The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1935 AT THE CROSSROADS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXL, Issue 20260, 8 November 1935, Page 8

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1935 AT THE CROSSROADS.

'‘Whether I agre with them or not, if I were running the affairs of the United States, I would prefer to play on the safe side and stop the riot of expenditure before there was any chance of reaching the cracking point, rather than take the risk, for once the cracking point lias come, we will be plunged into an avalanche which will end only in destruction.” In these measured terms, Ur L. Iv. Comstock, president of the Merchants’ Association of the United States, warns the people of the United States that the country has reached the crossroads, where it must decide whether it should take the way “towards which the wheels appear to be rolling,' and which “leads most certainly to inflation and economic destruction,” or the other, which proceeds to the balancing of the Federal budget. Some months ago Mr Comstock said:

“I see the United States headed towards debt disaster unless the budget is balanced. By the end of next June, Federal obligations will total $30,000,000,000 in excess of cash resources, and the total of Federal, State and local debts will be $50,000,000,000.

.... Make no mistake, the revolutionary elements smouldering in the United States, are watching with satisfaction the path we are treading. This is the issue that has come u]) for decision quite recently in the Old Land, in the municipal elections in which Conservatives, Labourites, Liberals and Independents contested 1312 seats in 3(io cities and towns. The verdict of the municipalities is now a matter of history, but the lessons to be drawn from the polling will not be lost on enlightened electors in New Zealand, who will be called upon within the next few weeks to determine the course the Dominion will take in the next four years. Almost simultaneously, the. citizens in many cities in the United States were called upon to choose their chief administrators, and yesterday the cable messages vouchsafed the following observations:

The Republican Party regained control of the New York State Assembly to-day, transforming the previous Democratic majority of four into a Republican margin of 14. Republican leaders interpreted the victory as an indication that support for the New Deal is vanishing. A Republican trend is also evident in many mayoral elections. In the State of New Jersey, where national issues were raised, Republicans led in most contests for the General Assembly and the State Senate. Plainly enough the municipal electors in Britain and in the principal cities of the United States have passed judgment on the vital issues of the day. In the Homeland, Mr Ramsay Macdonald declared with impressive emphasis that the results of the municipal elections in Britain “show that the mass of the people are sane and will not be deceived by reckless promises.” The returns showing the seats gained and lost

In the United States where the people have reached the crossroads and municipal electors have been invited to pass judgment on the New Deal, the verdict, as far as reports to hand show, indicate the most emphatic rejection of the New Deal with its policy based on the unsound theory that a country can borrow its way out of trouble! In the New York Assembly alone, the opponents of the reckless policy that threatens to hurl the United Sates over the precipice of economic disaster, have made such substantial gains that a majority of four has been transformed into a Republican margin of 14. It is something of a significance that the polling in municipalities in Great Britain and in the United States should have returned such an emphatic verdict in support of sound economies carrying the rejection of the nostrums and panaceas. Sir Herbert Morrison, who is the Labour chairman of the London County Council, confesses that the results of the polling in the municipal elections at Home are “somewhat unexpected,” but The Sunday Observer gets nearer to fundamentals when it expresses the opinion that the results will greatly hearten supporters of the National Government as the Labour Party in Britain had expected to win ninny seats. In the United States the verdict has the same significance, because the people are beginning to display an unmistakable preference to play safe by rejecting reckless promises, as well as the offers of the political groups who suggest borrowing as the nation’s way to free itself from debt.

speak for themselves: Gained Lost Conservatives .. .. 56 22 Liberals .. .. .. Labour Independents .. .. 25 26