Show ThE DAlLY DAILY Wi Merry Go Round Trado M Mart tk fly By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT ALLEN W William WASHINGTON A. A Wirt Virt the good doctor from Gary in broadcasting his worries about the danger of dictatorship and revolution may be doing the country a good turn He is promoting a little introspection as to what has hit us since March 4 a year ago The word dictatorship has an ugly conno- conno tation It smacks of castor oil Jew baiting sweaty shirts and machine gun riddled d apartment apartment apart apart- ment Leaving these European frills friUs out or of the picture however there has been no disposition on the par pars of most men around whether Roosevelt they be rain brain or not to shun the fact that we have in this country country coun- coun try a governmental system chose to a dictatorship dictator dictator- ship Call CaU it dictatorship with a smile dictatorship dictatorship dictator dictator- ship by consent nevertheless the inescapable fact is that Roosevelt has more power over the economic fate of the people in this country than any other president in peacetime history Life and Death Consider the present structure of govern govern- ment The power power almost of oC life and death over industry especially smaller rests industry in inthe inthe the hands of the president through the N R A. A Similar powers powers-on n paper permissive but not in rests practice in the hands of the president president dent to limit agricultural production through the AAA The banks of the country are in the hands handsor or of the R. R F. F C. C could not live without it The railroads cannot lower wages raise hours or float important bond issues without government consent The home loan bank board is doing a land office business in mortgages The public pub pub- lie lic works administration is virtual dictator of oC building construction And the Hie Tennessee valhey val val- hey ley authority has even gone in for selling electr elec- elec tr c irons refrigerators and washing machines AU All in all the number of potent recovery bureaus now dotted around the Washington landscape makes Mr Hoovers Hoover's commissions seem like poor little doll houses Yet aside from castor oil salutes and colored colored col- col ored shirts there are two important lI-important exceptions exceptions to the recovery layout as steered by Roosevelt and the stark naked dictatorship popular in Europe Permissive Dictator One is the fact that Roosevelt has tried to take into consideration both sides of the deal He has tried to give a break to both capital and labor He has done something something- though until recently not much about protecting protecting pro pro- the consumer He has maintained a fairly reasonable balance between pros and cons In general he has followed his favorite favorite fa- fa policy of oC hitting a little left of cen- cen ter The second is the fact that Roosevelt's powers powers pow pow- ers are subject to review and abridgement by congress His is not n a perpetual dictator dictator- ship The power to regulate industry agriculture agri- agri cult culture re and so on ceases unless definitely extended ex- ex tended by congress They are pure emergency emergency emer- emer gency powers That is why so many or of the presidents president's friends are putting the microscope to his overturn overturn over over- turn by congress on the veterans veterans' vote Some of them are inclined to pull horse faces On the surface at least a good part of their grief is unjust unjustified fied It is almost always the rule that presidents are overridden by congress congress con con- gress when veterans veterans' legislation comes up in election year Roosevelt himself knows this better than anyone once remarked what popper is for I know these boys have gotto go home and be reelected You cant can't blame them The job of the president is just exactly that to take the buck when they pass it to him Planning vs Individualism The real issue is not not going to be congress versus the president but planned economy versus versus ver- ver sus rugged individualism In other words Roosevelt will have a real battle making his program stick His idea is isto isto to let the country go a little slow prevent too much prosperity head off subsequent depres- depres Against him on this is pitted one of the strongest lobbies in the the country business lobby Already it has marsha ed tremendous forces Its cry of rugged individualism is deeply rooted in our pioneer background in our prairies and our passing frontier In practice it is gone Only the myth remains But that myth plus the barrage of big business business busi- busi ness plus the sk skittishness of a headstrong congress congress con con- gress may upset the Roosevelt dream of planned economy If so we may really find out what a dictatorship is like l The next eighteen months will tell Copyright 1934 hI United ate Inc |