St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 40

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1933. PAGE 2E A LESSON TO CONGRESS. haste of the closing days of the Legislature, but Tn to the President an administrative be taken up with due consideration before thei function in which it found itself powerless. Congress next legislative session.

Serious attention should be -n rfmfion which the members of that body gen past proposals to reduce the size or tne Doara ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Founded by JOSEPH PULITZER December 12. Publuhed by The Pulitzer Publishing Company Twelfth Boulevard And Oliv Street -a-oii think about. to make it appointive rather than elective, fol- I. Senator Fess nut the matter plainly. -I must WWU1S example oi certain, oiaer ciues.

make the humiliating confession," he said, "that if we depend on the members of this body to make re-1 TWO WEEKS OF "RESIDENT ROOSEVELT. trenchments. we'll have no retrenchments." Senator I President Roosevelt will have been In office two TUB POT-DISFATCH PLATKOK3I Vandenberg wanted to know why. If it could so bind I weeks tomorrow. Yet in that brief time he has heart- itself to the President, Congress could not bind Itself I ened the nation with swift and decisive action.

The to legislative changes. Senator Fess replied that if I whole country has joined in holding up his hands, sister "pini the Michigan Senator thinks Congress can so disci-lone of the most spontaneous demonstrations of pa- pline itself, he has only to try it to be disillusioned. I triotism in the history of the country. This exposes the weakness of all representative I During the campaign his political opponents de- government. It cannot function In the public Inter-1 scribed him as unfitted to administer the affairs of est If those holding office are to be terrorized by local I government.

Others referred to him as a likable interests. In making its 1932 awards for man who could not make up his mind. Indecision kn that mr retlrcacat will akt difference la ita cardinal rrlacialest that It will always fiahi for proa-rea aad refaraa, aever tolerate lajar or eorraptloa, alnnya flajfct deataKOKaea of all parties, ever beioaa: mny party, always appose pritrlleared classes aad pa bile plaaderera. aeter lack ajaipaiar with the poor, always reaaaia devoted to the pablie welfare! aever be satisfied with merely prlntins aewst always he drastically Independents sever be afraid to attack wroBKi whether by predatory pla-iscrsey or predatory poverty. JOSEPH PULITZER.

April 1. 1907. the Nation included in its honor list Lnited States! was supposed to be a characteristic Even his sup-Senator Bennett Clark of Missouri because he had porters admitted that thousands of votes cast for him pledged himself in his campaign never to put the in- were protests against the party which had been in terest of his State above that of the nation. That the I power. In a fortnight, the President has shown him- members of Congress had been doing this was beyond I self a man of few words and vigorous resolution.

caviL It was what made possible the Hawley-Smoot I As we said the day after he was inaugurated, Presi- tariff law. Led by former Senator Grundy, Congress dent Roosevelt took office in one of the darkest hours descended to the moral level of gypsy horse trading, the has known. Added to the great burdens Senator Borah says Congress can make the neces-lof a reduced national Income, increasing nnemploy- sary retrenchments In the public service; but has ment, a mounting Federal deficit and the widespread not Congress failed to do so? Did not Congress load inability of debtors to meet their obligations, was the the nation down with an insuperable burden? The collapse of the nation's banking structure. As he took cost of government in the United States has grown to the oath, the banks in practically all the states were approximately five billion dollars a year. David F.

I closed by order of their Governors. It was national i Houston, former Secretary of the Treasury, said in a I emergency akin only to war. recent statement before a committee of the Senate! President Roosevelt met the banking crisis with that the cost of government in the United States has I speed and forthrightness. What he did the nation well been multiplied more than six times since the be-1 knows. He proclaimed a national banking holiday.

ginning of the World War. I With his advisers and leaders in Congress he devised LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE The name and address of the. author must accompany every contribution, but on request mil not be published. Letters not exceeding 200 words u.iU, receive preference. The Case for Unemployment Unserves.

