Show NATIONAL NA AFFAIRS by fly CARTER FIELD l ClO Deal Democrats talk about possibility ty of 0 Re Republican pub lican success in 1940 Probably propaganda a Whatever is done about the die cotton situation will trill probably probably ably be Ill wrong Appeasement Appeasement Appease men ment program apparently profited only two big cor cor- WASHINGTON Its Iff rather curious curl curi ous OUI that for tor some lome weeks now one bears hears more talk about Republican victory In 1940 from Democrats and arid particularly from New Deal Democrats than from Republicans This is II not Just a strange situa tion There is La plenty of logic back backof backof backof of It Some of It is founded on cold reason season But a good deal of It is Ii propaganda The answer to why there is not too much talk taUe of Republican victory from the G. G O. O P. P leaders themselves them selves elves Is I. that they realize their own weakness Despite the Republican victories last lilt fall in many states which had been held by the Democrats Democrats Demo Demo- cratl for six years most mOlt of the states are still ruled by the Democratic Demo Demo- C cratic party The Importance of this lies lIel In or or- It means mean that the Democrats Dem Dein- have the state house crowd men on the state payroll who want to stay there and whose main Job next Dext year ear will be carrying their own states for the Democratic ticket regardless regardless re re- of who Is the presidential nominee and what may happen to tobe tobe tobe be written In the platform Most politicians believe that control control con can of the county governments is 11 more Important than control of the state government when it comes to carrying a state in an election And by the same token the Democrats Democrats Democrats Demo Demo- are In control of a tremendous majority of the county governments in this th thI country Most Dm Democrats rat Dont Don't Want Wan WantA WanA A 4 Conservative Candidate Then too a careful survey urvey of the 1938 1933 election does not present the bright forecast for Republican success success suc cess which some seem to think If U Uthe the Democrats In hi 1940 can only hold the states they carried beyond question In 1938 lea leaving vine out such uch doubtful problems as 81 Indiana Iowa and Colorado they will have a comfortable com margin in the electoral col cal lege I Moreover the Republicans dont don't like Uke the Idea of getting letting too enthusiastic a until they know who their leader lead er Is II a atto tto be Thomas Thomal E. E Dewey I is 11 wa way out in front now but there is plenty of talk about Senator Robert Robert Rob Rob- ert A. A Taft of Ohio and Governor John W W. Bricker of Ohio and others On the Democratic side ide there Is II an entirely different situation Down Downin in their hearts most of the Democrats Demo Demo- especially of the New Deal variety believe the Democratic party party par par- ty will be successful again but again but they would never think of conceding that the party can win with a conservative con con- ser as the nominee I IFor For Instance most New Dealers would regard the nomination of a aman aman aman man like Senator Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia or Josiah W. W Bailey of North Carolina as 81 little short of a catastrophe and none of them would throw their hats up in the air over the Idea of John Nance Garner being nominated I So the strategy of these New ew Dealers Deal ers era at present is I. to keep the Democrats Democrats Demo Demo- scared about the next election Whatever I Is Done About Abou Cotton Is I. Sure to Be Wrong Only one thing seems sure lure about the cotton situation That is that whatever Is II done will turn tum out to be wrong In fact tact economists economist who have studied the situation who know about the rest of the world alwell as al aswell aswell well as about the United States and whose Judgment Is not affected by political considerations say lay frankly that not one of the proposed plans will work In the long run that all of them would be expensive as well as futile With hindsight the nonpolitical experts say they could have remedied rem rem- edictS the situation bad they started on it in 1928 Now they are not sure that anything could be done But as 81 a matter of fact this hindsight hind bind sight would have been of no practical value for the simple reason that even if one could have foreseen the future back In 1928 it Is ii inconceivable incon that a politically minded government would have taken the proper course It would have bave seemed too brutal too brutal too hard bard on the cotton farmers farmers farmers-at at the time The year ear 1928 is picked not because because be be- cause it was the year before the business crash began but because in a way It marks mark the starting oi of Brazil on Its path to becoming one of the great cotton producing countries countries coun coun- tries triet of the world It was the year before President Hoover began beran to worry about the farm problem It II Ita Iti i l was a before the farm board of that administration For there Is no doubt whatever that It has bas been 5 C federal interference with the natural nat nat- v r ural course of cotton growing thai Vl has bas raised the present problem Lets Let's look at lit the history of cotton cottor t. t before that Every now and then J j. there would be a terrible overproduction the price would go to pot rt and the southern statesmen would scream their heads