Evening Star Newspaper, September 20, 1931, Page 27

“BIG BUSINESS” INDICTED FOR PRESENT CONDITIONS Senator Brookhart Cites Many Failures in His Address in National Radio Forum. HE full text of Senator Smith W. h on “A Pro- hookup System follows: The death of Theodore Roosevelt changed the whole course of American history. After that untimely event, the Government in all its branches literally This surrender bega! days of President Wilson's administra- tion and during his illness. If Roose- velt had lived he would certainly have been President again. Then the sordid story of Harding, Fall and Daugherty, of Melion and Eugene Meyer would never have been written. The elder La Fol- Jette stood stoutly against this financial yule, and his giant efforts live today in the revival of the Progressive cause. This may be Ylopfll! designated the era of “business in government. Tt was ‘business” that put the jokers in the Pederal Reserve act and drove the surplus credit of the country to New York for promotion and specula- tion. It was “big business” that lowered the interest rate to itself for specula- tion and long-time bond issues, and raised it n agriculture and every other little ess. It was “big busi- ness” that seizexr control of the War Finance Corporation, the Federal Land Bank, the Intermediate Credit Bank and finally the Federal Farm Board it- e destruction of the family the promotion of the Tt was “big financial business” that promoted and sponsored the transporta- tion act, seven billion dollars of water into the valuation of the rail- roads, raised agricultural rates 60 per cent together with what had gone be- fore and dipped & cash subsidy of 529 million dollars from the Treasury of the United States. B Tt was “business in government” that built ships with public funds and at enormous cost and then sold them to ” that planned in ral deflation in it and further secure ample eredit let it fall in Oc- that organized the It was “big busi- a branch banking examiners to farmers, closed banks because they had frozen paper, although for 55 peper was the best a bank - advised investment in long- d until recently cl as - uub\uhm" that 5 Taw m ll(.'l:'flmd our foreign e altar of greed. business” that took its §=§ H 1 i o the doufl Still, 3 iy E il out. but we must save the 'c=~ put out branches a consolidation of flroads as a basis of This met Senator up. Stocks went came the moratorium . Por a few days the but too many knew bonds were still enor- and began unloading, boom collapsed. The move is the 15 per cent freighfl‘ rate advance, but that has gone state-| mate, and the big financial crowd now stand appalled at the wreck and ruin| have wrought and trembling (')rf their own financial safety. They must t, s0 they point back war and then sigh it| all because of the war. think the people will forget that debtor Nation when the war and soon paid over $5,000,000,- also want us to forget that nd indirectly from war profits we have loaned other people about $24,- 000,000,000 more and there was no de- til we hld‘ he:nly'e-‘:ri epression. No, the ““Rt s the culmina- | vernment.” It is ure in human his- business”, has garnered extor-| tionate profits, but it has ruined the| general y of the country. The| duty of eit tion is to provide em- nloyment for every one so he can earn ood, clothing, shelter and education | “Big business in gov- | ernment” has failed in these great pur- poses. In spite of its manipulation of both great political parties and of its sinister philosophy of party regularity, it has failed. Since business has failed ‘to perform these fundamental obliga- tions to the people it is necessary that the Government step in and perform these duties. There is no other choice, 2nd this is the great issue before the next session of the Congress. Has Better Chance. The question then arises, has the Government & better chance of success than ‘the eternal gamble of “big busi- ness™? History 8o declares. All admit that the best thing in our civilization is the public school system operated by the government of the States and by he Government of the United States in the District of Columbia, the Canal Zone and ‘Territories. The next item in importance is our public road system. operated by the States the PFederal Government 3 is one little blot and private business in toll bridges, which must certainly be removed. Next in importance is the Post Office system, more efficient than any private business of its magnitude in the world. Yes, it operates at a deficit because it furnishes a magnificent service at “he lowest rates in history. The deficit is Dddmln!rb{“lm u‘ron the big profiteers who have ruined the country and is fore o added advantage to all the peuyle. Next comes the grezt Panama Canal. ‘There is no more successful and efizient today. The that self-sustaining, perhaps the only one in the [world. ‘With a record like this in what the Government has already done, the ?emon will be presented as to what soe Gaver{nme&t cu:‘d? I.;: the next ngress for the revival of prosperit; to tge whole people. Unless con;resyu |is called in extra