xt7wwp9t2q46_50 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 53 "Which Road To Take?" Speech of J. Howard Pew, President of the Sun Oil Company, July 12, 1935 text No. 53 "Which Road To Take?" Speech of J. Howard Pew, President of the Sun Oil Company, July 12, 1935 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_53/Am_Lib_Leag_53_001/Am_Lib_Leag_53_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_50 xt7wwp9t2q46 P m hlets Available A »
“ P r * *
  >
Copies of the following pamphlets and ·
other League literature may be obtained     a
upon application to the League’s national
l163dql181`IC1`S I 9
Statement of Principles and Purposes _ I 0 I   ·
American Liberty League-Its Platform
An Analysis of the President’s Budget Message
Analysis of the $&880,000,000 Emergency Relief
Appropriation ct
Economic Security * * *
The Bonus s
Inflation 1
The Thirty Hour Week S h f
The Penging (Banking liglh pccc °
Th Hol ing ompany i
Wliaere Are We Going?-——Speech by James W. J- HOWARD PEW
Wadsworth , ,
price Comm] y President of the Sun O1l Conipany,
Y t rd y, Today and Tomorrow _ ‘ h' ’ g
TE; Bhgor Relations Bm Philadelp ia, Pennsylvania, and .
How Inflztion Affecg th•=iV Avergaéel Family- Member of the Executive C0m'
S ch y Dr. Ray ert ester e °t f th '
» Poliltligal Banking——Speech by Dr. Waiter E. ml tc? ° ° Amcmcan
Spahr Liberty League
The Bituminous Coal Bill .
Regimenting the Farmers—Speech by Dr. G. W. ln
Exlggséonkog the N{{1A h C "_S h Round Table Discussion of
H . ° h ’ ' , ,
  E_l%;:,,,;;i,,et C Onsmuuon pew "The Constitution and the NewDeal"
Th F ’ H B’ll , , ,
E.; ·I§lX1i§‘):nc?3;I:gn{§l d T d Institute of Public Affairs
e ew ea , ts nsoun heories an Ir- ‘ 't fV‘ ’ ‘
gelconcilable Policies——Speech by Ralph M. j Unlvcrsl y 0 uguua
aw » 1‘ 12 1935
Is the Constitution for Sale?—Speech by Capt. L_ Ju y S
William H. Stayton
How to Meet the Issue—Speech by William E.
Borah
The Supreme Court and the New Deal
The Duty of the Church to the Social Order--
Speech by S. Wells Utley Egyc.
An Open Letter to the President——By Dr. Neil vg   44,
Carothers  
The Revised AAA Amendments r- [E  M
The Return to Dem0cracy—Speech by Jouett  
Shouse C? V9
The President°s Tax Program 7. Y ba
The American Bar-The Trustee of American
Institutions—Speech by Albert C. Ritchie
Fabian Socialism In the New Deal—Speech by
Demarest Lloyd
The People’s Money—Speech by Dr. Walter E.
1 Spahr 1 f
The Princip es o Constitutional Dem d
the New Deal———Speech by R. E. Defbbtegigtlinadl AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
a wna ea quarters
* NATIONAL   BUILDING
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE 1 WASHINGTON, D. C.
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D. C. *
 
4 Document N0. 53

 Which Road To Take?
*k
OUR country plainly faces a decision whether
it will adopt a Planned Economy or will con-
tinue on the course of individualism, equal
I opportunity, liberty of initiative, and constitu-
_ tional democracy. It is amazing that such an
issue should be pressed upon a people who have
so prospered under economic freedom and con-
stitutional institutions; but it is no more star-
tling than to find that Planned Economy is
presented to us as if it were something new,
inspired, annointed and certain to open our way
to Utopia.
In recent time the “economic interpretation
_ of history" has been something of a fad. Many
writers have strained to make their points, and
as I have read them I have felt that a more
. satisfactory formula would he "the historical
interpretation of economics.” I hope my re-
marks will somewhat clarify the distinction.
Three thousand years of human records have
given us largely the history of unsuccessful at-
tempts to make planned economies work. Most
of· the race’s progress in material betterment, in
democratization of opportunity and in the dis-
semination of educational and spiritual benefits,
. has been made in the few brief generations since
men learned what freedom meant, how it might
be attained, and how jealously it must be
guarded. - The masses of men made less progress
in the first 4,000 years of recorded history to-
ward realizing the highest human aspirations,
than in the last century and a half under the
regime of economic freedom.
