r( 



■ V v. . •. 



■; ■ ••; 1' 



'V 



and financial world became apparent 

 HB the depression deepened. 



It was such thinking that led to the 

 New Deal — a philosophy of govern- 

 ment based on a planned industry, 

 banking and agriculture. It was nat- 

 ural for President Roosevelt, a liberal 

 who feels keenly the responsibility of 

 government for its destitute and 

 under-privileged citizens, to turn to 

 those for help who were in sympathy 

 with such ideas. So we have the so- 

 called brain trust, perhaps a larger 

 coterie of' college professors, econo- 

 mists, thinkers and idealists than ever 

 have been assembled at one time in 

 Washington. And we have unprece- 

 dented and fearless experimentation 

 toward wiping out some of the evils of 

 the old system. •;?^^ 



V Earlier Efforts ^ ; ,;^ .: 



.'■■.V'} i. 



.1- 



The trend toward more government 

 leadership and intervention began be- 



[ fore the present administration was 

 swept into power. Theodore Roosevelt's 

 trust busting and the Sherman Act 

 represented efforts to control organ- 

 ized capital and protect the public 

 against combinations. Woodrow Wil- 

 son is said to have had plans for level- 

 ing off the inequalities in the mate- 

 rial possessions of American citizens, 

 but because of the war never realized 

 his dreams. Hei ' ert Hoover expressed 

 the hope that government might 

 abolish poverty and make it possible 

 for every workman to own a car. 

 Hoover was forced to hecome some- 



rthing of an e'cohOinic planner. After 

 two years of trusting to magic he fi- 

 nally saw the necessity for more 

 drastic treatment to overcome the 



^ effects of continued deflation. Most 

 business and financial leaders para- 

 lyzed with fear, had and have nothing 

 to offer but the hopeless policy of let- 

 ting the boat drift until it is wrecked 

 or the storm blows over. v 



;• f :■? Against Farm Board 



. ' : . • ' ^* -' * 



. ' ■ - ■ . f.T 



-.The campaign of propaganda against 

 government in business during the 

 Hoover administration, directed chief- 

 ly against the Federal Farm Board, 

 subsided somewhat when industry and 

 finance itself got into the predica- 

 ment of agriculture. The Reconstruc- 

 tion Finance Corporation, which made 

 government credit available to stave 

 off bankruptcy for banks, life insur- 

 ance companies, railroads and other 

 corporations, never received the cen- 

 sure from the Tory newspapers so 

 freely given a similar effort by the 

 farm board to maintain farm prices 

 and aid co-operatives. 



The dark days of 1932 and early 

 1933 were marked by campaigns to 

 restore prosperity by exhortation. 

 "Buy more** campaigns and "anti- 



.f 





:.-/yyc-:;'.\. 



'*■ ■ '■ ■ f* w\- ■■■■.- ■•'■ '•■* 





/ ■■ * 







Oullyinff hat been itopped in thig field by planting WUlows, WUd Cherry, Plum, etc., allowing 

 the ditch to remain in grata. 



hoarding" campaigns, all of which 

 proved ineffective, were the contribu- 

 tions of metropolitan newspapers now 

 bitterly attacking the New Deal. 



Unquestionably recovery began in 

 March, 1933, with the closing of all 

 banks, subsequent opening of the 

 sound ones, and guaranty of deposits. 

 This radical, swift and decisive move, 

 followed quickly by going off the gold 

 standard, the AAA, NRA, and infla- 

 tionary measures, won the applause 

 and confidence of the rank and file 

 of people. Outside of the relapse after 

 the speculative flurry of last July, 

 business has slowly but steadily im- 

 proved. / ^ ^ 



''„■..■. ^ • ■.* '■ 

 T ::; Recovery Proportional ' 1 ;^ 



And the improvement to date has 

 been in direct proportion to the nar- 

 rowing of the spread between the 

 prices of farm commodities and non- 

 agricultural goods. There are those 

 who believe that recovery could have 

 been brought about much more quick- 

 ly by resorting temporarily to an ab- 

 solute dictatorship under which debts, 

 interest, transportation rates, fees, sal- 

 aries and wages, capital income, taxes 

 and non-agricultural prices might all 

 have been slashed to the extent re- 

 quired to establish something like the 

 1909-1914 balance between agriculture, 

 industry, labor and other g^roups. 



The inequalities in the exchange 

 value of farm products for the goods 

 and services of others, no one denies, 

 were responsible for much of our dif- 

 ficulty. To a lesser extent that con- 

 dition still holds. It is the reason 

 farmers are not buying more lumber, 

 fence, cement, fertilizer, automobiles, 

 farm machinery and a thousand de- 

 sirable articles for the home. ... 



Because we had no dictator to ar- 

 range things and promote free ex- 

 change of goods and services between 

 all classes, recovery has been slow. 



'•*;" -.' 





And because industry all along the 

 line persisted in maintaining high 

 prices, cutting production, laying off 

 employees, and making goods scarce, 

 ag^culture was compelled, with gov- 

 ernment assistance, to act similarly. 

 Some day future generations will 

 laugh at the stupidities of the present 

 era — at our inability to keep everyone 

 at work and distribute more equitably 

 the results of our enterprise. But will 

 there not be more admiration than 

 censure for the present national ef- 

 fort to buck the old system, or lack 

 of system, which takes periodic unem-»i 

 ployment, deflation and disorder for 

 granted ? 



..^ No one is prophet enough to forecast 

 where the present trend in govern-*- 

 ment will lead to. We can only hazard 

 a guess. For some years to come 

 there will probably be more regimen- 

 tation by government rather than less; 

 more control over business, industry, 

 and finance to compel honesty, curb 

 greed, prevent ruthless exploitation 

 and stop some of the abuses of the 

 post-war period. 



Will Go On 



The New Deal will not end with the 

 present administration. Some of the 

 present efforts may be and probably 

 will be abandoned, but others will be 

 taken up. There will be more atten- 

 tion given to conservation of natural 

 resources and their development for 

 the greatest good of the greatest num- 

 ber. Government promises to become 

 a greater factor in the life of the 

 country. Industry will hardly be al- 

 lowed to continue its practice of sav- 

 ing itself at the expense of the public 

 for relief of unemployment. Federal 

 taxes will continue to be heavy for 

 those with large incomes. And they 

 won't like it. Capital may have to be- 

 come used to smaller returns. We may 



: (Continued on page 6) C' 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



