Evening star., 1949-01-05
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Continued From First Page)
American has q chance to obtain
his fair share of our increasing
abundance. These responsibilities
go hand in hand.
We cannot maintain prosperity
unless we have a fair distribution
of opportunity and a widespread
consumption Of the products Of oul
factories and farms.
Our Government has undertaken
to meet these responsibilities.
Ideals Strengthened.
We have made tremendous publ,
investments in highways, hydro.
electric power projects, soil conser.
vation and reclamation. We hav.
i established system of social Sc
curity. We have enacted laws pro-
tecting the rights and the welfare
Of OUR working people and the in.
come of our farmers. These Fedora
policies have paid for themSelve!
many times over. They hav'
strengthened the material founda.
tions of our democratic ideals
Without them, our present pros.
perity would be impossible.
Reinforced by these policies, oul
private enterprise system ha!
reached new heights of production
Since the boom year of 1929, while
our population has increased only
20 per cent, our agricultural pro.
duction has increased by IS pei
cent, and our industrial production
has increased by IS per cent. We
are turning out far more goods ano
more wealth per worker than we
have ever done before.
This progress has confounded the
gloomy prophets-at home anc
abroad-who predicted the down.
fall OF American capitalism. The
American people, going their owr
way. confident in their own powers
have achieved the greatest prosper
ity the world has ever seen.
But, great as our progress has
been, we still have a long way te
go.
las we look around the country
many of our shortcomings stanc
out in bold relief.
We are suffering from excessively
high prices.
Our production is still not large
enough to satisfy our demands.
Minimum Wage Too Low.
Our minimum wages are far toe
low.
Small business is losing grounc
to growing monopoly.
Our farmers still face an un.
certain future. And too many oi
them lack the benefits of our mod.
ern civilization.
Some of our natural resources
are still being wasted.
We are acutely short Of electric
power, although the means for de.
veloping such power are abundant
Five million families are still liv-
ing in slums and firetraps. Three
million families share their homes
with others.
Our health is far behind the prog
ress Of medical science. Proper med
lcal care is so expensive that it is
out of reach of the great majority
Of our citizens.
Our schools, in many localities
are utterly INADEQUATE,
Our democratic ideals are often
thwarted by prejudice and intoler.
ance.
Each of these shortcomings Is
also an oportunity-an opportunity
for the Congress and the President
to work for the good of the people
+ Our first great opportunity is tt
protect our economy against the
evils Of boom and bust"
/ Free Enterprise Vital.
I This objective cannot be attained
by Government alone. Indeed, the
greater part of the task must be
performed by individual efforts un.
der our system Of free enterprise
We can keep our present pros.
perity, and increase it, only If free
enterprise and free Government
work together to that end.
We cannot afford to float along
carelessly on a postwar boom until
1t collapses. And it is not enough
merely to prepare to weather a re-
cession If it comes. Instead, Gov
eminent and business must work
together constantly to achieve more
and more jobs and more and more
production-which mean more and
more prosperity for, all the people
The business cycle is made;
and men Of good will. working to-
gether, can smooth 1t out.
So far as business is concerned
it should plan for steady. vigorous
expansion, seeking always to in
crease its output, lower its prices
and avoid the vices Of monopoly
and restriction. So long as busi-
ness does this, it will be contribut-
ing to continued prosperity, and 1t
will have the help and encourage
ment Of the Government.
The Employment Act OF 1916
pledges the Government to use all
its resources to promote maximum
employment, production and pur-
chasing power. This means that
the Government is firmly committed
to protect business and the people
against the dangers OF recession
and against the evils of imitation
This means that the Government
must adapt its plans and policies
to meet changing circumstances.
Legislation Recommended.
At the present time, our pros
perity is threatened by inflationary
pressures at a number of critical
points in the economy. The Gov
ernment must be in q position to
take effective action at these dan
ger spots. To that end, I recon-
mend that the Congress enact legis-
lation for the following purposes:
| First, to continue the power to
control consumer credit and en-
large the power to control bank
credit.
Second, to grant authority to
regulate speculation on the COM
modify exchanges.
Third, to continue export contro,