PLANNED economy is necessarily dictated
economy. That has always been true, whether
the dictator was an oriental despot of three
thousand years ago, a Roman emperor of 1,500
years ago, a Tudor king of four centuries ago,
· or a Mussolini, a Stalin or a Hitler of today.
` And wherever you find it, under whatever name
——fascism, nazism, communism or socialism—
3

 . . . . . Th t ' ‘
It 1S essentially the same thing. There 1S no C S my of Planned Ccoimmy, m ,th€ Chma
. . . . . of Confucius 1S equally 1llum1nat1ng. The
room 1n lt for the mere 1nd1v1dual——for personal Ch, d, t t t f , H ,
  . .. . . 1nese1ca sw 1-
eifort, 1n1t1at1ve, enterprise, or1g1nal1ty, mven- A Seckin to migltaijrii1sI;1§m;ri§ra;Vc§1n§E
tion, progress. Whatever of these elements . g . g g
enters imo it must come from the t0p__fI_0m the prices fair to both producer and consumer. One
dictator; and he will be too busy to bother about 3;]:21;;; gglziciaggs fist; Slzolgrhiivcztsugizlng
such things; too well entrenched in power and the 6 was 8 tC’ Er tvt Y H   tit
. . . : r m r me n r1 es.
plenty to think them worth-while. Beneath him as rc a ’ 0   P
will be just a deadly universality of dull and · was decreed that even when crop failure caused
mgimemed drudgcry All the roads imc dic- famine, corn prices must not rise; and during
mtcd cconom comé out at the Same lacy the epidemic which followed, coffins must sell
Some ma a year a bit smoother than Ethcrg at their regular prices! An army of bureaucrats
Y Pp . . enforced all these decrees, and a Government
but they are all down-hill roads, and they bring bank was Set u to bu and hold the Sur luscs
up at lower living standards, national decay and h n Such GX}; d Y ch a Ccrtainpii °
. . . 1 r a -
the sacrifice of liberty. That 1S equally true Xia; a euci S il ;_V§gAml;lavB ; grated $1,};
. . . es un e .
whether the dictator IS a usurper by force or IS Oliccg uardcd the ams t mark; laces and
elected under the forms of popular government. P g g 0 P ’
If our economic launers had mad their watched over the shops; and then there was so
Bibles more camfuup the mi ht have taken much corruption that a detective was assigned
t Warnin from the stoics 05;, E g t in the timc for every five shops, to see that the police and
of Joséih AS Prime ministcrgilg took control the various functionaires were kept as honest
. . bl .
of gram and cattle just as our A.A.A. has done; as POSSI C
then he gathered all the money in the land
“and brought the mohoy into Pharaoh°s house” THE Scheme was Supposed to protect the
Fjuet as our eeoriomie planners gathered the people against extortion, but the rich always got
gold into the Treasury; and when the people the better ot 1t· TheY bought uP the gram
complained that they had nothing left “but our 1mmed1etelY after harvest at tow Prteees and
bodies and our land," Pharaoh [ook their land » later distributed It at h1gh prices. The Govern-
in exchange for food. A little later I will show ment Werehoueee took th the eurP1ue after the
you how far our economic planners have gone merohohte had bought ehough to eohtrot the
toward taking over the ]arid_ market; the Government always paying h1gh
prices, and always losing money on the opera-
tion. In the end the plan failed either to keep
h I d Ph h d f . . . .
H?gtlfGbta§Cn; ctlim ’ {Hao Jim iihme a prices reasonable or to insure against famine; ‘
SCC IS H u mn 0 C PBOP €’ an Sen em and the s stem com letel colla sed
back to cultivate that same land. He exacted Dmppiz down 5 thmiand ylilears nearer to
one-fifth of all their produce; in which regard .g 1 .d .  
