NEW ERA FOR U.S.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 211, 19 August 1933, Page 8

NEW ERA FOR U.S.

THE ROOSEVELT PROPOSALS. A SARCASTIC REVIEW. A correspondent in a recent issue of the New York “Tinies” thus sarcastically discusses the proposals of the Roosevelt Administration: — “The statement issued by Representative Bertrand 11. Snell, the Republican minority leader of Congress, was worth reading. Coming from a man of Mr Snell’s ability, integrity and love of country, it should have impressed those who read it. Having known Mr Snell for many years, I take the liberty of commenting on his statement.

“What the statement apparently overlooks is that we are in the age of a new deal. Instead of paying as we go, we are in an era of spending borrowed money. In other words, pulling ourselves out of the depression into an atmosphere of prosperity by borrowing money. Just so long as the country can borrow, we are travelling the road to prosperity. The more we borrow the more prosperous we become. After we are in debt, up to our necks and the necks of unborn great-grandchildren—-in the red as far as we can get—this stupendous debt is going to create life within itself and go along on its own momentum. It will rise like the dinosaur of old, wag its tail, and be known as super-prosperity. The red ink will start it going—like waving a red flag before a bull.

“This policy, which is now being so actively followed by most subdivisions of government, is apparently ‘the way out.’ In 1929, when individuals mortgaged their souls to buy securities and other things, it was ‘the way in.’ Times have changed, really.

“The statement issued does not take the change into account. Farm relief, home relief, work relief, and dozens of vast projects simply means more borrowed money —the creation of the monster that in time will rise from its own weight. “But who is going to pay the millions in principal—or capital investment, as the statement calls it! That is easy; just borrow more money and have more prosperity—pay the lenders principal and interest with more money borrowed from themselves. “The present policy is a reversal of the fundamental principle of paying as you go, and living within one’s means. And if the present policy does not work out, why not have another policy on the shelf ready for use? The United States is young and there is plenty of time to try out another school of thinking-—and then some more. In the end the printing presses can always be put into operation, so why go to the trouble of figuring the amount of appropriation, whether they be for the operation of the Government or for ‘capital expenditures’? This is a new era.’’