Evening star., 1949-07-16

have the policies which have been pursued
by the Government of this country since
1888. When I hear those who say that deficit
spending should never be resorted to IN
peacetime I wonder what they would have
done if they had been in the position of
the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt in
March 1888.
Deficit financing was the means by which
the Government was able to pump money
and stimulation into the national economy
which led to rising employment. to an ex-
panding productivity in industry and agrlcul-
ture to an increase in the general savings
of the people of the country. and the en-
hancement of the income of the citizens
generally, and, withal, an improved and eX-
panding national wealth and security. So.
now, If in a time Of declining employment
and declining income, If we may temporarily
resort to deficit financing to arrest trend.
to stem tide, to reverse course which
has been the product and the result OF forces
which have been operating in our economy.
I see nothing new about 1t, and, instead OF
its being a dangerous policy, 1t may be the
only policy which will avert serious danger
to the national economy at the present time
Sees Another Cause.
As matter of fact, if an analysis be made
of the causes for the present decline, 1t may
be that history will show that 1t was the
failure of Congress to adopt the recon-
mendations of the President. Had we adopt
ed those recommendations and arrested the
imitation before 1t reached peak at which
it necessarily had to have partial collapse.
we probably should have had surplus that
would have prevented the deficit which Is at
present in the national budget.
It seems to me that what the businessmen
Of this country want is good customers. able
to pay for the purchases they wish to make;
and in this declining economy, with rising
unemployment the best assurance that there
will be customers who can buy is that there
be full employment decent wages. a higher
level of national productivity In industry and
agriculture. and that we bave profitable
and prosperous national economy.
am glad the President Of the United
States had the courage to face those who use
deficit financing as some sort Of slogan Of
denunciation, and to think more OF the pros
perity of the national economy than of be-
ing vulnerable to some political criticism
that may be hurled against him.
realize that this is field in which there
are honest differences Of opinion and I
only express my own opinion because feel
very strongly that the sound policy Is the
one which was proposed by the President
that when the prosperity OF the country Is
pronounced, when the income and produc-
LlV1Ly OF UNc NatlOI are 1llsI, thcll Is IIlC
time to reach down into our productivity
and our income with good tax structure;
but when things are on the downgrade, then
is the time when the Government needs to
step in and arrest the dangerous trend and
preserve the prosperity Of the country.
Otherwise business will lose far more in
profits which are now declining than will be
lost through the policy which the President
of the United States proposes.
For Full Prosperity.
So I say If we think only Of corporate
profits, Mr.. President, full prosperity for
the country will yield corporate profits which
will exceed the profits corporations are now
making by more than the national deficit,
not to speak of the benefit that comes to the
citizenry in general from policies which lead
to full employment and higher production
for the Nation.
Lastly, we are now debating something
that has direct relationship to the peace and
the security of the world-the Atlantic Pact.
Not even the Atlantic Pact means more for
the preservation of the democratic way OF
life than full prosperity and a strong Ameri-
can economy. We cannot have full pros
perity and q strong American economy If we
have steadily rising unemployment, steadily
declining productivity in factory and on
farm, and a general lessening OF the high
level Of prosperity which we have enjoyed.
So the President is on the right track. I
believe the people Of the country and am
confident, the Congress will support him IN
the courageous, course which he has taken IN