Evening star., 1942-05-03

to present aggression, but also out OF
social necessity.
1t is therefore appropriate. as Presi-
dent Roosevelt indicated in his Tuesday
night broadcast, that present controls
should be regarded as an initial step,
to be the more cheerfully accepted be-
cause they are so likely to be followed
by further authoritarian measures.
II shall use all of the executive power
that I have" Mr.. Roosevelt promised,
Ito carry out the policy laid down"
That executive power is, of course,
enormous. Except in the details Of
pending tax legislation there Is little
of what the President calls "our present
national economic policy" over which
Congress now can exercise effective pow
er. The policy will be developed more
by those whom Prof. James Burnham
defined as "the managers" in his provoc-
ative book on The Managerial Revo-
luton" published a year ago
In that remarkable study, it may be
recalled, Prof. Burnham predicted that
Stain, Hitler, Mussolini will 60"
:. whoever may be the figures in the
political limelight."
Press Is Critical of Plant.
Both in principle and in detail num-
Der of newspapers are now attacking the
administrations anti-inflation program.
1t is, admittedly, completely at variance
with our traditional system Of free enter
prise. Such criticisms, however, seem
completely academic. For better or for
worse, that traditional system Is wither-
ing away before our eyes. And not very
many are greatly disturbed thereby.
In face of current developments 1t
seems probable that popular thinking
will before long begin to experience sharp
notifications.
At present the universal objective Of
winning the war is in most minds asso-
ciated with expectation of more or less
complete return to normally" When
final military defeat is inflicted on the
Axis, or at least soon thereafter, 1t is
assumed that the good old days" will
automatically be restored; that individ-
| ual living will be resumed in approxi-
| mately the manner and at the point
where 1t was broken by wars Interrupt
tion.
More and more, however, people are
coming to realize that such restoration
is unlikely. The new controls and new
methods viii not-in all probability could
not-be easily abandoned A very diff
ferent economic and political pattern Is
being spun daily on the loom of history.
Achievement of military victory will of
itself do nothing to unravel that new
pattern.
Change Has Encouraging Side.
The great change that is coming Is
not without its encouraging side. AS
has often been pointed out, 1t would be
very difncult to establish lasting agree
ments between nations espousing totali-
tartan doctrines and those welded to
laissez-faire ideals. That difficulty will
not be presented when all nations have
adopted the type of the state controls
now far advanced in the British Com
monwealth, and in preparation for the
United States.
There was time when 1t was widely
believed that Soviet Russia and the
United States could never collaborate
harmoniously. Nobody says this now.
even though the Russian political and
economic system is still far removed
from that which is traditional in the
United States
Similarly, it may be that after the
overthrow of Nal rule the British and
ourselves will be able to find a modus
vivendi with the strictly economic aspects
Of National Socialism. For current events
In our own country are giving us to
understand that the type of state con-
troll developed in Germany may easily
be brought about against the popular
will. by those insidious forces which vi
tally affect the cost of living
These forces must be controlled by
the state, regardless of whether the i'm
plications of the control are either un-
derstood or desired by the people In
the words Of o. P. A. I'VE have no choice
left"