session at an early date there will be little chance for any substantial accomplishment. The tional conventions will be coming on and every proposition will take a politi- cal color and be considered more for its political cffect than for its genuine merits. Of course, I do not believe that these great questions can all be solved in any one session of Congress. “Big business” itself is demanding a revolu- tionary reorganization. But something substantial can be accomplished if Ccn- | gress is convened in October. Two problems that demand immediate attention and lay the fundation for | restoring prosperity are: 1. The agricultural problem, and 2. The problem of unemployment. There are two immediate phases of the agricultural prcblem: 1. The handling of the exportable | surplus, and 2. The marketing of the hoxxg de- mand. At present agriculture is forced to sell fts surplus in the domestic market. That floods the market, breaks down its tariff protection; the lus goes over into the free trade ets of the world, 4s sold in competition with all the world, the price fixed by that sale cabled back to the exchanges in the United States and then the whole price in the home markets fixed by the sale of this surplus in-these free trade markets of the world. \ Agricuiture Stands Alone. Agriculture is the only American busi- ness in this situation. Every other business that has an e: ble surplus system must be provided for agriculture. This can be done by increasing the re- volving fund of the Farm Board 1,500 million dollars or more and then give Hnally Susiained in dlspoeing "of the of the surplus in foreign markets, elgher debenture frcm the United Treasury or an upon the farmers lves. exactly what “big business” is doing with its surpluses now. It is even using the deposits of the farmers themselves in the banking systems of the country for this purpose, while the funds allowed to the Farm Board are wholly inadequate to accomplish the same pur- pose for the farmers themselves. must be no trifling with this surplus. It must all be removed from the domes- tic market and if this is done at a price up to the top of the tariff above the world market the of the farmers’ whole product rise to the same level. On an average there is only about 10 per cent of farm products that are e: ble. It is about 50 per cent of , 20 per cent of wheat, but less than 1 per cent of corn and al oats, and on an average less ment fore agriculture is basic in ation and should receive first atten from the Government of the States. I do not think this would cor- rect all of the unemployment, and I think it would require at least $3,000,- 000,000 more to start public works and provide jobs for the rest of the 6,000,- 000 who are now unable to get them. Nobody believes in the dole. In the language of another: “It is twice cursed —it hardens him that gives and softens him that takes. It does more harm to the poor than exploitation, because it makes them willing to be exploited. It breeds slavishness, which is moral suicide.” What men want is not charity, but a fair chance to earn their own living. However, we will find many men, women and children hungry this Winter. They must be fed. The Treasury of the | United States must not be exempt. It protect these same pr tion and our Government owe these men these jobs. They have failed in their duty, therefore the starving must be fed for emergency relief regardless of offensive names or processes. There is a special situation as to the unemployed of the World War, of whom there are 750,000. We have by l'lw :d.n'xlb:tdl} a geb'. t !hel’a in !h; orm o usted compensation an postponed the payment of it to 1945. This debt should be paid now, and they should not be sent out with their iin cups begging of the Red Cross or any other charitable institution. Surplus of Everything. | If these temporary things were done in an early session we might have some time to consider a permanent reorgani- zation and remedy. Since 1922 and up to the depression our national income was about $90,000,000,000 a year. This means $750 for each man, woman and child in the United States and about $3,750 for each family of five. This was enough income 5o that we need have no depression in the price of farm values, no 6,000,000 workers unemployed if this income had been properly distributed. We have produced enough in the United | States. We have a surplus of every- thing, while men ate starving and hpme- less. Our whole trouble is in distribu- tion. We spent about 74 or 75 billions of this for living expenses, operating expenses of industries, taxes and waste of competition. This still leaves 15 or 16 billion dollars each year as a net national income, and that represents the wealth increase of our country. If all of this wealth increase had been dis- tributed to capital in such distribution the return of capital would have been less than 4 per cent, and that is all there is in this American pool of pro- | duction as it is now operated. This 4 per cent is all that we have to distribute over and above our living, such as it is. But we do not distribute it