Detroit evening times., 1945-08-23
PAUL
MALLON.
Behind
The News

WASHlNGTON, Aug Zine
w drive of the spenderS TO
stampede Congress with depres-
sion pressure publicity is not
making much headway yet.
A couple of rather influential
administration senators h ave
talked around among their coll
leagues and reached two con-
clusions, Cd congress is apt to
be tighter than before about
money, and (2) the govern
ment just simply cannot provide
every one with a job. or the job
he wants at the pay he wants.
Mayor LaGuardia failed the
microphone the other day, for
instance, with som e cyclonlc
contentious that we are heading
for a terrific unemployment, de-
preston and what not from
cancellation of war contracts,
unless congress Immediately
does Something-and he knew
what had TO be done, specifying
more appropriations for bigger
public works. including Sl,2oO,-
100000 of them in his own
pocket.
THE outside information from
Il the financial district in the
same newspapers a few pages
away from LaGuardia gave not
the slightest hint of depression.
People who had their money,
including life savings in stocks,
were not selling them. Prices
were not depressed, although
the owners had heard the line
offered by LaGuardia, not only
for weeks, but all during the
latter years of the war.
LaGuardia further claimed
Congress has done nothing" a
claim any congressman can ex-
plode to full righteousness by
adding up the SGT ,200,0O0,0O0 in
the spending program already
authorized mainly by them (see
yesterdays column, total
three times the height of the
Roosevelt free spending pro-
grams, when the federal debt
was a small fraction of the
S265 900. 100000 it was at the
close of the war.
The willing Little Flower,
who apparently is generating
some hopes for personal but
not a patriotic national revival
also admonished citizens not to
spend their money-and thus
furnish jobs-but to keep their
bonds and buy as little as pos
sible. This seems TO be a de-
featest policy generated by mo-
tives beyond my imagination or
ability to reason.
That kind of advice would
force people out of jobs and
create unemployment.
To do that would Scuttle the
economic equilibrium of the
country.
Is LaGuardia so eager for
more federal money that he
wants a drepression to get 1t?
IF THERE is to be unemploy-
Il ment, LaGuardia should be
required to say where is all
that money collected from the
people in New York through the
sales tax for the specific purpose
of unemployment compensation
collected all during the war
when labor scarcities prevailed.
Estate unemployment COM
pensation funds are now $6,00O,-
000.000.)
Unless they can organize a
political movement TO sweep
Congress off its feet and make
it forget what it knows about
what it has done, and blind
itself to the facts and figures
being published, and get the
stock market to collapse. there
will be a strong fight over
spending with the outcome IN
grave doubt.
SENATORS Wagner and Muir
- ray. (who are not the two
unidentified senators quoted at
the outset, but generally work.
ing along the Go road with
LaGuardia) came out OF a
White House conference saying
Mr.. Truman favored their bill
to give every man a government
Job if he does not find another
one (coSt unestimated) an d
boost the unemployment COM
penSation.
However, other senators say
privately Mr.. Truman Inherited
this program from Mr.. Roose-
welt and thought he should go
along with it.
They noted that so far he has
not however joined the La
Guardia CIO depression stam-
pede.
Consequently 1t may be wise
to await developments.
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