Pharaoh was rather easier than our economic our Own umm ct us 001181 cr Cconomlc mtatm`-
_ shi under the Roman Em ire. Man historians
overlords, for they are making Government cost   . , . P Y .
th_ d f th t_ 1 _ F H believe the Empire s ruin was due to the persist-
us °‘¥"' “ ° 8, Ita 1°"_“ ‘“°°m°‘ ma Y’ a out efforts to enforce o planned economy. Cer-
public works administration was set up, under . . . h h . . H 1 b
r mal a starvin oo le mma tho monumental “‘"‘ 1* ls t at t °”° IS ’°‘ Suggcsuvc Pm C “'
w_ g P P _ tween the futile efforts of the Roman rulers to
piles that have been the wonder of the world 1 h . . bl. h d h
_ The tombs Of the Pharaohs became contro t e1r economic esta 1S ment, an t e
Zlicrbsutc? 1 f E t_ _ _1_ t_ _ _ economic dictatorships which various occidental
e ur1a ace o 1an C1V1 IZ3 1on—a C1V1· .
lization th; was a itgifcct type of a Planned countries have lately attempted—among them
our own country under the New Deal.
Economy. 5
  Y

 The Roman Emperors commanded the armies
and controlled the state’s revenues; the Senate their hand- Untortunototy tor Rom°* only ono
gradually surrendered its authority, though not vf tho grout Emporors soorns to novo thought ot
so rapidly as our Congress has done_ Thus this. He was Augustus; and I cannot break
everything was increasingly centralized in the uWuY frvm Romo withvut tt word about htm-
Emperor. The Provinces became more and Augustus didn’t believe in economic planning.
more dependent on Rome, just 35 our States He didn°t wish to encourage that spirit of in-
llave increasingly leaned on Washington The _ tense nationalism that always develops under
Emperors unwisely intruded into Provincial ooouohno dtotdtorsntlh and Povos tho WuY to
aliairs, and the states’ rights issue got to be a W¤1‘S· Ho thought tho omPtro was PtontY tug
very live one in Rome; but unfortunately for ¢¤¤¤sh» and Wdntod no oon‘luosts· Ho was tt
the Empire, it didn’t have a Supreme Court to domooratto ornPoror·» it You can got tho tdotr
call a halt. He believed natural forces, encouraging com-
, petition and enterprise, would get the best re-
I HAVE lately Pawcd Over rather more of sults. He stuck to these simple ideas, and under
ancient and medieval histor th . h h1m Rome dug out from the ruins that the c1v1l
. . Y an IS per aps h d wrou ht into a ros erit that has
good for a pla1n business man. l find that during wars a. g °   P Y .
the 6 fR m s d d . d d ,- made hIS name a connotat1on of the highest
y arso o es eca ence 1n ustry an agri . f .
culture were organized under administrations human Sans acuonl
quite like our·NRA codes; that the central Gov- I
smmsm distributed relief ts the needy rm. ANOTHER h¤¤<¤·¤b1<= ·==<¢¢r*i¤¤ t¤ the mls 0*
inces, just as Washington does today; that tlie economic despotism and social decline in the
Emperor Domitian ordered half the Vineyards ancient world, was Pericles of Athens. Histo-
destroyed, just 35 we saw our ootton plowed rians have lauded the Age of Pericles chiefly for
under; that this caused a shortage of Wine, just its intellectual, artistic and literary achieve-
as our birth-control for the pigs made pork a » mohtsi but tt rnodorn nustnoss man rnuY be
luxury, These measures brought the smell n pardoned for noting that in fact the Athens of
farmers of Rome to ruin under their burden of Portotos was tt ShtPPtng¤ trading and tndustrtut
mortgages, and the lands fell into the hands of motroPous$ tt oonnnunttY ot rnorononts and
capitalists who farmed [hem on the tenant enterprisers, whose commerce reached about all
s system-all exaetly paralleled in our own reeent of the then known world. The Periclean Greeks
experience, I read gf how the Emperor Ncrva developed manufacture as never before, even
sst up s Federal rms Loan systsm to prsass _ swing well beyond the b<=si¤¤i¤s¤ ¤f mss Pw-
cheap money fgy the farmers But the money V duction. They skillfully adapted their products
had to come through taxes on the rest of the to the needs and tastes of their customers. Their
people.-they didn’t oall them prooessing taxes, e merchant marine and traders won for Greece
though they doubtless wguld have dong so had a place in the ancient world similar to that of
they been 35 oleyer ag our Brain Trustcrstand Britain in the nineteenth century: they made it
it got so burdensome that agriculture only went genera] noudduortors ot industry und oommorod
from had to mueh worse_ Under Pericles the glory that was Greece
It would bg possible to go on indefinitely, ` n flowered from institutions of political and eco-
developing a business man’s crude interpreta- ‘ ¤¤mi¢ troodonr
tion of Roman history; but time doesn’t permit. n Butv I roPodt» Portotos and Augustus word ox'
What the Empire needed was to give natural t ceptions among ancient potentates. Most rulers
economic law a chance to allow competition, mado tho rdundor of Setting tnomsotvos uP us
uncontrolled price, and {ree initiative to _ try economic as well as political authorities. Neither
6 peoples nor rulers had any real conception of
7

 democracy. The little group in control of a monopolies, some of them giving to certain
