The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1944-08-03

Importance for the relief Of the I'M
employed during depression was
Republican, Herbert Hoover. He
set the precedent. The precedent
has grown. Public indignation
against unemployment. against its
misery of body, against its misery
of mind, has grown. No American
president will ever again permit
American citizens to be unemployed
They will be employed by business
or they will be employed by the
government.
/ say that business can employ
all American citizens except those
needed for absolutely necessary gov
ornamental functions. 1t can do it If
it plans for it.
There are two unpopular words.
One is capitalism, which is hated in
certain quarters. am nevertheless
for it. The other is planning, which
is hated in certain other quarters.
am nevertheless for it. / say shat
business, if it wants to escape from
being taxed for another and larger
WPA, must plan; and it must plan
UIl q SNdlC Va WlllNIt ~ lloo li-VNi ~
fore even dreamed.
1t has always planned for Its own
individual enterprises. 1t must now
plan for nationwide projects by
whole industries.
1t must look, for instance, at the
horrible houses and at the vast
wretched, unwholesome, suDstand-
ard residential areas in which mil
lions of American citizens still live,
and it must say.
ITO change all this squalor and
ugliness into decency and sightliness
is a job meaning billions Of dollars
of business. 1t cannot be done small.
It has to be done big 1t has to be
done through cooperation among a
lot of different elements. There are
the manufacturers of standard build
ing materials. There are the lahora-
tory designers of new and more
economical building materials.
There are the wholesale and retail
dealers in building materials. There
are the architects. There are the en-
gineers, contractors, building trade
unions, financing agencies, savings
banks, building and loan associa-
tons. We have been puttering at
this job, everybody by himself, and
not getting it done. Now we will
make organizations which will in
clude representatives of al ele-
ments of housing production and
we will produce housing at a private
cooperative consolidated cost that
will BATTLE all the public planners
in the whole Of Washington
We need again the spirit Of the
pioneers. Only this time it must be
a planned and organized spirit
say to businessmen: Do The plan
ming and the organizing that is
worthy of your freedom or there
will be no more freedom ana no
more businessmen.
But | also say no behalf of bust .
nessmen: They cannot plan, they
cannot organize, they cannot main
tain free system, unless they get
one definite concession from labor
and from government 1t is this.
Business must be allowed to keep
enough savings, enough profits,
enough new capital, to be able to
60 ahead into new investments, new
adventures, new services.
Free private business is like Mo-
torcycle. 1t must move. If 1t stops,
for lack of gasoline, it topples. And
then, / repeat, there is only totali-
tartan governmentalism
We stand at a solemn parting CT
the ways. Our business leaders and
our labor leaders want freedom. No
American wants slavery But what
is the price of freedom? l say 1t is
the capital with which to operate
capitalism. The word is capitalism.