Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-07-12
Mr.. Ickes Fudses
The National Ledger

ID EINTERPRETING ethics the New Deal has ostab-
N lshed DOUBLE standard II morality strict one
for citizens and a lax for politicians.
Thus while the SEC has set up accounting tonets for
private enterprise The treasury and The cdcray owned
corporations ignore such bookkeeping standards
While political figures have gained power through
denounc.ne manipulation Wall Street they have them
selves carried on manpu,st,e practices AZ Washington
through The easy money program through using govern
men administered funds TO support tn market and
in a variety Of other ways
Llkcvisc they have soueh, to ustf, unprecedent-
cdv eNtrayagant governmental spending in peace and in
war through uneonsaonaby padding The so-called ma
tiona income figures.
NOV the New Deal attains the urhost north inan-
" olal chcanery through writing up MANIFOLD the
value Of the natural and man-made physical
assets Of the United States. In dong this Harold l.
Ickes secretary Of The interior sets out IN nc American
Magazine 10 befudd.e the public INTO thinking It really
makes no difference how big me national debt IS blown
by his colleagues in office
In thus arbitrarily multiplying by more than 80 times
the stated value Of the of the people OF the United
States Mr. Ickes doing gigantic scale precisely
what public utility holding company promoters did on a
small scal5 in the 1g2O's.
President Roosevelt and the SEC have properly de-
nounced public utility nancers for doing this; the echoes
of denuncaton by sefsyed refomers such Mr. Ickes
against watered stock still be heard
But rise to ask if it is sinful for private hnanciers
TO deceive the public through initiating assets on their
balance sheet whether the type Of trckery becomes
patriotic service when performed by the Ratchet man of
the New Deal?
EXPLOITING the financial ilheracy of the unnitiated
l. Mr. Ickes writes up the physical assets or national
wealth of the American people from the commonly &C.
copied estimate of around S41000OO00000 to $l2023
600 100000
On the basis of his silly, arbitrary and meaningless
alleged computation of the national wealth, which is
radically at variance with all the careful decenna studies
by the bureau Mr. Ickes figures that the average
per capita resources of the United States is $4,000
Thus we have all suddenly grown rich beyond tne
dream of avarce terms of Mr. Ickcs statistical du
picty.
If private fnancers similarly inflated the stated
value of their assets time when they offering
bonds for sale they would incur heavy crin
nal penalties.
NET it seems evident that Mr. Ickes is actuated by
| more than mere academic interest in statistics.
He appears to be out destroy the public sentiment
for prudence in federal expenditures and for IN
expanding the public debt
If his fantastic figures credible then the public
could forget about all the sage recommendations for
economy made by the Byrd Joint committee on nonessen
tial federal expenditures
Likewise the implication is that if the Ickes figures
are to suppant the authoritative estimates and
figures compiled fran ak reports by the internal revenue
bureau then we can 10 almost endlessly permitting
Harry Hopkins and his lk to practice their policies of
spend and spend elect and elect
Q ECRETARY ICKES statistics propaganda ges-
- ture break down popular and congressional resist
ance to placing any limits whatsoever spendthrfts IN
public office
If the real wealth Of the American people has sud
denly increased MANIFOLD because Mr. Ickes has over
night changed the national bookkeeping, then IN the
economic wonderland ne has created, may believe
that Americans can permanently feed the whole world
and otherwise the postwar period act as Santa Claus
to 2000000000 persons IN alien lands
A FTER presenting his ludicrous figures Mr.. Ickes
n points out
This il my answer to the poor mouths who are
complaining that the going to bust and that
shall leave children and their children pennesS, with
nothing but ONerdraft that cannot he hOnored and
headache to show for the long and one-sded battle with
the wolf that has been going since the landing of
the Pilgrim Fathers.
Put our national debt and total cost of the war