of off about bout the census bureau issuing misleading figures or the gamblers amblers on the cot ton exchange preying on the poor farmers or something of the sort ort Then another season eason would see lee fairly good prices and every everyone one In Inthe Inthe inthe the cotton states tates would be so 0 happy bapp that n no one up north would even hear that the trouble was over Ever Every time the rest of the country countr heard beard about cotton it was wai the bad news not the good rood Scheme Was Wat Set Se Up Which Made the lIe Trouble Permanent With the Hoover farm board in inaction action however a scheme was letup set let setup setup up which Inevitably made the trouble permanent instead of Just every few years ean For a century before that the British cotton mill had been hoping to develop some other section of the world as asa asa asa a cotton producer They TheT wanted something which would prove a check on high cotton prices in the short-crop short years ears Eve Every one interested In cotton could see that with the starting of this idea of the government doing something for the cotton farmers the period of occasional low prices for cotton had bad gone forever that forever that Is the possibility of the United States dumping a cotton surplus at very low prices had passed This was made even more clear when the United States government started paying farmers not to grow cotton With this of guarantee high world prices development of cotton I growing in other areas grew by leaps and bounds Uncle Sam was holding an umbrella over them Danger of cheap cotton from the United States In any particular year was averted As AI a result of this Brazil expanded expand expand- ed ad her cotton growing She found that she could sell seU cotton at six cents a pound and make money There has never been a chance since that she would abandon this expansion for there Is not a state east of the Mississippi where cotton can be produced pro pro- at a profit at any such I price Appeasement Program tie Helped ped Only Two Big Uig Corporations Corporation Curiously enough apparently the only two big corporations in the country which profited from the appeasement program during during this thil short span of life were life were the big electric utility holding companies which President Roosevelt is known to dislike so cordially One of these is Electric Bond and Share The Theother Theother Theother other Is Commonwealth and South South- elmIt ern elm It will be recalled that one of the most convincing steps In the so so- called appeasement program was the agreement on the part of TVA to buy buyout out the Interests In Chattanooga Chattanooga Chat Chat- of the Commonwealth and Southern and in Memphis of the Electric Bond and Share this latter latter lat lat lat- ter held through a subsidiary At the time these agreements were made Harry L. L Hopkins had been talking to senators and members members mem memo bers of the house as to the necessity of of doing something to encourage business One of the main reasons for appeasing appeasing ap the electric Industry was that Hopkins had been thoroughly sold lold by the arguments for the preceding pre pro ceding 18 months by William O. O Douglas now on the Supreme court that It if something could be done to encourage the electric industry there would be such a flood of spending spend ing Ina that it would be almost enough alone and unaided to produce the return of prosperity But a far more Important part of the appeasement program and andone andone andone one which affected all business and new investment nt Instead of merely the electric business was tax sion sian President Intervenes in Fight Figh Jar or Revision oj of Taxes Suddenly the President Intervened in the fight for tax revision with an ultimatum seems to have bave definitely def ended all chance for it This does not apply of course to the postponement postponement post post- I of the Increase in the social so go- cial security taxes but to the levies on corp corporations Iii Ills His ultimatum was that If any reduction reduction re reo re- re should be made In the estimated es revenues this must be made up by adding additional taxes somewhere else else but but on the corpo corpo- rations In short his verdict i is that congress may shuffle shullie the present taxes on business in any way it may deem to be helpful but that the net result result result-In In estimated revenues revenues must must be the same What so 10 many of his lieutenants had hoped and this goes not only for Important members of the house and senate but for the treasury department de de- de and the department of commerce was that the government would take a chance chance would encourage business by reducing taxes on business hoping that business busi busl ness would thereupon boom and anti the actual revenues of the treasury would be increased by the reduction rather than cut This phase of the problem the President ignored completely He lie still insists that if U estimated rev are reduced then government spending spendina for relief relie or something else must be reduced to precisely the same amount lIe He attacks the problem Just as though the federal federa I budget were now balanced and any I reduction of the corporation taxes would throw it out of balance This has divided business as al to the tax revision will wUl keep It divided t unless congress forces the gamble I on the President which does no not now seem likely Bell Dell Syndicate W U 5 Pervice |