To the Editor of the Post-lUptch: A BILL to establish a system of unemployment reserves has been introduced in the Missouri Legislature by Senator Michael Kinney of St. Louis. Senator Kinney's bill is based on a belief that just as during good times industry sets aside reserves for payment of dividends in times when they are not earned, so industry in good times should set aside reserves to bear its fair share of the cost of idle labor in bad times. Senator Kin It must be recalled, in fairness to Congress, that legislation to permit the reopening of the banks in the war immensely enriched the United States. The security.

He sent a message to Congress asking for Allied nations spent some six billion dollars over here I the enactment of such legislation, and it was prompt- tor supplies. At the height of the prosperity which re- ly made law. suited from this golden deluge, the income of thel The matter of economy in Federal expenditures American people was approximately S5 billion dollars. I and the legalization of beer were treated in the same No nation had ever enjoyed such an income; It was (manner. The new chief executive knew the inability quite natural that Congress should have greatly In- of Congress to fight off the pension evil.

He asked creased its appropriations. The Government was co-1 for power to perform that basically necessary gov- ney's bill is also In line with the Democratic national platform, which pledges unemployment insurance under state operating with the states In the construction of a I ernmental operation, and it was speedily granted. He highway system. Its services to the people increased I knew the November election sealed the doom of pro- laws." a hundred fold. It subsidized the merchant marine, hibition.

He knew a repeal resolution was before i President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when Hmrroor of New York State, sent Miss aviation, waterways. Its outlay for the army and! the states. Without hesitation, he asked Congress navy grew to approximately three-quarters of a billion I to legalize beer, and thus direct needed revenue into Frances Perkins to Europe to study the abdication of such measures. In her re dollars, the largest outlay of the kind in the world.

I the public treasury. The nation was meanwhile putting over a billion dol-1 How the nation has responded to this program of port, she said: "Unemployment insurance is not a cure lars annually into its national debt, another billion action is well indicated by the editorial comment in into pensions, bonuses and the immense burden as- the Republican press. Among the leading journalistic for unemployment but a technique of extending a well-known principle to offer some protection for the individual against sumed by the nation in the care of those disabled by opponents of Mr. Roosevelt during the campaign were war. But nothing Increased In that halcyon time as the New York Herald Tribune, the Boston Evening the hazard of unemployment, which, as an individual, he can in no way see or prevent.

It will ease the burden of the in did the responsibility of Congress. In 1913 only 8 per Transcript and the Chicago Daily News. Indorsing cent of the national income went for government. By I to the fullest the President's plan to stop the pension 1932 this had been increased to 20 per cent. grab, the Herald Tribune says: "In the dramatic The American Republic has always been an expert- measures of the last few days the administration has ment It was so characterized by Bryce and Huxley, been administering emergency first aid; when it I turns to the Federal deficit It Is at the seat of the George Bernard Shaw insists that we do not yet know what the outcome of the experiment is to be.

The disease." It describes his handlinz of the banking THE ARMY HAS A GENERAL NOW. keystone of the arch is representative government, crisis as adequate and sound and hails his friendly It cannot stand if the representatives of the people treatment of the Washington correspondents. are not to remain sieaarast to tne puDiic interest. The Evening Transcript says: "The people are For Congress to admit Itself unable to discharge an amazed by the swiftness with which the President administrative function is far too serious to pass un- acts." In another place, it declares his- "great begin- noticea. uniy an unaiviaea people can maintain a i ning deserves, as it has won, universal support" The Today and Tomorrow free central government, and only the representa- Daily News considers the beer bill message "a model lives of the people, devoted to the great political prin- for the succinct and comprehensive." Says the Daily Submarginal Farm Lands By Editorial Research Reports.