state had things all its own way; and the eco- towns exclusive rights to manufacture or deal in
nomic despotism they imposed not only failed particular articles. There was great British
but finally pulled down the state with it. Much trade into Barbary but so many ships entered
* more certainly, then, would economic dictator- the traiiic that Queen Elizabeth required all to
ship fail under a democracy where all interests take out licenses; then, by refusing licenses to
insist on a hearing, where debate is perpetual, _ any except a favored few, she established a fine
and laws and policies are the results of com-   monopoly. I recently hunted out this decree
promise. Economic dictatorship and political il and found it so similar to the licensing provi-
democracy cannot live side by side. Once set N sion of NIRA that I couldn’t help suspecting
afoot, economic dictatorship must reach to every '~ that Queen Bess had been the real inspiration
detail of human activity. It is bound to destroy of some important parts in our New Deal.
democracy; and after that, all experience proves Another striking parallel between Tudor
that it is bound to be itself overwhelmed in the mercantilism and our New Deal was the decree
ruins of the structures it has attempted to rear. of Henry the Eighth devaluing the British coin-
age. It set forth that the French and Dutch
_ monies had been so reduced in value that Eng-
LEAVING Roms and eommg dawn another lish traders were at a great disadvantage; there-
thousand Yeere nearer to our own time° We one fore he ordered the gold and silver content of
further illustration of our thesis in the mercan- English coins reduced, and that English money
tilist economy of the later middle ages. The Should be kept just as cheap as any money of
mercantilists assumed that each state ought to competing C0uuu,iCS_ If you will look up that
be as nearly self-sufficient as possible. The rulers _ Old decree and compare it with the provision of
wanted the largest possible amount of precious law under which the New Deal loppcd OH 40
metals; some of them believing that these were pm, Cem Of the gold Content of Om, coinage, you
the only worthwhile forms of wealth The will see that the two measures, and the argu-
merchants wanted to expand their foreign trade ments in Support of them, are as much alike as
but wanted to do it without surrendering to for- two peas in the Same p0d_
eigners any correspondent share in their do- ‘ This debascmcm of the English coinage r€_
mestic market. So Governments granted all Sulmd, as always, in thc better money being
manner of Special PriVi1egee° monoPoliee° rights driven out by the poorer; there was competition
and 6X€1]1Pti0IIS,·t0II1HIVidualSq groupss corpora- bgtwegn countries in cheapening their monicsa
Fione and mumeloaflelee Laws were Paeeeo fix` ,-iv just as in recent years; and presently the Eng-
mg wegee¤ Prohlbltmg luXurY’ Standardlzmg   lish discovered that their gold and silver were
Prieee Ons Tudor king eneeteo that no P_ro' going abroad. So Henry’s successor, Edward the
Prim Should have Om 2»°°° Sh·=··=P» Semis X siiiiii, iiii.-iaai ii iiisiiiiis pioiiiiiiiiig export
forth that Some had as many aa aaeaaaj HIS of British coins; his measure being precisely
decree declared that the great increase in the Parallel to the New Deal Act prohibiting gold
number of ahaap had maaa tha pmaa af mattan exports! Talk about a New Deal! I have dili-
go up’ rataaa than dawn; baaauaa tha buamaaa gently sought for some phase of it that was less
had fallen 1nto a very few hands, and those who
_ _ — than 300 years old. I have found fragments of
controlled It axactcd monopoly Puma' it scattered all down the corridors of time from
three thousand years ago to three hundred years
MONOPOLY, in some form or other, has ago; I have found in every case that these
always been the foundation of planned eco- ancient measures all failed in their time, and
nomies. Henry the Eighth granted endless caused suffering and disaster. But I have found
8 9

 . o in the Constitution a provision that it should
nothing new, or even modern, 1n the so-called place no restriction on trade or navigation ex-
New Deal. cept by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Con-
gress. Supportin this view Geor e
  these l)ll1nd€1‘S   8I1ClBI1t 3IId medieval P€¤¤SY1V&¤ia» deilared that “lll1Cg    
dictators were not exclusively the doings of commercial interests, of necessity, creates (liiii-
wieked or misguided rulers. They were partly Cultics which ought 110t to be increased by un- n
the result of ignorance, and probably in greater A necessary restrictions? The other side would
degree the result of S€ll`lSl'1IlBSS OH thi? Part of have given the F€d€1`a1 GOVBFHHIGHT complete
men °°who had a pull” and expected to profit. authority OVBY COII1II161`Ce——intr&state, interstate
The man who nowadays Wants his prices fixed, Ty; and foreign- In thi? end a Compromise was
and iixed high enough to insure him a profit reached, which has proved one of the most
whether he deserves it or not, wants it for heneneent provisions of the great document.
