The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1944. Roosevelt’s Call To Congress

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22789, 13 January 1944, Page 3

The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1944. Roosevelt’s Call To Congress

IT is reported from New "i ork that many Democrats and Republicans interpret President Roosevelt’s latest Ynessage to Congress as bis campaign platform should he become a candidate for fourth term at the Presidential election to he held in November of this year. There is little doubt, even at this stage, that Mr Roosevelt will be the Democrats’ nominee; his prospects would only be changed by sudden conclusion of hostilities in Europe and the Pacific, and since this is beyond the realm of possibility, it is reasonably certain that the precedent-breaking President will be drafted for a fourth term. No matter who the Republicans put up against die President, Mr Wendell Willkie, Governor Thomas Dewev, of New York, or any other candidate, there is practically no chance that the people of the United States would vote for new leadership while the war is in progress. Mr Roosevelt, in addition to being a great national leader,' is an adroit politician and his message to Congress, the last scheduled one he will make in his present term of office, must be studied for its domestic political implications. The President cannot spare much time for these purely domestic questions, and it may be assumed that this latest message does contain the .platform upon which he is prepared to fight an election campaign. The foundation of the President’s five-point programme is the winning pf the war, and he has emphasised for the benefit of the lingering isolationists in the country, that the United States cannot be indifferent to what is happening, or is lively to happen, in other parts of the World. Mr Roosevelt envisages America taking its part in the building of a better international structure after the war. Improvements in living standards, he said, must be widespread. One school of thought in the United States may suggest that America’s first care rpust be for its own advancement in the post-war era, but the President sees nothing valuable or enduring in piecemeal prosperity. The explanation he gave of the collaboration he had achieved with leaders of the other United Nations carries the plan implication that he intends to continue along the road of collaboration if he is given the chance. The domestic programme proposed by the President is simple and short, yet at the same time alle'mbracing. Its acceptance would meet all war needs, and it would spread evenly the sacrifices which the war makes necessary. First, he proposes a taxing programme which would remove the possibility of unreasonable private or corporate profits, 'this is one way of building a stronger barrier against inflation, and it would also remove the unsettling suspicion that persons, companies or organisations are profiting unduly from the war. The third of the President’s points is the one which is probably the most complicated of the five, and it js one which would touch the greatest number of people. It proposes a “reasonable floor under the prices which the farmer may expect for his production,” and a “ceiling for the prices the; Consumer will have to pay for his food.” The demands of the American farmers have been insistent through the war period and the Government has had to have recourse to subsidies which have in turn caused rises in the price of foodstuffs. The President still hopes to attain a satisfactory balance between the legitimate claims of the producer and the obvious needs of the consumer..

" TKe final point, which provides for a national service law, is designed to give the Government complete control of the manpower resources of the country, as has been done already in British countries. The totalitarian States had one advantage over the Democracies in that they were completely organised for war; every person was allotted a task which had to be fulfilled. This totalitarian method of organisation is so efficient that it has to be answered in the same way. To some extent the totalitarian system must be accepted temporarily by the Democracies if they are to end the war quickly. The continuance of “softer” methods can only mean the prolongation of present agonies. The basic ideas in President Roosevelt's policy are complete and effective prosecution of the war and equality of sacrifice. His political opponents cannot shoot holes in that.