Evening star., 1943-05-30
Ball Advises COP
To Support Enlarged
Social Security Gains
Senator Warns Party
New Deal Benefits
Can't Be Strapped
BY SENATOR BALL,
Republican of Minnesota.

Inc American people are search
Ing desperately for political lead
ership worthy of the critical time
through which we are living, lead
ership that has vision courage ant
that knows where it is going ant
will present to the people a realis.
tic, constructive program for thu
United States.
The people will turn to that one
of the two great political parties
which, in their estimation. holds
the best promise of providing such
leadership. With some notable ex-
ceptions, neither party is showing
much of it today.
The Democratic administra ton is
still welded to a policy of expe-
diency wholly inadequate to solve
the basic problems facing the United
States and the world Too many
Republicans appear to have no pol
icy except to watch and wait. il
the hope that the New Deal will
make enough political mistakes to
catapult the COP back into power
without the necessity of its think
ing through basic issues and reveal
ing to the people the conclusions
reached
Two jor Challenges.
There are two major challenges
facing the Republican party today.
One of these challenges is to de-
velop and support policies which
vii, continue and enlarge the gains
in social security of the people
made under the New Deal and at
the same time preserve our political
liberties and free private enter
prise and initiative to achieve the
full prosperity and production which
our democratic system must achieve
to survive
The old battle cry. Scrap the
New Deal will not do. The basic
philosophy of the New Deal, that it
is Governments obligation to pro-
vide floor beneath which it will
permit the living standards of the
people to fall, is here to stay 1t is
because they are determined that
Government shall assume this obli-
cation that majority of the people
have for more than 10 years sup
ported the New Deal, despite its
Wasteful and inefficient administra-
ton and its failure even to come to
grips with our basic economic prob
lens.
New Deal Weakness.
The fundamental weakness of the
New Deal is that it combined with
Its social security policies a running
attack on the free enterprise system
that gradually slowed it down and,
In the long run, made it certain that
more and more Of the people would
finally find themselves living on the
social security floor instead of on
the standards which our system can
and should provide
Our war production Job has re-
neWed confidence in American in
dustry and enterprise. It is up to
the Republican party to formulate
and present to the people a program
to give our economy the environ
ment in which it can and will pro-
duce the abundance which we now
know it can produce.
The corporate tax structure, for
instance, should be changed dras-
tlcally to give venture enterprises
chance. The SEC needs over
hauling to make it easier to raise
capital for ventures. Labor rela-
tlons must be stabilized on a fair
and sensible basis. Monopolies
which prevent production savings
and price reductions, whether in
the field OF labor or management
must be broken up. Government
reports of business must be reduced
and simplified-the Wage and Hour
Act is prime example.
Foreign Policy.
The second major challange facing
our party is to develop and present to
the people a constructive foreign
policy which will afford the United
States and the world the greatest
chance OF working out their prob
lens and continuing to progress in
a stable and peaceful world.
Again some new horizons for the
party are in order. The COP has
supported high protective tariff
That was a good policy during the
decades when We were building our
industry in competition with old, es-
tablished industries of Europe. This
policy no longer makes sense be-
cause the facts on which it was
based have changed Our industry
can stand on its own feet. 1t does
not need protection and consumers
should be relieved of paying this
subsidy.
Particularly for our Midwest agri-
cultural States, the protective tariff
policy has been disastrous in recent
decades. Because our tariff barriers
prohibited reasonable exchange of
goods through the world, our farm
surpluses piled up here in the '2Os
and '30s while Europe lacked food.
ana many nations there were forced
to attempt to achieve economic self
sutficiency, goal which inevitably
leads to aggression and war because
no nation possesses all the varied re-
sources necessary for complete self
Sufficiency.
Relax Tariff Policy.
Both our own interests and the
requirements for world peace de-
mand gradual relaxation of this
traditional policy in the direction of
freer world trade.
We can have peace for America
only by helping to maintain peace
IN the world. The people will ask
their political leadership to tell how
it proposes to achieve that goal. and
they will insist on a realistic answer.
Twice in one generation they have
seen their sons die on foreign bat
tlefields in wars not of our seeking
Old slogans and catchwords, appeals
to prejudice instead of to reason.
will not be accepted
! The Republican Party must lift its
eyes to the new horizons of the world
and find an answer based on facts
of today, not yesterday.