Evening star., 1947-04-18

There Is no space here to list all
of his untaken counsels, but few
selected cases should be enough. In
1894, Mr.. Roosevelt, who, during
1892, had eloquently inveighed
against deficit financing and un-
balanced budgets, became an en-
thusiastic convert to the theory OF
spending our way back to prosperity
He consulted Mr.. Baruch about
ways and means.
Mr.. Baruch thought the idea
sound-with one provision. Ask
Congress for all the millions you
want for public works, relief, ETC.,
he urged, but make one unbreakable
rule-to wit, every appropriation
must carry it's compensating tax. In
other words, if Congress knew that
for every million 1t appropriated 1t
had to provide a million in taxes,
the budget balance would be held,
the Federal finances remain stable
and no deficits created.
Debt Began Piling Up.
Mr.. Roosevelt thought that sug-
gestion wonderful, agreed heartily,
but almost immediately dropped 1t
because the compensating taxes
were too strongly opposed. The net
result was that we were launched
on the worlds greatest spending
spree and long period Of piling
up debts and deficits, until when we
entered the war our fiscal structure
was anything but steady. That was
one instance.
Another came after we got into
the war when Me. Baruch strongly
urged on Mr.. Roosevelt the neces-
sity of q single-headed War Produc-
ton Board. This, for reasons Of his
own, Mr.. Roosevelt disregarded,
created a board with a dual COM
mand-Sidney Hillman representing
labor and william Knudson indus
try. OF course. 1t did not work, but
18 months were lost before Mr.
Roosevelt finally put the Baruch
idea into effect.
It was Mr.. Baruch, too, who. when
the Office Of Price Control was first
created, pointed out that prices
could not be kept down unless a
ceiling was put on wages as well as
on food, clothes and rent. This was
SO obvious that 1t was hard to see
how any one could dissent. Never
theless, the influence of the CIO at
the White House was such that that,
too, was rejected and pretty aw-
full muddle ensued, costly to the
country and detrimental to the war
effort. .-.....
Opposed Tax Elimina tions.
After the war, Mr.. Baruch was
opposed to the repeal Of the excess
profits tax. His suggestion was to
reduce that tax 10 per cent the first
year and then 10 per cent more for
each of the next nine years. His
argument was that in time of such
inevitable prosperity the sums thus
realized would practically pay off
the national debt, great as it is, in
10 years.
Instead, the politicians repealed
the excess-prof1ts taxes completely
In 1916. In consequence, the dis
astrous strikes of last year were
encouraged by the vast profits of
the corporations, the country, was
brought to the verge of economic
disaster and the great companies
are today under heavy fire for their
abnormal profits. Certainly, it is
not exaggeration to say that if the
Baruch advice had been followed
In these four instances the Nation
would be vastly better off.
And now Mr.. Baruch has given
some more advice-in South Caro-
lima where he was born and where
on Wednesday his portrait was un-
yelled in the Capitol After review
ing the world situation, which, bad
though it Is, he refused to regard
as hopeless. Mr.. Baruch thinks we
and the world can be saved by one
thing-work. The salvation of the
world, he insists. is possible only
through the power of the United
States. Our power can only be sus-
tanned through production, which
means work. If we adopted a 512-
day 44-hour week. with no strikes
or layoffs to January l, l949, the
results would be "electrifying.
Let us not be deceived" he said.
1--WE are today in the midst of a
cold war. Our enemies are to be
found abroad as well as at home.
Our unrest is the heart of their
We can depend only on
One by one our allies
are-or think they are-exhausted.
That means they stop work. But
we find that exhaustion is
the result Of stopping work and not
the other way around.
That can happen here. Don't let
us be sucked into the maelstron