THE marginal unit in agriculture, industry or commerce is defined as that unit on which the owner or operator merely breaks even. The submarginal unit is that on which an actual loss is suffered. Tlie margin is much more difficult to determine in agriculture than in industry or commerce. In agriculture, indeterminate factors enter, SUCh 2LS the intanp-lhle naticfaotinn rf rtwninir ciple upon which such a government rests, can hold News: "A question that has been among the most By Walter Lippmann the nation together. It was a dissimilarity of inter-1 disputatious in recent American controversy Is thus dividual in the face of the industrial hazard and will immensely relieve the community of the cost of poor relief and charity in periods of unemployment" The cost of unemployment relief, measured in terms of money, will reach 15,000,000 in Missouri this year.

Measured in terms of under-nourishment, pauperization and loss of homes, unemployment is costing the people of Missouri much more. Under Senator Kinney's plan, benefits will be given before the worker loses his savings and his home. They will be given before he loses his working efficiency because of undernourishment. Unlike the charity dole, they will be given in return for past services and so will not pauperize the recipient. While providing a small measure of relief to tide unemployed workers over until industry needs them again, contributions to unemployment reserves will also place an emphasis on the cost of unemployment and will tend toward stabilization of industry.

Henry S. Dennison, president of the Dennison Manufacturing has said of his company's unemployment reserve: Undoubtedly it has afforded welcome relief to individuals and probably has held the purchasing power in our community up somewhat higher than it would otherwise have been. But even more valuable have been its effects in stiffening and refreshing the determination of everyone who is connected with the management by careful planning and all possible foresight, to make payments ests, a division of the national spirit, that resulted In disposed of by a mind knowing when the time for two Roman empires, one with a capital at Rome, the argument has passed and the time for action has other with a capital at Constantinople. come." From every hand comes Draise for his reassur. Hoarding i The members of Congress do not know what they I ing radio address on the banking situation.

ana operating one own land: the assurance, THE spectacular rise In the prices of stocks and bonds is a vote of confidence do. They do not realize their responsibility to the During his first two weeks. President Roosevelt has nation. It would be far better for every Representative addressed himself to the people or their elected Ren- i ana every fcenator to limit himself to a single term, I resentatlves some seven times. His inaugural ad- taken.

It reflecta ronfirInrA that th. tnr- as long as taxes and interest payments are met, of shelter and food; and the unremu-nerated labor of the farmer's family. The margin in agriculture depends probably as much on general economic conditions as on soil fertility and location. Much rich land in mn 1 nr suhimnrHTifll nt IhA thus placing himself in a position to resist every dress required only 18 minutes for delivery. Every minority ciaim upon mm, man tor iongress to sur- other message could be heard or read In less time.

rorizing effect of bank failures has been ended. It reflects confidence that the threat of currency destruction under the impact of an uncontrollable deficit has horn re amount of $1 bills, and an actual decline in the amount of (5 bills. When we come to $10 bills, there is a slight increase of less than 10 per cent But, beginning with the autumn of 1930, there is an increase of $20 bills by nearly 25 per cnt This probably reflects the hoarding of the poor. The increase of $50 bills is nearly 70 per cent But $100 bills increased two and a half times; $500 bills increased nearly three and a half times; $1000 bills nearly three times; $5000 bills about one and one-half times. Here, it seems clear, is an evidence of hoarding by the well-to-do and the rich.

render its freedom to the designing few. We do not Everything he has said could be read in less than an believe there has ever been any Justification for cow- hour. While there are other reasons why his utter- moved. It reflects confidence that the ad ardice in public office. We believe the instances in ances have been widely read, one of them is this high- ministration baa established its leadership sufficiently to proceed promptly with further measures of relief and reconstruction.

wnicn oince nomers nave suuered irom it have been I ly commendable brevity. present level of agricultural prices which was well above the margin before the depression. Similarly, land may be marginal under a certain crop or crops which would be above marginal under another crop or CrOTS. Land mav he marcrinal fn, on exceptions. Senator Norris of Nebraska refused to The American ceonle wanted aptinn nJ To sustain this confidence so that it mav stand by tne sugar beet growers of his State when the eminent needed it President Roosevelt has filled ficient farmer while cimilor lon i nhnv ft tanrt was up, and the people re-elected him by 65,000 that want and that need during his first two weeks translate itself into a revival of trade, a resumption of investment and a recovery of employment is now the order of the day.

