirits of the departed
in behalf of free enterprise, and ex-
President Hoover began his diatribe
by proctaiming it the duty of his
party to save America for free men.
He, of all men ought to cry for the
return of freedom, because he and
his regime fastened more shackles
on the physical, economic and spiri-
tual aspirations Of the American
people than any other group who
ever mismanaged the affairs of this
republic.
What freedom is it that we have
destroyed, and. by the same token,
what freedom Is it that the platform
and nominees of the Philadelphia
convention will restore?
Is it the freedom to juggle and
manipulate and determine the value
of the securities of American corpo-
rations in which millions of our
people have invested their savings?
Do they propose to destroy the
freedom we have guaranteed to
labor in the United States to sit
across table from its employer on
terms of equality and bargain COL
lectively' over wages, hours and
working conditions?
Do they propose to restore the un-
controlled freedom of some en-
ployers to exploit employees by long
hours and low wages?
Attitude on Problems
OF Agriculture Asked.
Do they propose to remove from
agriculture the freedom to CO.
operate within itself and. with The
Government of the United, States
in securing aslarger. portion of the
national income Tor the seryices
they render to society?
Do they propose to return the
American farmer to the income of
19a2 inHteada of twjcsi that income
which he has received under the
New Deal? a ass 80
Mr.. Hoover. who constitutes the
remaining living symbol of Repub-
lican wisdom, in his speech at the
convention, said the Republican
party was first to bring relief to the
American farmer. What he no
doubt meant to say was that Repub-
lican leadership was the first to
bring the need for relief to the
American farmer.
What freedom have we DESTROYED
that they propose to restore?
Will they restore the freedom
of vast holding companies, draw
ing their substance from local
utilities and their consumers to
continue their depradations upon
the public. to prevent which the
Utility Holding Company Act. was
passed over the vehement protest
of the present Republican candi-
date for President?
In truth, the reason for the shift
ing of his political robes was the
enactment of this legislation, plus
the completion and development of
a great natural resource in the Ten
nessee Valley, begun during the first
World War in the administratio of
Woodrow Wilson.
Greater Uniformity
In Social Security.
Will they destroy or undermine
the laws we have enacted for the
aged and unemployed?
Will they restore the freedom as
well as the compulsion of old age
to descend to the grave in penury
and want?
Will they restore the freedom as
well as the compulsion of unem-
ployed men to walk the streets in
search of work or take their places
in bread lines where they stood in
1892?
We have made but a beginning
in this great field of social security.
1t is my opinion that we must
strengthen and simplify the law,
not only to provide greater assist
ance, but also to provide greater
uniformity in. the benefits accruinp
to those entitled to them under the
social security law. There ought to
be greater uniformity throughout
the Nation in the provisions for old
age pensions, and I am convinced
that this uniformity can be secured
only when the Federal Government
assumes greater responsibility for
the administration of the benefits
which the law accord.
What is this freedom which we
have driven out and which they