Evening Star Newspaper, October 2, 1936, Page 11

Democracy Is Campaign’s Vital Issue Public Attitude Shown by Revolt of News- papers. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. T. LOUIS, Mo., October 2.—I met a prominent man from the Southland today who has never voted anything but the Demo- cratic ticket in his life, and during the course of his conversation, he said: “I am going to vote the straight Democratic ticket this year, too, which means I'm going to vote for Gov. Lan- don.” The foregoing typifies the strength of the national movement of Jeffer- sonian Democrats which has its headquarters here and which is in- sisting that Mr. Roosevelt has de- parted from the fundamental principles of the Democratic party and that Mr. Landon by his spegches has come closer to expressing tradi- tional Democratic N doctrine than has David Lawrencs, his opponent. Perhaps the most interesting devel- opment in this respect is the remark- able editorial in which the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, supporter of every Democratic nominee for the presidency for 50 years, now has come out for Gov. Landon. The Post-Dispatch has made war on the “special interests” and the “princes of privilege” and no news- paper or individual in the liberal ecamp in America has been so out- spoken in its attacks on blind con- servatism or entrenched greed. The record of the Post-Dispatch as an honest and conscientious servant of the people’s interest is well known far beyond the borders of Missouri. It has been quoted again and again from coast to coast in fighting against the power interests, for example, and in its staunch defense of what has often been termed radical as well as liberal policies. Nobody in the New Deal can, with justification, yell “du Pont Liberty League” or Hooverism at this new opponent of Mr. Roosevelt. Fought Federal Empire. But the Post-Dispatch is consistent. It has all along fought against what it has described as the “march of Federal empire.” Back in 1922 the Post-Dispatch published a famous editorial calling on the Governors of all the States to prevent the growth of Federal bureaucracy. This at- tracted Nation-wide attention. Today the Post-Dispatch reafirms its tradi- tional positioh in favor of State sovereignty and local government, which it considers to be in danger under Mr. Roosevelt’s regime. The Post-Dispatch editorial incidentally, does not indulge in fulsome praise of Mr. Landon, but emphasizes that a continuence of Mr. Roosevelt’s regime is & menace to American constitu- tional Government. Somewhat dif- ferent from the attitude of another rreat Democratic newspaper, sthe Baltimore Sun, which recently came out against Mr. Roosevelt, but said it was not prepared as yet to support Mr. Landon, the Post-Dispatch goes a bit further, saying on this point: “We believe profoundly that the welfare of the country would be best served by the defeat of Mr. Roose- velt. Manifestly, the most useful ‘weapon of all for all who so believe s a vote for his opponent, Gov. Landon.” The Post-Dispatch editorial will have a widespread effect in St. Louis and environs and may make the race in Missouri much closer than has been anticipated. But even though Mis- souri is inclined to place its electoral vote in the Roosevelt column because Boss Pendergast has enough controlled Vvotes in Kansas City to put it there, it is significant that the Post-Dis- patch here, like the Baltimore Sun in Maryland, has not been swayed by the consideration that its own State might be found in the Roosevelt eolumn on election day. Bold Editorial Stand. The Baltimore Sun, for instance, knew that its own poll was showing an overwhelming result for Roosevelt, but this did not prevent the publication of ijts editorial annoumcing that though it has been supporting the Democratic nominees for generations 1t could not now support Mr. Roose- velt for re-election. All this merely means that inde- pendent newspapermen prefer to be right in the long run than to sur- render to considerations or immediate expediency which so often governs :he decisions of politicians and their k. Back in July, 1935, less than two months having elapsed since the Su- preme Court of the United States by a vote of 9 to 0 had declared the N. R. A. unconstitutional, Mr. Roosevelt wrote Congress urging adoption of the Guf- fey law, expressing the hope that the legislators would “not permit doubts as to constitutionality, how- ever reasonable, to block the sug- gested legislation.” The Guffey bill contained some of the same pro- visions which had been declared in- valid in the N. R. A. case. On the day after the President’s communi- cation appeared this correspondent wrote that this letter would be an important issue in the 1936 campaign. Disregard of the Constitution has €ost Mr. Roosevelt the support of the 8t. Louls Post-Dispatch and other independent-minded newspapers of hitherto Democratic leanings who speak for a citizenry that does not hesitate to abandon party ties when fundamental principles are at stake. (Copyright, 1936,) e “Honesty Boxes” Installed. Bournemouth, England, has installed “honesty boxes” on its street cars and busses so that passengers can pay their fare even if the conductor misses them or does not get around to them in time. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1936. News Behind the News Crop Insurance Idea Perfect in Theory, but Snags to Come in Application. BY PAUL MALLON. crop insurance idea sounds just about perfect. Both presie l dential candidates are for it. Congressional candidates are stum- bling over each other to get -on record in favor of it. Nobody is against it. The Government is working out the actuaria! basis for it. It seems like a sure taing—yet do not be too sure. There is another side of the story which has not been fully developed. ‘The plan, under the Wallace conception, would work like this: A wheat farmer, taking out insurance, would be required to pay pre- miums only in years of excess production. When his yield per acre was average for his community, he would pay nothing. But in bumper years he would pay a portion of his ex- cess production, say two-thirds, to the Government. And he would pay in wheat. The Government would take this wheat and store it, paying the storage charges. If drought, rust or grasshoppers came along next year and the same farmer's yleld per acre fell below average, the Government would pay a portion, say three-fourths, of his deficiency. But this payment probably would not be made in wheat. The Govern- ment would have to sell its storage grain and pay off in cash. The theory seems to be flawless, but when you start applying it to wheat farmers as a whole you run into difficulties. In the first place, it will require some system of production control, else the Government might accumulate more grain than it could ever dispose of. While Federal conirol has been outlawed by the Supreme Court, some means of getting around the court decision will have to be found. In fact, they may try “storage in the land”"— a neat phrase which simply means the farmer would store his wheat by not planting it, or by planting alfalfa instead, But then there is the question of the wide variation in Winter wheat from year to year. In some sections, farmers get only two normal crops every five years. In the wheat region, as a whole, bumper crops have been coming no more than two or three years out of ten. In the bad areas, if the premium is fixed on an honest actuarial basis, the rate would be almost prohibitive. And in the best areas, the farmers might not be particularly desirous of paying for a guarantee, even if the rate (based on risk plus storage and handling charges) is low. There is the question of what effect the Government storage would have on prices, the tremendous arithmetical problem involved in working out fair actuarial basis, the prospect of Government losses, etc. Some heckler will undoudtedly arise to ask why, if this is such a perfect scheme, did no one think of it until six weeks before election. There are two or more answers to that. Ome is, farm experts have been thinking of it since long before @ Senate commit- tee held hearings on the subject in 1923. Another is that actuarial data was lacking until the A. A. A. dug up everything there is to know about every acre in the country. ‘The thing to remember is that all President Roosevelt has recom- mended is a study, that Congressmen, selfishly interested in their re- spective districts, will have to pass on it, and that there's many a slip between a study and a law. * kK % The House gave the Townsend Investigating Committee special au- thority to make its report public during the campaign, but no one has seen hide nor hair of it. Just between you and the gate post, the report was finished several weeks ago by Chairman Jasper Bell of the Investigating Committee. It was sent to Speaker Bankhead of the House, who knows something of the natonal aspect of the political campaign now in progress. Mr. Bank- h head sent it back to Mr. Bell for revision. It may be made public before election, but not in its original form. Vice President Garner is the only silent man on either side of the campaign. He came through ‘Washington the other day, but not a line was published because newsmen did not find out about it until he had gone on his way to Texas. The V. P. will return for conferences of the Strategy Board, which includes Semators Robinson, Byrnes and other congressional figures who are haunting the Capital again these days, now that their primary campaigns are over. But the latest inside word is he will make one cumpaign speech instead of two, and by nert week the one will probadbly be cut to one-half. The Progressive National Committee (La Follette, Norris, et al) is promoting the re-election of Mr. Roosevelt but will not take any money from the Democratic National Committee. The unannounced reason is this: Senator Norris, who has frequently attacked Jim Parley, would not stand for it. 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(4) Yet g0 safe that every ; i Even sheer cotton prints have 100 consecutive times in OXYDOL suds, perceptible sign of fading. In addition to its marvelous results, OXYDOL is eco- nomical, too. Tests show that it will go 34 to 34 again color i fresh, and your hands stay soft and white. been washed without How many of Oxydol packages can you see in the pictureatthe Sentence about Oxydol ... Get in Line for ‘‘Hidden Gold”! $10,000 in Cash to Those Who Seek and Find! $5,00022 GRAND FIRST PRIZE! Ao NEW ® NO-SCRUS = NO-BOIL" LAUNDRY SOAP THAT'S REALLY SAFE Both Security Pians Have Faults Existing Act Fails to Raise Income—Dole Is Deplored. