Show Bruc Bru karts chares washington digest mixed reaction created by huge money aloney lending program some legislators t shout hallelujahs others are bitter in opposition to what they see as another gigantic t flop government credit menaced by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press bid washington D C NV washington ASHINGTON president roosevelt has asked congress for approval F I 1 ot of another gigantic money lending program he wants to put out as a stimulant to business he wants to start right away and he wants to keep the money pouring into sinkholes through the summer and fall and winter and spring and next suna sum mer too the president is not proposing government spending as distinguished gui shed from government lending that is important while it has been shown by the experiences of the last half dozen years that this spending idea is just as successful as trying to pull ones self up by ones boot straps those who favor the lending program say this method of bringing about recovery has not yet been fully tested the bril biant minded self appointed saviors of america therefore are out to prove that government cash can end a depression arrival of the presidents letter at t the capitol created quite a mixed reaction some members shouted their hallelujahs of more manna for the spawning ground for votes others expressed approval of parts of the gigantic outpouring of cash and objected to other items of the program the third group on capitol hill at once voiced their wholehearted opposition to the scheme offering several reasons why they could not support the president nearly everything that is done in the national government is tinged with or steeped in politics so the political phases immediately were stressed by the opponents of the program and they are putting more I 1 steam behind their attacks as the days go by some of these members are objecting to further outlays by the government because they fear that government credit is about to crack any way and they predict the newest presidential plan will seriously endanger the governments financial stability the other group of oppositionists take a brutal position say roosevelt Is paving way for his denomination they say mr roosevelt is pro posing this new lending program now in order to pave the way for his to a third term in in the white house I 1 expect that we will hear more of this aspect of the situation as the debate develops on the floors of the house and senate there is every reason to believe that the president will obtain approval for most of his program he may not get it all but when it comes to getting a legislative program through congress nothing equals the distribution of money as bait thus it appears to me that we can treat the proposition from the standpoint of what will come from the program in the way of bene beneficial facial results if any and to find if possible what the long range effect will be first let me recall that during the administration of herbert hoover when the present depression first fastened its fangs on our economic structure there was the first major outpouring of government funds the hoover thought was to stimulate business by lending money and by spending for public construction it was mr hoover too who sponsored self liquidating projects for which federal cash would be loaned the idea being that a self liquidato ing project would earn enough money to pay off the government loan that was the way the reconstruction st f finance cnance corporation c came ame into being and that was the greatest mistake of the early days of the world depression insofar as our nation is concerned well the hoover administration promoted loans for self liquidating projects in a big way As a stimulant of business the plan was a magnificent flop the current program being modeled exactly as herbert hoover designed the first one also will be a glorious gloriod s flop there is as a matter of fact not one bit of difference between the new roosevelt program and the futile move in the hoover day few have confidence in in policies of government whether this government lending idea is sponsored by republicans or democrats by communists or fascists the result is bound to be the same as tar far as accomplishing anything toward business revival dy its very nature government lending creates a doubt in the minds of every one whether they recognize it just that way or not the feeling that most every one gets is man manifest in the form of a question well where are we headed when c conditions nd are so bad that the united cited states treasury has to supply money upon which business operates which to my way of thinking is simply saying that few if any persons have confidence in the policies of their government it was distinctly true in the hoover adminis tra tion and I 1 think it is equally true in the roosevelt administration but I 1 want to go dee deeper per into this problem there is something more that we ought to think about and it makes me shudder to talk about the possibilities inherent in moves of this kind by a democracy mr roosevelt says that without a doubt all of this money that he proposes to lend will be paid back he said in his message on the subject that there would be no loans approved unless there was assurance that the sums would be repaid which is all very well and good but experience of banking institutions and other lending agencies indicates that a certain per cent of the loans go bad poor management unforeseen business conditions deaths of key figures labor disturbances changes in the taste of the buying public for certain marketable products all of these things as well as the responsibility of the borrowers go to determine whether the money will be paid back and so it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that mr roosevelt is a bit a teeny bit optimistic about recovering all of the funds that are loaned personal political element Is the most disturbing if 11 we can dismiss the doubt however there yet remains the factor the potentiality of the program that makes me jittery frankly it is the personal political element that disturbs me most let me illustrate when senator norris of nebraska began fighting a number of years ago for what turned out to be the TVA he and all other sponsors of that socialistic government owned power project shouted denials all over the place when it was charged they intended to put the government deeper into the field of private business all they wanted to do they insisted was to develop a government power plant that would serve to measure profits of private companies they argued that this experiment would show the power companies were taking too much profit out of the hides of consumers of electricity they said that if this were not true the TVA would be a blessing to private ownership what happened the answer is pretty well known TVA began competing with private companies wherever it could get in the field against them its means of entering some of the fields of competition were of the rottenest rott enest type on top of that came the operations of secretary ickes and hi his s public works administration mr mr ickes wanted to see more and better publicly owned power plants ile he tried and is still trying to make power plants grow where power plants never grew before all from money loaned by the government throughout the nation therefore are scores of power plants small as well as large that were forced to sell out to the competing plant financed by uncle sam and the investors got what the little boy shot at TVA itself has driven flocks of them out of the field and has negotiated to buy one of the great privately owned systems that could not sell in competition with the government octopus which has no taxes to pay and borrows money on gov backed bonds officials say thought Is to help private business it is only fair to report that the top officials in the government say there is no intention to use these funds as was done through the public works administration there is they hey say no thought of discouraging private business the thought though is to help private business but it is pointed out mean meanwhile hile that the funds which are planned to be used in this program will be under the control of half a dozen different agencies those who ho know the setup in in the federal government recognize this fact as important it means this every agency of the federal government always has sought and always will seek to perpetuate itself to expand its power and its functions give it a hundred millions or so to play with and then express any doubt if you can that its officials will overlook any spot where they can boost their own importance truly that mould be too much to expect then 9 give ive consideration to the fact that the current lending proposal contemplates expanding the original hoover initiated program into fields of loaning not hitherto occupied by a government agency self liquidating highways toll bridges purchase of railway equipment construction of more electric lines to name only a few are fields where the hand of governmental bureaucracy will retard and handicap private initiative apparently the dear pee pul are going to be given a great many things to use whether they need them or not and whether they want them or not released by western newspaper union |