Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-03-12

tween the "spenders' and the opponents
CT a more orthodox philosophy will be
reflected in the discussion of any and
all plans for public works as job pro-
viders after the war.
There will be pressure from the ex-
tremiStS on both sides-from those who
would launch at once, and keep in con-
tinuouS operation as a matter of ma
tional policy, large-scale program of
public works, and, on the other side.
from those who continue to resist public
spending, beyond the mildest, as a
threat to the free-enterprise system
For the immediate future, at least, it
is safe to prophesy that somewhere be-
tween the extremes a compromise will
be found-and this is safe prophecy
no matter what the result of the cleo
ton of 1914. The trend will be against
unlimited Government spending to pro-
vide jobs on public works; but equally
1t will be against a hands-off attitude
by the Government in an emergency.
The country will not long tolerate
condition of mass unemployment just
at what point the Government will move
in, and to what extent it will move in,
will depend on events-events political
as well as economic-but that no ad-
ministration will remain complacent in
the face of apple-selling by ex-soldiers
on the streets can be taken as a GER
tainty.
Government Should Be Ready.
Happily, though business is against
the spending philosophy and is crusad-
ing now for chance to show it's wares,
the businessmen who take the extreme
stand against spending are diminish
ing tribe. There is now an area of
agreement between the spenders and all
but the most rugged of the opposition.
The agreement is on the proposition
that, for the postwar period, the Gov
eminent should be prepared with pub
lie works program to fill in the gaps in
employment till industry can get going
under full steam.
There is no stancher advocate of the
free-enterprise system than Bernard M.
Baruch, no one more eager to see the
Government get out of the activities in
which it completes with private business.
Yet the Baruch report lists as an essen
tial policy 'early engineering on public
works to be ready if needed to fill in
the valley of employment"
Eric Johnston has said: 1.-THE Gov
eminent at times may have to help out
with a few useful and well-planned
public works projects to keep the ma
tional income high"
Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House,
whom many anti-New Deal Democrats
would like to see nominated for the
vice presidency, recently told confer
ence of mayors that "a public works
program will be necessary to take care
OF the lag that must occur between the
end OF the war production and resump-
ton Of civilian production"
Henry j. Kaiser, the shipbuilder, is on
record for an immediate Federal ap-
preparation of from 100000, 900 to $780,
100000 to enable cities and other gov
ernmental units to start planning for
highway, airport, bridge and other con-
struction. There is clearly a need,
Kaiser told a House committee, for a
stopgap program of public works to keep
the industrial wheels spinning. keeping
up the momentum he said, lis the big
objective. If we can do that, we needn't
worry about the war debt and any post
war public expenditures we have to
make. Production will pay it off"
Will public works program be re-
quired at some point in the process of
mdustry's reconversion to peacetime
(See TRANSITION, Page C-3l