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON, OV. LANDON'S eriticism of the social security bill passed by the administration is sound and agrees with much expert thought on the subject. Among the very men who have worked long- est for old-age pensions and unem- ers only about one-half of the working popula- tion; it is entire- ly inanced by contributory tax- es, levied upon employes and em- ployers equally; it will eventual- B :,’nm’:;‘::‘ r:er:: Dorethy Thempsen the investment of which will be a se- rious problem and which will offer an almost irresistible temptation to con- gressional spending. It will be ex- tremely complicated to administer. And the tax on pay rolls will invari- ably be passed on to the public in the form of increased prices and is any- how questionable in its social results. ‘The Governor’s statement that the bill is really a measure for compelling thrift is true. And that is one very serious fault with the bill, as the Gov- ernor asserts. As long as 21 per cent of American families have incomes of under $1,000 & year, even in ex- tremely good times (the figures of 1929), and more than 42 per cent of families have incomes under $1500, while altogether only 29 per cent have incomes of over $2,500, it is certain that they cannot save 6 per cent of their incomes annually for their old age—or save 3 per cent and pay what will amount to another 3 per cent tax —without sacrificing things which they and their children desperately and immediately need. Plainly what we need is a higher national income and more reasonable distribution of it. ‘The existing bill will not assist either objective. Bounty on Employment. ‘The Governor's objections to a tax on pay rolls are well grounded and could be even further argued. A great deal of our social legislation leaves completely out of consideration the fact that men today are competing with machines for jobs. It is quite possible that in our zeal to better the condition of men we increasingly put them at a disadvantage in this com- petition. If we want to get men back to work and keep them at work under the most favorable possible conditions we ought to subsidize pay rolls rather than tax TH necessarily The Star’s. e icture . . . Write a Brief ELOW 703 CASH PRIZES In This Simple and Fascinating Contest “HIDDEN GOLD” 2% PRIZE $750 $100 ea. 50 ea. 25 ea. TOTAL . . . . $10,000 Off. No. 100684 these ) i right? E opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. i i H budget balances; probably not an- nually, but over the business cycle. But when it comes to the counter- poses to introduce the means test, under which the pension becomes merely a public dole. This is begging the whole question. For the idea of old-age pensions is not just to take care of the destitute aged, but to recognize that modern, industrial life has created conditions peculiarly un- favorable to the old, and that State pensions are a means of adjusting to that reality. Soclety Changes. The facts about our society are, among others, these: that it is in- creasingly an industrial society, in which men and women depend for their livelihoods on wages or sala- ries; that the risks that they there- fore encounter are proportionately greater than in an agricultural or artisan society, where they own to a large extent their own means of pro- duction; that this society has re- sulted in much smaller families than previously, with much less chance of elderly parents being taken care of by a number of children, and that this society throws men and women out of employment at an earlier age. It is necessary and desirable in this | soclety that they should be retired | earlier and it is therefore necessary |that the whole society should col- laborate to make an adjustment to these facts and to make it, not as a dole, but as an act of recognition, ar.d as a contribution to economic stability. (Copyright, 1936) Heads Tax Conference. INDIANAPOLIS, October 2 (#)— Oscar Leser of Baltimore, Md., chair- man of the Maryland Tax Commis- sion, was elected president of the National Tax Conference at the an- nual meeting of the organization here | yesterday. We, the People Social Security Reserves to Give Old People a Vested Interest in U. S. Fiscal Policy. BY JAY FRANKLIN. John G. Winant, the former Governor of New Hampshire whom Roosevelt appointed as Republican member of the Social W- ity Board, resigned to campaign against Gov. Landon, 1t focused attention on one of the most dynamic measures of the New Deal. s Nearly everybody regards the present social security act as unsatis- factory—in detall. It is cumbersome, complicated and far from generous in its provision for old-age pensions. Its admitted defects can be cured by amendment, but there is one feature of the law which is its essence and should not be altered or abandoned. ‘This is the provision which requires the old-age reserve fund to be invested in Federal Governmerit obligations. The effect of this proviso is a that the Federal Government will buy back the entire national debt from the institutions — chiefly banks—and individuals now own- ing Federal bonds. It is estimated that the entire public debt will thus be administered by 1960 as & trust fund for the benefit of our old people. “Honor thy father and moth- er” is still practical politics. This means, first of all, that the bankers who are mow so worried about the deficit and Government credit will no longer have a direct stake in that credit. They will be bailed out without loss and left to manage their own businesses. In the meantime, the steady transfer of the national debt into the social security reserve will peg the value of Government securities. Secondly, the poor and the aged, who are now clamouring for impos- sible pension plans, will acquire a direct stake in national solvency and the public credit. Both of these developments would seem to be wholesome, desirable and necessary, if we wish to avoid acute social conflicts in the future. % % ¥ The act goes into operation next year and will be financed by pay Toll taxes on a contributory basis. Its proceeds will be administered for the benefit of pensioners over 65 years old. The figures in the following table show how the reserve should eatch Up with and absorb the present national debt, which now causes such slarm to the conservatives. (Pigures in millions of dollars.) Appropriation Balance Year. for Reserve. Payments. in Reserve. 