upon any such theory. We organize these eco- nomic armies, these great corporations, thess t combinations, and they go out ting for 10 per cent, 40 per cent and 100 per cent, inflate their stock and bon'dh'vllvu gd distribute the wealth tem of economic war- in the 50 seven little ones mroh"; in . We have spent half THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SEPTEMBER 20, 1931—PART TWO. Chief of Spanish “Yankees” is | max the old saying that nothing new rates | the provinces. BY ANGEL FLORES. ROM that memorable 14th of I themselves hoarse with ~their “Viva la Republica!” till now innumerable odd incidents have occurred in the new Spanish republic: Priests have been uncassocked in the most Catholic streets of the world, while fishermen have decided to leave the fish unmolested in order to scruti- nize under powerful and optimistic lamps the histories and atlases of the United States and Russia. At such an anomalous historical cli- ever happens under the sun has been pitifully discredited. Plenty has hap- pened and will happen—plenty gratui- tously pew, humorously new, dramati- cally new. Who could have believed, for instance, that in the Catholic na- tion J’" excellence plous churchgoers would have burned convents and mon- asteries” But just as serious as this metamorphosis of religious sentiment is the predominant centrifugal attitude of Blasco Ibanez once claimed that sep- aratism was a disease of the monarchy, a disease that would disappear with i RELIGION BEING KILLED AT IT_S ROOTS BY SOVIET «1| Famous Dome of Cathedral of Redeemer Becomes Wrecked Symbol of Spiritual Decay. BY RALPH W. BARNES. OSCOW.—What was a short time ago the lofty v&l&:fl dome of a cathedral, many miles from this city, is today only a skeleton of girders, a skeleton symbolic, it would appear, of the decay of religion within the Soviet Union. The destruction of this dome is the first st in the complete demoli- tion of the Cathedral of the Redeemer, Moscow’s largest church and the city’s most _conspicuous landmark. The edi- fice i3 to be replaced, significantly enough, by a Palace of Soviets, planned 2s the most elaborate among the many new buildings to be erected here. However symbolic the destruction of this gilded dome may be, there is no questioning the fact that the church in Russia is being cut off at its roots. Prop- aganda carried on here 1s leaving a deep | impress on Russian youth. If the Rus- sian youn is not bitterly hostile to religion, he at the least bas no time for it. All religious groups are suffering from a dearth of young recruits. Aid of Deity Denied. s of the war against religion are | wsbem:een at every turn. In the center | for teachers’ training at Moscow a pho- tograph, tacked to the wall in a conspic- uous shows two youngsters standing in & field ‘and holding a large banner. The inscription on the banner reads: “We planted this fleld; : “The vegetables grew without God's Thelp. “We did the work; s ?lm ms‘:gnmcmt incident oc: Recently a ne - curred iny- ‘Moscow home in which {kons, symbols of the orthodox faith, still occupy a place of importance. §-year-old son of the family pointed to one of the ikons, and said: “Mother, it's about time you stopped all this now.” Recently this correspondent visited a kindergarten on a collective farm tnr‘ distant from Moscow. The teacher was spparently proud of the progress she had made in instilling a dislike for things religious in the minds of her 30 young wards. For the benefit of the visitors she questioned them on their attitude toward religion. Do we go to church?” she asked. “No, no!” the youngsters responded readily. “Do we pray to God?"” “No, no!” they repeated. Proud to Leave Imprint. Undoubtedly this catechism was & mechanical affair. The children were too younf. perhaps, to know what they were saying, but with constant repeti- tion those queries and the responses would be bound to leave an indelible imprint on the child’s mind. A children’s periodical was being used as reading material in the first two grades of a school on & collective farm of the communal type, also far distant from Moscow. The current number of this periodical contained the following brief note concerning the celebration of Christmas: “Drunkenness, brawls, truancy and gehumctlon—‘.u of these come about on ristmas.” “Do these interfere with f.'hl con- structive program of our land? “Yes, they do.” “Can w:."ommm' and school chil- us help the local Af us_tell our parents from the celel in gamblers’ markets. | the Militant Godless April when the Spaniards y:lled to Ca Directs Progressive State. THE CATALANS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A SEAFARING PEOPLE. the monarchy. And yet it is at this moment, after Alfonso's clally His- prove entirely wrong Spein as “the Spains.” Bordered on the north the Pyre- nees and on the east by the Mediter- ranean, Catalonia is the richest, most productive province of Spain. It is one-fourth the size of New York State, and contains 2,500,000 of the most in- dustrious, most ambitious souls in the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, they