Evening star., 1945-01-06

ongress
high to replace wartime
Government demands; and 1t means
also that we must greatly increase
our export trade above the pre-
war level.
81, 900, 900 Jobs
VIII Be Needed.
Our policy is, of course, to rely
as much as possible on private
enterprise to provide jobs. But the
American people will not accept
mass unemployment or mere make
shift work. There will be need for
the work of every one willing and
able to work-and that means close
to 60,0o0,0 900 jobs.
Full employment means not only
jobs-but productive jobs. Ameri-
cans do not regard jobs that pay
substandard wages as productive
jobs.
We must make sure that private
enterprise works as it is supposed
to w tk-on the basis of initiative
and vigorous competition, without
the sitting presence of monopolies
and cartels.
During the war we have guaran-
teed investment in enterprise es-
Sertial to the war effort We should
also take appropriate measures in
peacetime to secure opportunities
for new small enterprises and for
productive business expansion for
which finance would otherwise be
unavailable.
This necessary expansion of ur
peacetime productive capacity will
require new facilities, new plants
and new equipment
1t will require large outlays Of
money which should be raised
through normal investment chan
nels. But while private capital
should finance this expansion pro-
gram, the Government should rec
ognize its responsibility for sharing
part of any special or abnormal
risk Of loss attached to such financ-
ing.
s75o, 200, 900 iva Project
Called Bargain.
Our full-empioyment program re-
Iquires the extensive development Of
our natural resources and other use
full public works. The undeveloped
resources of this continent are still
vast. Our river-watershed projects
will add new and fertile territories
to the United States. The iva,
which was constructed at cost Of
s750, ,000, ,000-the cost of waging this
war for less than four days-was a
bargain. We have similar opportu-
mites in our other great river basins.
By harnessing the resources of these
river basins, as we have in the Ten
fnessee Valley, we shall provide the
same kind of stimulus to enterprise
as was provided by the Louisiana
Purchase and the new discoveries in
the West during the 18th century.
If we are to avail ourselves fully
OF the benefits of civil aviation, and
If we are to use the automobiles we
can produce. it will be necessary to
construct thousands of airports and
to overhaul our entire national
highway system, a
The provision of a decent home
for every family is a national ne
cessity, If this country is to be
worthy of its greatness-and that
task viii itself create great employ
ment opportunities Most of our
cities need extensive rebuilding
Much of our farm plant is in state
OF disrepair. To make a frontal at
tack on the problems of housing and
urban reconstruction will require
thoroughgoing cooperation between
industry and labor, and the Federal
State and local governments.
An expanded social security pro-
gram and adequate health and edu-
cation programs must play essential
roles in a program designed to sup
port individual productivity and
mass purchasing power. 1 shall
communicate further with the Con-
gress on these subjects at a later
date.
The millions of productive ions
that a program of this nature could
bring are jobs In private enterprise.
They are jobs based on the expand
ed demand for the output of our
economy for consumption and in
vestment. Through a program of
this character we can maintain a.
national income high enough to pro-
vide for an orderly retirement of the
public debt along with reasonable
tax reduction.
Postwar Tax Cut
To Encourage Capital.
Our present tax system geared
primarily to war requirements must
be revised for peacetime so as to
encourage private demand.
While no general revision of the
tax structure can be made until the
war ends on all fronts, the Congress
should be prepared to provide tax
notifications at the end of the war
In Europe, designed to encourage
capital to invest in new enterprises
and to provide jobs. AS an integral
part of this program to maintain
high employment, We must, after the
war is over, reduce or eliminate
taxes which bear too heavily on con-
sumption.
The war will leave deep disturb
ances in the world econamy, in our
national economy, in many commu-
mites. in many families. and in many
individuals. It will require deter
mined effort and responsible action
OF all of us to find our way back to
peacetime, and to help others to find
their way back to peacetime-a
peacetime that holds the values of
the past and the promise of the
| future.
II We attack our problems with
determination We shall succeed.
And We must succeed. For freedom
and peace cannot exist without se-
curity.
During the past year the Ameri-
can people. in a national election.
reasserted their democratic faith.