VOLUME III.
“Peterson’s /^ **
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^ Subscription Price $1.00 a Year
DUNN, N. C., JULY 1, 1935 . NUMBER 12
“WE ARE ON THE WAV”
TO THE LEFT
At last we can say more than that “we are on
the way.” As spring was on the point of lapping
oVer into the summer, “the way” definitely swerv
e(] to the left—so clearly and definitely that even
the economically blind should have little trouble in
recognizing the trend of the hitherto wavering,
wobbling, lurching, or even back-tracking course.
To those of us who had definite ideas as to a
desirable goal, doubts as to the constancy of pur
pose of the captain of the ship of state sometimes
occurred. Yet so long as he retained as mates and
lieutenants a Wallace, a Tugwell, a- Morgenthau,
an lekes, and an Eccles, there seems to have been
little reason to do so. Nevertheless, there appear
ed so many shortcuts open for direct assaults upon
the citadel of the monopoly of wealth and op
portunity, and none taken, that impatience was
natural. As I write 1 clearly, see that a prompt
and rash direct approach would have been haz
ardous to the whole enterprise. The psychological
moment had not arrived. . • -
Even now gradual approach to the desirable
goal is advisable. Sentiment must be consolidated
as nearly as possible, at least to such extent as will
prevent or discourage successful resistance.
The Ultimate Goal; The Overthrow Of The
Monopoly of Wealth and Opportunity.
Millions could have perished but for govern
ment aid while the monopolists held in bank
vaults and elsewhere billions of 'accumulated cur
rency which they did not need and much of which
they will never heed. This token of monumental
wealth represented only a portion of the monop
olists’ holdings,- Their vaults were packed with
bonds, mortgages, and other evidence^ of debt
against a helpless citizefS'y that -enabled them bh:
swoop up, in interest and principal payments, the
currency again as fast or as dfteix; as the admin
istration would borrow it, at a price, and distri-'
bute it in an effort to furnish food and clothing,
and incidentally work, to "the helpless millions.
Almost General Consent to NRA Principle.
The NRA scheme was based and operated upon
the principle that the garnering of wealth through
inequitable means is a menace to the general well- :
being. The aim was to put an end to accumula
tions by such means. Yet it must have been ap
parent to the administration,, as it was.to many of
us, that, if a continuance of-such_aCCumulations
by inequitable means is a public menace and
should be prevented, the existing accumulations
amassed by similar means should be destroyed—
that it is not enough to prevent thieves from steal
ing, they must be made to restore former booty
to those they have robbed. As indirect and as slow
as was the NRA process in effecting a just dis
tribution of opportunity, not to say wealth, its
two years regime had the benefioient effect of
winning the consent of even the . golden-goose
killers to the conclusion that such a practice is
almost as suicidal as it is ansericidal, or goose
killing.
In brief, the NRA regime has largely sufficed
not only to consolidate a demand of the masses
for an equitable distribution of opportunities but
also has won the consent of many of the morip
lists to the justice of the demand. Thus the psy
chological moment for a more direct approach
was prepared. ■
Golden Eggs Must Be Returned
Even a golden-goose killer must see'that, if he
'consents that robbing the nests and starving the
geese is a deadly wrong, he cannot revolt if the
owner of the geese erriand. that- he restore the
unjustly acquired golden eggs of his existing
hoard. In short, human values have almost uni
versally superseded- property values in the con
sciousness of Americans. Yet the possessors of
great wealth, while fairly well persuaded that it
is better for all concerned that a new square deal
prevail, like the rich young ruler who approached
Jesus and was advised to sell and give all he
possessed to the poor, would not readily consent,
*>ut. unlike that ruler, would not go away sad,
but if met with a governmental demand for half
bis possessions would turn fighting mad. But the
kaven is working, and he and nis ilk will stand
for moderate levies upon their fortunes-.. The
teaven wiU continue its work, both upon him and
• A
the compelling masses, till one day these fortunes,
amassed by methods that are not now approved
by even their possessors, which prove a preventive
of a just distribution of opportunities will.be
brought down within harmless limits.