1937 2 255.5 19 2537 1940 B 662.2 22.0 19736 1950 - 17833 505.5 14,0317 1960 _ e 1939.1 13799 29,5349 1970 - 20948 23035 41,3667 1980 . - 21805 35113 46,942.7 On the assumption that we can find enough statesmanship to keep this country out of & big war for the next 50 years (England avoided one from Waterioo to 1914), this means that such part of our national debt as i not retired according to statutory provisions can be owned by the Gov- ernment, rather than by the bankers, and administered for the benefit Of the aged, before the present generation of New Dealers dies off. It also means that government will be able to build up a cash balance for investment in remunerative Federal enterprises—such as power plants, reclamation projects, housing developments, shipping, etc. It is estimated that this balance should be over $16,000,000 by 1930. * % ¥ % Viewed from both its social and economic angles, this is far and away the most truly conservative measure which the New Deal has yet sponsored. By 1960, it should combine ex- tinction of the national debt with old age pensions for 13,500,000 Americans. By 1980, it should be taking care of nearly 20 million of our old people at the same time that it is giving the Government the financial resources with which to promote the economic development of the ecuntry. This is an angle on social security which ought fo appeal particularly to conservatives. It protects the government credit and ought to set at rest all fears of a bloody social revoluion by piving to the poor and aged a vested interest in the wise manage- ment of the Federal finances. It is to be hoped that Gov. Winant will not confine his stump speeches to belaboring Landon’s reactionary views on this far reaching measure, but will really explain, criticise, defend and popularized the broad national benefits which should flow from the New Deals first clumsy efforts to establish permanent social security by law. (Copyright, 19: a3 h ) THERE ARE 14 MIDDEN OXYDOL PACKASE DESIGNS IN THIS PICTURS e o Foauhmitids e | box-top (or );_ - i p——— e In the pirate picture above are hidden a number of “bull’ OxYDOL, you have a fine cash first prize, or one of 702 other cash prizes! Just do this: (“bnlru) uyfm )nd:n circle a or pencil. (Note pirates are burying, for example.) E&m.m.g"‘“""‘" o hing cbot S2 e one ! you like best and why. 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Women, young and old, as well as children not over 12 years of age, joined the ranks of the de- /4 fenders of the « Madrid govern- ment and vied with each other in cruelty. An eyewitness—inci- dentally a Social- ist —was telling | this writer that he had seen with his own eyes in | Barcelona. priests stretched on their | backs in the hot sun, with their hands | tied to poles, while young girls and |boys with toy saws mutilated their ankles. A group of youngsters around | them were yelling and dancing while | these elderly men were dying under | this horrible torture. | While from the humane point of | view it is just as well that the military | junta will be able to defeat this blood- thirsty mob, the reaction in the inter- national political field will be serious. Gen. Pranco is indebied—up to the hilt—to Mussolini and Hitler, and these gentlemen will see that he pays his indebtedneas in full. The key to the Mediterranean—the Balearic Islands and the two ports in Spanish Morocco, Meilla and Ceuta—henceforth will be at the disposal of the German and Italian fleets as naval bases. * % % x ‘Two new battleships are going to be put on the slips in American Navy yards this Winter. But the Navy Cepartment does not know yet what type of ships are going to be built, whether they will be armed with 14-inch guns, as the new naval agreement provides, or with 16-inch under the old naval agreement, or with 18-inch guns. The whole thing de- pends on what Japan is going to do, and the Japanese do not want to say what their plans are. They keep the armament of their new battleship a | closely-guarded secret. They are grin- ning in the navy department in Tokio and enjoying the perplexity of the American naval department. - % % ‘To offset the unfavorable rumors | being circulated in England about King | Edward, stories are told about his | coolness and lack of fear when in Constantine Brown. 10000” REWARD 9. (i FOLLOW THESE EASY RULES AND MAIL TODAY! CONTEST CLOSES NOVEMBER 16™, 1936 Con- of the Mise Elde M. Rushmore, National ‘entries associates. udges will be final. No . A list of winners will be published in the March 20, 1937 issue of The Saturday Eve- les anly to the United States, and is subject to federal, lations. All en- become Canada and