exactly the Same 1‘C&SOI1 that HIC p1`l.CC fiX€I'B of But Even thus, SONIC delegates felt that the °‘Q€H.
ancient China, or ancient Egypt, or Imperial @81 G0V€1`Hm6I1t” had been given tee much
Rome or medieval England Wiilltiid lZh€iI` prices Power Over c0mm€YC€e and Elbridge Gerry of
fixed; they were leeking for the best of it. The M3S$a¢h11S€ttS, in refusing to sign the Constitu-
man whe today wants a license for his business tion, states as one of his reasons °°that under the
but wants   COn1p€tit01` denied 3 HCBHBC, is POWBY Over c0mm€Y€€, HIOHOPOHCS may be estab-
actuated by exactly the same motives as were lished.”
Elizabeth’s traders into Barbary. The man who
n wada h l s a franchis to rend r some
pilblic s’eSrvic(iz,dwants it excltiisive, exactlly as he · ‘QtE_;];1;\l€Fl;(;;i;l?;;h;;;t;k€2 gm Viiw of thc
did three hundred or three thousand years ago. authority Over commerce an ei ts °d_g€ all
He wants a mono ol · bi er r {its for less 66 and lndustry m the
_ P Y’ gg P ° General Government? That has been 1 ‘ ]
S€rV1CC' the real objective of New D l l ` l " P am yi
Economic planners have never understood it succeeded it would ha Ca cgls at1°n° Had
that Government and business can°t be mixed economic dictatorshi u gc Schull; ;°°mP1€t€
without harming both. The line between them Government could hiv H cr W lc (E ° Federal ·
ought to be sharply drawn, and each ought to Whole Series of blunder ctlgcfpetmtc anéw the
stay on its side. When business crowds over the ancient and medi: la Wag cgmmlued m
onto the Government side it does so because it I the Supreme Court ha Va wir _ ‘ H °;t“nf°‘tB1Y¤
wants some special privileges that it ought not this- I am convinced Sting) zum Y '?1`b1dd€“
to have. When Government crowds over to the ` the debates in the C £;_tW_ Ocvigr W111 SuldY
business side it interferes with natural processes will agree that the S ;nSl;tuu3na_ _C°nV€m1‘m
that Government doesn’t understand and is not Salvation of (mc f ihcc Gr ?°1S1°n was the
equipped to deal with. The two will not mix, " HCCBSSM _ _ 0 f almost linpfmtant and
any more than you can mix pure water with B dy Iimvlsions (T _t 6 C°nSutuu°n·
Contaminated Water and get anything but com ut ·esp1te th1s decision, the New Dealers still
Laminated Water. persist 1n their program of complete Federaliza-
gon, andhof establishing authority for economic
ictators i . ·
DURUYG ·‘=h¤_ C¤¤¤ti·>¤ti<>¤¤1 C¤¤V¢¤ti<>¤ gf am; otheig Ssiiemxaysiid    
G iiiitiii .`§‘$S$tLY.'§iZi.§;`$.;c`;Z3i;,;i§VS€Z$E;`d? “°{‘ *"“‘ "°““· S:*‘°"‘$‘ *h€>’ Sucéscd We mum
One element would have sharply limited the on ll; expect a commuaucm Of projects aiming at
“G€n€m1 Govcrnmentw, authority Over com- suc a complete Government control over busi-