are half enviously called the Spanish Yan- kees. They never manana, and rather than break their lances on windmills }hey utilize olz}h windmills and lances for more prosaic purposes. ‘Their ital, Barcelona, rivals Madrid in ll;.e?y and unquestionably surpasses it in plumbing and up-to-dateness. Master Mountains and Sea. Closed in by sea and mountains, the sea. e an: c and w belong to m their audacit) the waves. And during that symi lic moment when the hills slope down to the beach as if charmed by the Medi- terranean sirens, the peasants have learned how to extrac from orchards and gardens. d_all this without ever lonn; that once upon a time the proud Catalan galleons out- numbered and surpassed the golden nme:.o( Venetians and oese. the misty -days of Charle- magne, Catalonia exi a5 8 distinct political entity. 8She had a language. a literature, a tradition, a lofty social destiny. The Catalans mixed themselves with neither Jews nor Moors, but superciliously called them- selves the true descendants of Hellenic civilization. However, their unmistak- able Gothic strain fully discredits their pretty metaphore. And.yet one cannot find today any people so urged with in- dustrial ambition and so possesed of esthetic e: jon. Perhaps this psy- ichotomy, so consistent with Mediterranean breezes, has made them resemble Greeks. To see them dance their sardanas in the public parks of Barcelona, to watch them mold their n jars, crush their grapes, plow their fields, so biologically, artistically, to|to hear their mellifluous orators shout their high-sounding harangues from | Francesco Macia Realizes His One Ambition for Catalonia. --Etching by W. Douglas Macleod. soapboxes is to re-create the glory that " Bue deapite the_stmilarities, esp! ite the recalcitrant individualism mgflfl bois- terous patriotism, the artistic fruition of the Catalans is somethinz organistic and euphuistic, thoroughly devoid *of f proportion, of repose and Greek. One of the typical Catalan geniuses was the dis- concerting architect, Antoni Gaudi, who was killed five years ago by a trolley car. Even the most phlegmatic tourist has been shocked by the extra: itly exuberant Sagrada Familia Temple, by the Mila and Batillo residences, by the Guell Park decorations. Real Catalonian Possesions. And if one scans Catalonia’s past, one meets, time and again, Gaudi’s intoxi- cation. There is that “doctor - natus,” Raymond Lully (1235-1315), re- living the life of Juan, and with both hanis his ency- opaedic learning and fabulous mysti- cism—only to be stoned to death by the Moslems while trying to lnk Eastern and Western _civilization. _There is (Continued on Fourth Page.) farm failed to reveal a single picture or other object which might in any way be associated with religion. Even were the faith still aflame in the homes of some of the commune members the | young children would hardly be exposed | to it, since they for the most part live in nurseries, seeing their parents only occasionally. ‘The collapse of religion is more no- ticeable on these agricultural com- munes than on the more common t of collective, designated as the "Iflzr.'e' where the individual is less exposed to social pressure. On a number of occa- sions, in fact, this coi dent has noted religious images in the home of CONSERVATISM LATEST FAD |5 it u' hui ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES American Students Turn Away From|: Extremes of Gaudy Post-War Period to Idolize Tolerance and Manners. BY A. R. WARNOCK, Dean of Men, Pennsylvania State College. OLLEGE student bodies have gone conservative. On the av- today which is thought “rah- rah” or “collegiate” is out of favor with students who set campus styles. Gaudy, attention-compelling cars, eye-dazsling clothes, noisy drink- ing, show-off talking and boasting, foot ball cheering acrobatics—all these and many other supposedly imperisha- ble characteristics have joined the oubliette of forgotten men-. ‘That is, they have gone away, at least. reaction is in full swing. erage college campus that artel members. In estimating the fu- (Continued on Fourth Page.) MAN sw&ped me on the street say that he had some important in- formation. “They z-¢ oing to put the market up in he next few weeks,” he said. “Who are they?” I asked im. He looked at me scornfully, as though I ought to be ashamed to confess such ig- norance. “Why theg," he an- swered, “are the big shots, the insiders, the international bankers, the Interests.” “Oh,” I sald, and thanked him and went on my way. When I graduated from col- lege I had a great deal of awe o!g the Interests, and at that period they were indeed pretty werful. Important corpora- ggns were comparatively few, and those few were small in comparison with today. Their stock was controlled by a compact group of men, who, by acting together, could often make or break the mar- ket. Morgan could get them all in a room and tell them what to do. But times have changed. Corporations are enormous; shares are scattered among millions. They, the Interests, are not what they used to be. One time I served on a civic committee, most