The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1940-10-11
Ed | 7 0 r Al


to the ordinary activities Of the country,
requiring no fundamental change in the
habits of the American people and no re-
vision of any of the policies Of his Admin
istration. We find Mr.. Wilkes early call
for sacrifice, for hard work sweat and
roll more reassuring than Mr.. Roose-
yclfs cheerful confidence that we need
not let ourselves become "discomboomer
ated'' by the task that lies before US
But all these points, important as they
are, only touch the surface Of the matter.
At bottom, adequate national defense
means much more than airplanes, tanks
and cannon, even when all Of these are
actually on hand and not just "on order
1t means nation strong in its economic
health and power, with thriving indus
try full employment, both of man power
and Of money, new capital flowing vigor
ously into new channels Of production 1t
means, in short, nation with gigantic in
dustrial force behind its army and its navy
The record shows that Mr. Roosevelt
has achieved least SUCCESS in the solution
Of this very problem. He has failed ta
create the conditions for confident and
expanding business. 1t is a reasonable
assumption that this same problem can be
managed better by a man who under
stands business, who has the confidence of
business, who has himself been part Of
business, whose interest In business prob
lens has been frsthand and continuous
rather than casual and intermittent, and
whose experience includes a successful
personal record IN stimulating business
and expanding industrial production.
In this field Mr. Willkie is the profess
sional and Mr., Roosevelt is the amateur
H. Liberalism and Reform
In the field of domestic policy this
newspaper has recognized the need OF the
sound social and economic reforms Of the
two Roosevelt Administrations. It has
given its support to these reforms. Speci-
ically, it has endorsed the purpose and
the principle Of the Social Security Act,
the National Housing Act Of 1884, the
Wagner Housing Act of 1887, the Soil
Conservation Act, the Securities Act Of
1888, the regulation Of the Stock Ex-
changes, the supervision OF investment
trusts. The reforms at which every one
Of these measures aimed were long
overdue
Mr., Willkie has affirmed his own belief
in the necessity of reforms of the Roose
yelt Administrations. Because Of this he
has been attacked by the Presidents
friends as a mere plagiarist who is now
attempting to steal the New Deals thun-
der, and an impostor who is trying to run
ION the Presidents own program This
Is a curious attitude for the Presidents
friends to take. 1t Is curious attitude,
because it suggests a belief that the New
Deal has monopoly on reform and wants
nobody else to share in it. But the truth
is that no faction and no party has mon
opoy on reform in the United States;
many men have shared in it and will
continue to share in it. Plagiarism is
beside the point. For seven years Mr..
Roosevelt himself has been making daily
use of important reforms introduced by
Republican nistratons-among them
the Sherman Antitrust Law, the Pure
Food and Drug Act, the Children's Bur
eau, the executive budget, the Reconstruc-
ton Finance Corporation
For ourselves, we welcome the fact
that Mr. Wilkie stands pledged to con-
serve rather than to destroy what is best
in Mr. Roosevet's reforms. We believe
that these reforms would be safe IN Mr.
WILKES hands, not only because Mr.
Willkie is man of goodwill, but because
his approach to the problems now before
us shows him to be liberal He is enough
of student and enough of a realist to
know that we are living in a changing
time and that it is both necessary and de-
sirable that the Government should take
an increasingly active part in policing the
financial markets. in safeguarding labors
right to bargain collectively and in achiev-
ing social justice for underprivileged
people.
More than this we believe that Mr..
Wi'lkie could be relied upon not to make
some Of the mistakes and not to take some
Of the risks which Mr.. Roosevelt has made
and taken. For we believe that while Mr..
Roosevelt has helped enormously to aWak-
en- the social conscience OF this country,
and tha while he deserves lasting credit
for this leadership, Mr. Roosevelt has also
nut his own reforms in peril He has put
them in Ieril by ignoring or by failing to
understand the fundamental problem OF
increased productions by encouraging
great numbers Of Americans to believe
that i is possible to grow richer by work
ing less and producing less; by fostering
the idea that there exists somewhere a
great fund of wealth which has only to be
divided more equitably in order to make