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Show Is U.S. Going Socialist? It's World-Vide Argument i By BAUKHAGE : News Analyst and Commentator. WASHINGTON As congress shai pens its teeth for the i "True-Deal" program (The "true" being for Truman), some of the ' pentlemen who have watched things going on behind the scenes in Washington for a long time (maybe too long) have a habit of blinking and saying in hushed voice: "Say, is America going socialist without knowing it?" Long before the November election a number of European statesmen, editors, professional politicians and others who are backing the various socialist and socialist-inclined governments, including Britain's, were getting really worried lest a probable Republican victory should make , an emphatically capitalistic America less sympathetic toward left-of- j center regimes. j The Truman upset caused them to whoop with joy. After they read the President's state of mysterious remarks, it might indicate in-dicate that there is or was an element in the Soviet leadership 1 which felt it was better to try to i get along with us. The explanation of the controversy contro-versy among Russian economists is this: Soviet foreign policy, specifically maintenance of the cold war, is supposed to be based j on a belief that the United States is i headed directly toward another de- I nreRsinn. This "host." will so Ran the union message on January 5, and after his appointment appoint-ment of Dean Acheson Ach-eson as secretary of state, they pulled out a chair on the left side of the international inter-national table, expecting ex-pecting him to sit right down and join them. What was probably prob-ably as much wishful wish-ful thinking as anv- our strength that all the Soviets will have to do is to take us over with little or no real military struggle. (The revolt of the proletariat) We'll be too down and out to help anti-Communist anti-Communist Europe. The anti-communist countries will fall easily into Communist control. Then we can be beaten largely by infiltration, fifth column "action committees" and other methods because there will be general unemployment, discontent and general chaos. This belief is based on the teachings of Marx and Lenin that capitalism is bound to destroy de-stroy itself because it produces "boom and bust" cycles which grow increasingly worse, and therefore, it is impossible for a capitalist country to try to do anything permanent for the masses to increase their standard stand-ard of living. Now, however, along comes Var-ga, Var-ga, introducing a new argument. He argues that by adopting measures which he describes as "state socialism" so-cialism" any major depression in the United States can be prevented or at least postponed for 10 or 20 years. If this thesis were accepted by the Soviets it would be wiser to cooperate with the United States and other non-Communist countries, coun-tries, rather than to take for granted that our economic system as well as theirs is going to continue for some time. On that theory it would be to the Soviets' interests, for the present pres-ent at least, for the Kremlin and the White House to play ball. What are the measures of "state socialism" Varga is talking about? The various social and welfare HAUKIIAOK thing else caused the official Socialist Social-ist party organ of France to hail the administration program as definitely definite-ly socialistic. Most of the rest of the French press took about the same view, even to the somewhat lonely, pro-capitalistic Figaro which 1 Eaid the message was "close" to socialism. The same view was taken by the left-wing press in other European countries (I'm not counting the Communists who merely rang the old propaganda changes). However, the independent Manchester Guardian, long known as the rock of liberalism and likewise as an outstanding voice in British journalism, jour-nalism, took a different tone. The Guardian always has been exceedingly exceed-ingly well informed concerning the United States and probably understands under-stands America as well as any foreign newspaper. It said: "Mr. Truman's program Is an Indication that socialism is not the only path for the left. Its foal might be called the insurance insur-ance state. Its method the deliberate de-liberate shortening of the odds against the weak. But without bandoning the basically individualist in-dividualist way of life which is accepted as characteristically American." Comment from the extreme right In this country, in congress and out, chose to see Skipper Truman charting chart-ing a course for the Ship of State which veered far to the left of cen- ter, in fact headed straight for the rocks on which free enterprise, individual in-dividual Initiative, in fact all phases of capitalism, would be sunk without with-out a trace. That, however, was not the opinion opin-ion of the majority of the Republican Repub-lican party, and, already signs are showing that it isn't the intention of the majority of the Democrats to let such a catastrophe overtake us, even if they think the Skipper would be willing to risk it, which they don't believe he is. The alarmists point to the rather startling suggestion on the part of the President that the government study production with a view is offering loans to the steel, and other industries for expansion of plants and increased production. If the companies refuse to cooperate, co-operate, it was suggested the government-owned steel plants Aould be erected. That does sound like a long step toward nationalization of industry. But other observers, both those who consider the idea fatal to free enterprise and those who believe be-lieve in such government-run ventures as the Tennessee Valley Val-ley Authority, consider it more of a threat than a promise. In that connection the recent controversy con-troversy behind the iron curtain which has finally leaked cut in specific and detailed form is interesting. inter-esting. One document consists of reports of a three-day conference of Soviet economists held last May, the other is a study of Russian economy during World War II. by a member of the all-powerful Politburo. Polit-buro. Both documents attack the theories of Eugene Varga, internationally interna-tionally known Russian economist and former director of the World Institute of Economics in Moscow. Those 'Anxious' Russian Leaders This controversy, according to Walter Lippman, may be the real basis of President Truman's Kansas City statement that there were "certain leaders" in Russia who were "exceedingly anxious" to reach an understanding with the United States Even if the mw among the economists wasn't the Inspiration for the President's proposals like expanded social security, se-curity, national health insurance, federal aid to education, undertakings under-takings like the Tennessee Valley Authority and the many other reforms re-forms which started under the New Deal, and which President Truman now urges should be carried for- i ward or expanded. I In the early part of the Presi- dent's state of the union message he announced in popular language ' the underlying theory of his ad- I ministration. He said: I "We have rejected the discredited dis-credited theory that the fortunes for-tunes of the Nation should be in the hands of the privileged few. We have abandoned the 'trickle-down' 'trickle-down' concept of national prosperity. pros-perity. Instead, we believe that i our economic system should rest on a democratic foundation and that wealth should be ! created for the benefit of all." ' Whether or not the majority of the people have rejected that theory i remains to be seen. There are still many people who believe that no country can be prosperous unless it is strong at the top and that it cannot can-not be strong at the top, that busi- I ness and industry cannot prosper, t unless free enterprise have the ! widest liberty possible. That capital should be encouraged by the incentive in-centive of profit to take risks and I challenge competition. That govern- ! ment interference destroys the ini- j tiative which has made the country ' great. That once business is un-shacklea un-shacklea by federal bureaucracy, the benefits flow (not trickle) down and spread out to benefit the whole people. The National Association of State j Chambers of Commerce, one of a ! hundred business organizations tes- j tifying against a bill which would would permit the TV A to build a new steam plant at Johnsonville, said: ". . . this government cannot can-not continue much longer to aid in the growth of tax-exempt or govern-ment-owned enterprises, tliui narrowing the nation's tax hnse, without throwing greater burdens bur-dens upon the remainder of the taxpayers and without gradmi'ly strangling free enterprise to death." |