_ ness, industry and enterpr1se as they have in
merce; and made a strenuous {ight to mclude H
10 ·

 Italy; and contemplating an ultimate socializa- tives etc at IOW interest and for long terms
. . . . ¤ ·¤ ·
u°I:1°f “?a;;th’ F)uSm°SS’ lndustry °n the Pmcmus Little of this will ever be paid oil'; the farmer’s
mi eth0 1 Tsslgan °°m;numSm° h h d interest becomes practically rent. Yet this is
n B as me Or mu. Years We ave mr mild com ared to the Bankhead bill wh'ch
mud} P‘f°P}3°°Y thlilt 1316 caPitali;ti°fr??i1;° is creates th;) Farmers Home Corporatiori to aell
illjafmg us ° °S°’ E at cmictlilcy das _ md': fam] bonds and buy land for tenant farmers. Start-
a S°m° new °rm’ W C cr Bmw mm ing with a billion dollar issue the measure
Italia ma G·=rm¤¤>*» or RuSSia’ or based on Marx' "° obviously contemplates more loans, more pur-
I? S°§‘a]1$m¤§“Y Just ljmund *hi1¤§**;1€*·d_M¤¤t chases in the future; straightaway nationaliza-
°_ us Cm H; Iimncgv age regal; 6 tdls gain? ! tion! This bill has passed the Senate and is
sion as aca em1c. e ave o serve w a 1S ;. · ·
bein ressed 1n the House.
happening in Europe with a certain mild won- a P
derment, not suspecting that such things could A
happen here. I have talked with people who _ MENDMENTS to the A·A·A· are urged. gu"
had studied the corporative and totalitarian mg the S°°mt°u`Y_ Of Agriculture SWBCPHIS
states in Europe, without at all realizing how p°W°1:S °V°r marlfctmg farm Products? POWBY to
closely they resembled the organization which f{X_PH°°S¤ dctcrmmc to whom and m what quam
thc New Deal has Sought to imP0Sc_ t1t1es sales should be made, etc. This measure
has passed the House.
IN MY _ t t S c_ l_ t_ _ W Again, the Government is rapidly becoming
VICW s a e o 13 1Z8 1on 18 even no .
d°V"1°Pi“g °“a a Scala S° gmat and at a t"’mP° irasaialialaia I·Iaoia;:a(a}wa·I1;(;raa1Eaoaagagiaggfasionllmalda
, c
S0 mpli ZS ta walggglt gra`; ;;?ic(i3n'thT?CI§0V` over 840,000 loans, aggregating $2,539,000,000.
ernmen as 1nva coun e e s a o a . . .
few Years ago “'°"° cnumly With°“t its Sphcaa  laisaarlagaaaiiaraa ia1atae;1tai;d1Ii:a:?1a:1(a;>a1raiia;1ll1zi;a lantaariaclil
Privfm b“Si“‘°{SS gnu “;t°‘g"`iS‘;< am a‘°‘Pi‘?YGb°' enormous sums to these and other linancial in-
commg ttaimaomzc V? t B dum i¤S;¢1¤A¤ thma stitutions, and has in short become the greatest
Bmmen a °°mP" 1 ’°” an °°“ "°· S BSB makin owsrmuisiana Be ond allth's th
fears move to increased caution, initiative be- Admin£E_ati0n,S banking billyplans colfllglcti
coicsfparalyzaé enterprise atagnataa aéld tha control over all banking credit, whereby to fix
tis E1 ‘°’°;l’“°m‘° rcstgfatgn IS momt an It"}°"" the economic dictator’s grip on national business.
s ou ere over on e overnmen . 1S a . . .