For we should be unreasonably ticker-minded if we allowed this most desirable so di votes. Representative Cochran of Missouri persistently Whatever lies ahead, everyone must agree that he I from the fund as little necessary as they stanas Dy tne puhiic interest, as he did when he voted has made an exceptional beginning. ginal for a certain size of farm, while similar land is above marginal for a smaller or larerer sized farm the rase mav he Dif can." last week to stop the pension fraud. He grows every I lative enthusiasm to seduce us once mn It should be noted that, in contrast to day stronger in public esteem. Running at large! GERMANY LOSES EINSTEIN.

ferent standards of living must also be taken the English plan, where unemployment into the complacent notion that an automatic return of prosperity is now with 12 other men in the last Missouri election, his I Once hailed by George Bernard Shaw as "the rreat- into account. Nils A. Olsen. rhief nf the Pur.gn nt Agri funds are pooled for industries. Senator Kinney's bill requires that each em name, like that of Abou Ben Adhem, led all the rest est of our contemporaries a maker of universes," cultural Economic of the Acn-iiiltnre De That mistake has been made at 1onjt ployer's unemployment reserve be kept separate and his financial responsibility suggest io congress mat pun liseir togeiner fror.

Albert Einstein now finds it wiser not tn return three times before during the course of the depression. It was made In the intr and resolve upon that freedom which only courage to that fraction of the universe that has been hi bom I partment estimated in an address before tr Conference on Land Utilization at Chicago in November, 1931, that perhaps 1,000,000 strictly limited by the amount of his un 1931, and again after the Hoover aeserves. nr. Lincoln said the country could not exist He "will not put foot on German soil as lone- mn. employment reserve.

The English plan gives little or no incentive to stabilize. L.lf it -v I I Hum, and again last summer. A snpcuiatflvi. uo.il iree ana nan siave. ana mat, in us preseni-aay i aitions in Germany are as at present" His reason is larmers occupied permanently gubmarjrwM farms covering: 100.000.000 acres, of whiclj rise based on a change in mood is not a solu connotations.

Is just as true now as It was then. the exaggerated nationalism no- rrr0iM TI r- one-third was in harvested crops. This is uvu vlvl I since stable industries pay the same as unstable ones. Under Senator Kinney's bill, each employer is required merely to tion, dui we opportunity to effect a solution. Let us hope that this time we shall many, which would undoubtedly vont itself TUP trunm nninn mnw cnuui.

ouaivu Ani fULlllu. tne scientist for his Pacifism, his seize the opportunity. roughly one in every 10 farmers and one-tenth of the harvested acreage. Those who would lease only marginal and submarginal land out of nrodurtinn noint maintain his reserve at $5 per employe Oi the other hand, an employer who sta Reforms undoubtedly are needed In the manner of and his religion. It Is one of the sad One of the most desirable USPS that fan bilizes his employment will be rewarded selection of Board of Education members, but the bill blind nationalism that it makes a eountrv Thus, the big increases are in the bills of $100 and over, and the sharpest Increase is among the $500 and $1000 bills.

Now what is the practical use of $5Q0 or $1000 bills? They are used as bank reserves and for clearing operations between banks, but among the people at large such huge bills are used chiefly, we may suspect, by bootleggers, by bribers and -by hoarders. It is, I believe, true that European central banks do not issue such large bills, because they encourage hoarding and illicit transactions. These large bills are, from the point of view of the hoarder, not currency, but an Investment which does not bear interest It would seem to follow, that the Government might well consider the advisability of two measures one, the public sale, at a reasonably attractive rate, of ment bonds, into which the hoarders of currency could convert their funds; the other, some device aimed to compel holders of these large bills either to convert them before some date in the future into smaller denominations or to suffer a penalty. The method to be adopted is for those who are expert In these matters to determine. But the objective to be aimed at is clear.