of wh members were bankers. e executive secretary was a bngl';& !cung college graduate. He said to me: “I don't have to worry; when this job is over these big bankers will take care of me.” Well, the job was over, and I told him: “You are going to have a it shock as to the power of the international Seeking an explanation of the chang- ing mood, you will hear many student WHO ARE THEY? BY BRUCE BARTON bankers. They may control millions, but one thing they can't do is to get you a job. They may send you to the heads of certain corporations with letters. of introduction, but they can’t insist that you be hired. Those corporation managers will reply to the bankers: ‘You hold us re- 5 omlhle; you must let us ne’ " It turned out as I predicted. The young man finally secured a job, but not by any help of the Interests. I have seen several national elections, but never one in which the partners gf any of ;"l:’; s!;lg lntemntlon?’l banking S were agree n a ca_x;dldate. L ‘WO partners, sitting side by side, would offset each other’s votes. In ’the last analysis, who are they? I'Yl tell you. You and I are they. We'run things. A busi- ness may have millions of caPlul, big plants and huge sales forces. But if you and I g}?e semh “llke its product, all e li!Tbfllllm!F assets are merely alleyrand said a shrewd &hlng when he remarked, ‘There is one person wiser than anybody, and that is everybody.” You and I are everybody, and we decide. Mr. Morgan does not awe me. Even the editor of this paper, who is my boss, does not fill me with any great alarm. But believe me, I care lb&l}k{o%e{me reader. urn your I'm through. s (Coprright, 1991.) P leaders say that the movies and the comic are partly responsible ampultypudnmzuduz ovies and caricatured in they saw. This obvious change, how- ever, is probably only the newest phase of the ever-turning cycle of campus moods. The pendulum is ly. is moving to the other extreme. Change Noted Two Years Ago. For the last two or three years close observers have seen signs of the ap- proach of this change. At the con- vention of the Eastern ion of Deans and Advisers of Men two years ago, one dean, participating in the perennial discussion of college drinking problems, said: “In my college the nolsy, intoxicated student seems to be disappearing from the college ! Eeveral other deans nodded their heads in agreement. “I don't think it is a sign of higher morality,” he continued, “-v of increased enthusiasm for the in the mouth. Certainly the acceptance of this ex- planation will satisfactorily account for many of the campus happenings which otherwic - seem without explanation. It will explain to head cheer leaders, for instance, why these days they are having difficulty in {:fl,fin‘ student crowds to explode their lungs in or- ganized yelling. ago varsity cheer leaders began to voice their complaints. were still gol. through the conventionalized acrobatics, which should presumal I{ evoke thunderous, well regimental yell- ing whenever called for, but the stu- dents weren't yelling. In many cases they gave the cheer leaders “the bird.” College spirit seemed to be dying. Cheer Leaders in Despair, A crowd of only 500 students and | than alumni turned out for & Yale mass meeting on the night before a Yale- Harvard game and Tad Jones spoke his mind publicly about such a decline in interest. A Harvard foot ball team left Cambridge for a game in the Far West and only a handful of rooters went he team d have been expected editors all over the country would have jumped on such wth both feet—te: Harvard “high-hat- fiu.mv did be:o' :\lot fl’ll!"'t m'm a su number who wen! ment with the “Crimson” edi- and added interesting ideas to One undergrad ganized cheering at big come too much a part ol ‘Three or four years S i LEAGUE OF NATIONS GAINS FAVOR IN LATIN AMERICA Disillusionment Shifts to Faith After Bloc Is Formed—U. S. Changed Though Skeptical. BY GASTON NERVAL. N one continent, at least, the League ations is the League is still a mat- al the ecir- , although actual influence it on af- nent is Latin In Europe con ; k h it, or e it. have to League’s importance. wide economic of the League’s tercontinental problems is still looked e o e Amerieans Adamant. Besides, even harder to break than will be to do away with rooted traditions of aloofness from _international since they ice ‘No foreign entanglements,” they have been told for generations, and toda; even if begin to admit the dim- | League. the . of going alone :'l.l‘ll in the world, they beyond their borders. Until this atti- the fsty % g | 4 EEE h 2.§§ £ onohnd i £ ¥ 4 i : i r ) a; i ; i (L i § i i % lg ! I é i it o H k3 gt ] ] i | 1 i i I g i i s : F d i H i : ] git e i § i 1] s § ol ; i g : £ ! EL value, the show concern parted from her, and thus m#mum&-—t Rio Grande. i In the last few years the Latin|{fhe g i Ei. g EEEEEE Union of Rhine and Rhone Rivers Considered by s i gy i i g | 3 & Wild Life Remains Within Rome Reach ROME.—Although Rome has been a center of civilization for 2,500 years, it still Nes just & few hours’ train ride {from one of the most rugged and wildest