Alon w1th all th1s the New Deal has invad I
load that Government cannot carry and should the puglic utility 661 d The Tennessee Valli;
not attempt unless it is proposed completely to -»< Authority expended Ilcarly $35 000 000 in a
recast our social forms and go in for a socialistic year and has $29 000 000 mogc 20 Spend
yam' ghpfapaaa nm? to guggaaflaasni O; ahativil _ Boulder Canyon hasacosi over $42,000,000 and
dana? a Wa ara a aaa Y wa S ar a m a at has about $23,000,000 yet to be spent. Nearly
HEC'; mn' b _ _th H t_ th $400,000,000 is outstanding in loans to railroads;
N a Dm? agush W; aama Ta; ag laiaahaaab a while subsistence homesteads, emergency hous-
ew ea an e armer. e ng 1S or . . . _
Party is demanding nationalization of England’s jgigkzaaigzamfggt aiaiagaiiiistagtaialalagzag da;
I 1aaa’ which auaaaa Amaaaaaaaaa aaaaa tha laat mandeil othea uncoamted millions. The A.A.A.
word 1n rad1cal1sm; yet we 1n America have has been authorized to S cud more than a
gone a long way toward that end. For the Fed- , , lf b ,d. , P h h f
eral land banks and other agencies have loaned balhaa aaa a ha aa al lama t a W aaa aamaaa°
. 1 ' tt d k°ll° ifth ' -— d
roundly $3,000,000,000 on farm mortgages or IU ;i;?:;i;;c;;:?1;;;ng1 mg a a Plga aa
t '1t`1 d°tbk - .  . . .
aavaaaaa a aaaaaa aaa aaa 1 aa a’ aaapaaa The electrical and 1rr1gat1on projects 1n the
l2
13

 Upper Missouri and Columbia Valleys will pro- WHOSE }{uSm€SS’ them WIH °°m° next? I
dum power nobody can use and put Water On warn my fr1ends of the lumber, the steel, the
land nobody wants to farm. Three billions have cement and th? mxflle mdu?tHFS’ te beware; the
been squandered on merchant marine; and our cya of economic dlctatorshlp I? en them' And
economic planners, oblivious of the ancient after tlmy have b€€n_ gathered inte the f°}d» thc
fable or King Canute, am about to regiment the rest will be progressively eas1er. The railroads
Passamaquoddy tides in order to get more power A r are already WGH ee the Way inte the COVER?
that nobody Wants. 1 ment bag, and so are the banks. Uncle Sam
‘ h has become the world’s greatest landlord outside
3 of Russia; the A.A.A. has racticall taken over
FlUT‘;oo muclg detail willhonlgf hide thgvfipresl   direction of farming and lfarm maifketing; the
o in a too ooso growt o troos· et T.V.A. and like ro`ects are dri in '
would emphasize is that with all these activities emcrpyjsc cut of FhgJg1€(;t1•icg1 figlil; ingrgzgl
the eeet of geverninent ie now absorbing about ernment funds are being urged upon municipal-
0¤€·thi1`d of the netienel i¤00m€§ and thoso are r ities to provide public utilities in competition
activities which Government is not competent to with these already in existence.
carry on efficiently, and for which there is no In a word, WB have alreadv traveled a long
need- They ere niereiyihe beginning ei e giend Seam- of the road toward socialization. We
Program fer eeniering all aurhoritY» credit. stand today at a critical junction. To the left,
financial resources and economic direction in marked with gaudy and alluring guideposts, lies
the Gevernineni et Washington- the road of adventure into socialization and
And the end is not in sight. The Administra- communism. Straight ahead lies the read hy
tien demands rho Gofroy Coal eenirel bil], to which we have come thus far. Its signboards
I13tIOI'13IlZ€ this CSSGIIIQIEXI II1dl1St1‘y; to €1'13lZ)I€ Ol1I` arg wgathgr.bgatgn and hgmgly, but their djygg.
economic planners to decree where and how tions are dictated by reason, Wisdom and
much coal shall be mined, where and at what experience'
prices it shall be sold. It is the baldest project i Which read to take?
of its sort yet brought forward; but it is only a _ ‘
forerunner to the Thomas bill, for dictatorship
over the oil industry. Here, I may say with
- some assurance, is the most efficiently organized,
the most competitive, the best able to take care
of itself, of all our great industries. With $12,- A
000,000,000 capital, it is second only to agricul-  
ture. For years it has supplied a persistently  
increasing demand for its products, at constantly  y
decreasing prices. Through gasoline and other  
taxes it has been the greatest contributor to `
public revenues. It cannot be accused of extort- r
ing high prices, for its price index figure is at
the bottom of the list; nor of earning excessive
returns, for over I2 years average return on
capital was only 1.66 per cent per annum. It
has not asked for and doesn°t want Government
control. The only reason for proposing such a
thing is that it strikes our economic planners ·
as an inviting field for experimentation. 15
. 14