The hoarded currency must be brought back into the financial system in order to provide a basis for a substantial policy of cheap money and liberal credit because if his employes are kept steadily i -w out that it could be thus leased more cheaply, on the whnt, than lnnt Dthra yenuing me igisiaiure io maae me Doara oipar- itabie for the scholar and scientist whose learning is be made of this spirit of confidence is to undo the deflationary effect of hoarding. Until that is done, the banking svstem will would prefer that the more productive land uru uuu-ptrtisan is not. me proper or planetary rather than parochial significance. Men method. nsT dctm nr miti.

cnployed his reserve will remain intact. Aside from relieving taxpayers of the burden of unemployment relief, and aside De withdrawn, on the ground that a greater reduction in crop totals would thereby bs luaiem a political views, uuaiu jucmwu uie tiwseu nuw on a non-parusan yet nis contrihutinna tn i not truly have been reopened. For the banks that are now opened are only partially banks. They are places where deposits can safely be kent. but thpv nr not vt utu.

U1- uni- achieved. Still others areue that it is im njuiticuiuu, ueiiiK uoiumaiea oj pen- verse snouid make any country proud to claim his from giving industry a powerful incentive to stailize, it is believed that unemployment reserves will be a positive bene possible in a short space of time to draw ths line between submarginal, marginal and above-marrinal land inH that the nmner 1 u.uuu9 i resiuence. his seii-imposed exile is a loss to Ger- iUC uui.ru ua3 memoers. iour oi wnom are elected many. To Einstein, it is of cant in fit to the system.

For, as everyone realizes, prosperity is today less banks which actively serve the economic life of the country by the use of credit The hoarding of gold and currency has not only drawn down ncu rKrvsi whirh nra tho procedure is to lease any kind of land hy every two years. Many well-qualified men and worn- believe, for a man of International mind, citizenship a problem o. production than of markets. me gauge or the largest amount of crop affected Hr dnllar e-mann Annthpr And market imply purchasing power. basis of credit but has put the banks into uecausa oi me oi state is not important." he said recently "I believe unpleasantness and difficulty of circulating petitions humanity is more important than citizenship of and the caninaisminsr alone nnlitlcnl linos that and the campaigning along political lines that has I method proposed for determining what land Hence we mus not forget that every time employes lose their jobs that much pur insiein, me uerman outcast remains a is io oe leased is one or co-operation between the Federal Government and the states with becoire the custom.

chasing power is removed from the xoremost citizen of the world. neoi. it is or the lirst importance that this condition should promptly be reversed, and the most effective way to do that is to persuade hoarders to bring in their hoards. Since hoardiner was nrart irprf hv nil uinHa market. If we are to continue choosing the board by election, the number of signatures for a nominating pe a view to leasing the land which the state would in normal conditions sell to the highest bidder because of tax delinquencies.

Opponents of the least nir nrnrram assert Suppose that during the boom years ending in 1929 employers had been in BITING A 10-PENNY NAIL. tition should be reduced to a nominal level say 100 Secretary of the Treasury Woodin was talkinz about to 600. Some continuing civic agency, utterly di- bankers who had betraveri of people, many difficult methods of undoing it will no doubt be necessary. There is the threat contained in the recent rulings against the hoarding of gold. This is a beginning and it has produced some results -A is.

I tvo a that farm prices might not rise to the same degree as farm acreage was reduced, so that the total purchasing nnvrr of all farmers yuuuts, tuuuia oe esiaoiisnea to bring quence many people had lost their money He said- out aoie canaiaates ana campaign for them. Such an "We must brine them to i a would not be increased; that tenant farmers aeencv mleht. if rtesfraMa i that Vi I a. xu-penny nau, tninking of the persons who put But it is not bringing in all the gold, and moreover, it is not less necessary to bring in the hoarded currency. As a.

