Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1941-02-13


launched on the sea of democracy.
Alas, the good that was wrought
soon disappeared, like the SHOWS of
yesteryear. Germany, Italy and Rus
STA are today relationships and in all
Europe only two real democracies
survive-Finland and Switzerland. So
much for what we accomplished
then.
A Play on Fears.
Now we are again being urged to
60 over to Europe on the plea that
Britain, who they tell us is our first
line of defense, is being seriously
threatened, and we are further told
that if she goes under, we will be
next. They are not trying the old
atrocity stories on us this trip-Oh,
no!-we may bite on the same sub
stance twice but it must be dished
up in different form. Twenty-Five
years ago they played upon our hates
and passions. Today they play upon
our fears.
I do not believe that there is a
single military authority in all the
land who will seriously claim that
this country is in danger of invasion.
Neither do I believe that there is
serious danger to South America
from that source. If Germany finds
it difficult to cross 20 miles of water
how can she or any other country
hope to successfully invade countries
separated by 5000 miles of water?
Any invasion of Latin America must
be purely economic and will be due
to the ability of competing nations
to undersell us. We cannot expect
to gain and hold economic supremacy
in South America, because a ma
jority of the countries down there
produce products that compete with
American products. Aside from cof-
fee, manganese, some tin and rub
Der, practically everything produced
in South America is of competitive
character.
Is there anyone within the sound
of my voice who is so fatuous, so
naive as to believe that we can ever
hope to establish real reciprocal re-
lations with Argentina? That coun-
try produces cattle, sheep, swine, corn,
wheat and, I believe, some cotton.
Is there one of these products I have
just named that we would be willing
to let come into this country under
reciprocal arrangement? Argentina
must and will do business with the
countries that buy her products. The
same is true of Uruguay, and in a
measure of Brazil and Paraguay We
may loan them money until we have
pauperized ourselves but it will not,
it cannot change the picture.
Urge All to be Practical.
My countrymen, I appeal to you to
be practical in this matter. Do you
realize that if we 60 through with
the ambitious lend-lease program that
the administration has mapped out
it may result in raising the national
debt to as much as 80 to 100 billion
dollars, and that would be about one
third of all our wealth of every kind
and description.
Less than eight months ago we
raised the limit for our national debt
from $4,000 million dollars to $4,000
million dollars. Only the other day
the Ways and Means Committee re-
ported out bill to further increase
the national debt limit from $4,000
million dollars to $4,000 million dol
lars, and we were told that this is
necessary if the Federal treasury is
to meet the nations obligations in
May. We were told by responsible
representatives of the Treasury that
it is imperative that this increase be
voted at an early date. Indeed, the
Secretary of the Treasury told the
Committee that the governments fl
nancial condition is such as to cause
him many sleepless nights and yet
you are giving serious consideration,
and will probably give approval to
proposal to give the President a
blank check in spending. With all
due respect to the great office of
chief magistrate of the United States,
1 ask you if it is safe to grant that
extraordinary and unheard of power
to the man who is now in the White
House? And 1 ask you that question
in all sincerity and in all charity.
On March %, 1888, Hitler prom
ised the German people that he would
surrender to them in 1887 the extra
ordinary powers conferred upon him
by the Reichstag, but he has never
done so; neither can I recall any of
the great powers conferred upon Mr..
Roosevelt being surrendered by him.
My friends, we are playing with fire.
National Debt Rising.
In the eight years that Mr.. Roose-
welt has been president he has in
creased the national debt from 22k
thousand million dollars to about 43
thousand millions and the Budget
Bureau estimates that the public debt
will attain the stupendous sum of
58,367 million dollars in 1912. And
all this, Notwithstanding that the net
revenue of the government increased
from 5000 million dollars in 1888, to
5,387 million dollars in 1910. These