central nHn- migni De rendered homeless if land were leased from under them, or would cultivate land now lyinsr idle: and that withdrawal of IIZZ. 1" DClween aa- ineir savings, maybe $S00 or ,1000, In Institutions iuojur paruea. mere once was a that were not nrnneriv rn ciple, the authorities ouffht to trv to end nE" IS lon rd speech like this hoarding by an appeal to confidence and self-interest, though this appeal should be acreage might be counter-balanced by more intensive utilization of the acreage left under cultivation, or bv ereater nroduction A very easy money policy, especially now that the Government has its own deficit under control, is clearly an essential condition of revival. The reduction of hoarding is a necessary part of that policy, thoiigh, of course, not the whole of it The central bankers and the commercial bankers will need to fortify the policy by keeping credit cheap and liberally available, and by setting themselves this time to do what for fairly good reasons, they did not do In last summer's upturn, to bend every effort to resume investment But If, with the budget under control and with credit abundant the spirit of private enterprise is still found to be lacking, then a program of public spending on a scale much greater than that now contemplated will be necessary. (Copyrlftit.

1933.) oB was aept in- irom the office of the Treasury, or, indeed, from on a bipartisan basis, when nominations ministrative Washln remiorcea Dy noiding punitive measures in stimulated In other countries. reserve. were made bv nartv mnnntinn nh h. i. duced to set up reserves.

It has been estimated that if employers of New York State had set aside 2 per cent of payroll in the normal year 1926, there would have been provided an unemployment reserve.cf at least An official Ohio commission estimated that had a plan of this type been put into effect in Ohio after the last major depression, after paying benefits for all unemployment occurring, the re-8-rve fund would have finished the year 1929 with an accumulated reserve of 4104,000,000, and that during the first two years of the depressic they could have paid out $180,000,000 in benefit. What would such a sum mean, not only to the unemployed, but also in terms of purchasing power to the tradesmen, merchants and manufacturers of the State? Would not release of such purchasing power have helped to cushion the market during the depression? WOMKN IN INDUSTRY COMMITTEE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS. The figures on the currenev rIr-iiiatinn MILITARY PORK. nn it I IT I 1 lU5irioas Predecessors, Mr. Mellon, for example, never iion.

ii ougnt to oe possible to develop a civic-social spoke like that and neVe th nil rY KVa pta rrkT. From tha New York Time. throw some light on the problem. These figures apply only up to Jan. 31, and do not therefore, tell the whole atnrv nt th lam 'CUi'7vl" fiacB iaa 1Joara or Mc8Ho to not to imply that Mr.

Mellon would condone the IN the War and Navy departments are two notorious instances of noiltlcal ex uiKuiy Deneiiciai results lor the mismanagement of hnv month of re all hysterical hoard in rhnnt I "vkuluS wrtii scnoois. I -v. travagance. These are the so-called politi cal naW Yards and armv noeta maintained In the meantime, the bill of Representative McMil- off a 10-nennv nail and Ath they tell an interesting story. The hoarding movement began in the autumn of 1930 and became acute after the failure rf th n.ir lan T.Ava tn Tn ir th I tin uiv vr UlU, in the various out-of-the-way corners of the United States In deference tn the ct of United States.

How do we know that uuaru uipBru5an, wnica wa3 otficially. Indicated any great solicitude for the small passed unanimously by the House and has reached depositors whose savings in so many Instances have Congressmen. A respectable saving might We can see the hoardine movement in operation bv watching th ouvum oa uroppea. ine i'udhc School Fa-1 vanished. a a lit 1 D9 acmeved irom this source without impairing the efficiency of the Government a whit The Congressmen concerned, hm-rever.

ous denominations of the currency. it n-h SrUP8 haT protested Mr- woln seemingly speaks the language of the FARM MOVEMENT. from th Kouokt (Va.) Times. Among the farmers who need relief the most are those who made the mistake a few years ago of moving to town. -o Muwiiuo Mwm noi D9 eetuea in tne New Deal, and the country rejoices.

Anus, curing the whole depression there has been no substantial increase in have never yet been able to see It that way, and are unlikely to do so now..