Pointers On The Leftward Trend
The events of the last ten days in Washington
are exceedingly significant, leaving distinctive
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j I jjil i I ij i M in. i IIfill. m.iM.i i. ■ i r jiT ■'
t;.:. '■ '*
njarieerg ©h~ theI<3Wanl curve. • |Nbte ■iSbir’for- *
[vyarding of th&. measurer *
old age, for children,' for ‘fhef unemployed. ’ etc, r
Mark the measure setting up a fund as the basis 1
of a .corporation to loan funds to tenants and
farm hands to buy land on sixty years time, Mark
the sending of President Roosevelt’s message re- 1
questing a tax measure, tq levy heavy taxes upon
large. incomes, and upon inheritances, and upon
gifts intended, to., avoid inheritance taxes. Note
the character of the reception of the message, in
both Washington and the country at large. And
particularly mark the fact that there is no gum
shoeing about the purpose of the suggested levies
—they are to redistribute the wealth of the na
tion and to be used in paying the debts that have
been forced upon the nation by the practices !
which resulted in the amassing of those great
fortunes. ,
The Dog’s Hair To Cure His Bite
It is impossible to ascribe fairly the depression
to anything else than thte want of purchasing pow
er among the masses. That lack of purchasing
power which forestalled full consumption .and
necessarily thereby estopped full production .must
be ascribed to the monopolizing of the resources
of the country by the few. Therefore, the de
pression is a product of the amassing of those .
huge" fortunes and all fortunes above .that size
whose income provides enough for its possessor
and does not tend to prevent others from securing
enough* For it is riot Only the million-dollar in
come that helps to force the masses to an average
income of a few hundred dollars but even the ten- .
thousand-dollar incomes, a .hundred of which are
iff the gross the equivalent of . the million-dollar
income,' though not in full effect, since a hundred
fold greater legitimate consumption marks the
hundred $10,000 incomes. But such as $50,000
and $100,000 incomes partake largely of the
character of the million-dollar one, since the larg
er part of such incomes cannot be used m an
equitable consumption. In time, -s'uch incomes
- will receive the attention they demand, but at
present the President is suggesting that the hair
of the great Danes that have bitten the massesso
seriously shall be used to cure those bites. The
accumulation of-any fortune or any hind of man
ipulation that results in a million-dollar income
\ has unquestionably; borne heavily upon many
others, and the accumulations of the thousands of
great and comparatively great fortunes, by what
ever means, has, as surely as Pliny ;spoke+the
truth when he said great estates had ruined Italy,
produced the depression and all its woes. There
fore, it is only right that the government recoup
part of those prosperity destroying fprtunes for.
the healing of the nation.
Another Reference To Our 1929 Prophecy.
In that serious of articles written months be-"
fore the stock market crash in 1929, in which
the editor of the Voice predicted almost to a
what would happen, he likened the world to a
great cow which could give milk enough for all
the peop1e. He found that a few had been able
to moponolize the greater portion of the milk and
keep it in cold storage, though they didn’t need
the over-abundance nor would ever need it, while
millions went hungry. The prophet predicted that
the masses would not forever put up with any such
a condition. If the monopolists would not consent
willingly to a just sharing of the produce of the
earth-mother, the time would come when their
consent would not be asked, but the dairies and
cold storage plants would be broken down and
the stored products be largely destroyed in their
wild using.
Fortunately, President Roosevelt and his ad
visors have largely won the consent of the monop
olists to a checking of the processes of monopoly.
But the division of the hoarded wealth though
amassed by the very same'inequitable means, is
another matter. Yet I am inclined to believe that
either conscience will admonish the monopolists
to consent to the just deal which President Roose
velt is asking or that consciousness of the‘grow
ing determination of the American people not>to
he ag§in subjected to starvation by the greed :6f
u&sAii&r-warife TEukmffft ttaase ‘
Accordingly, it seems reasonable that the de
mands of the PresidenF.may now becarried .qut
with very little squawking; from -the pitted
birds. Yet the fact that the funds thus secured
must for many years go to .repay the very, sapie
group for their bonds wilKprpyent the full allevia
tion of the. distress which otherwise might be
expected. But it is gratifying to know, that the
bloodsuckers must suck their own blood in. the
coming years and not the blood of people who
can ill spare a few drops.
But the people should know that they can never
get rich themselves through sharing the fortunes
already built up. We cannOt live two years upon
all the wealth that now exists. The world lives
from hand to mouth, producing this year what
it consumes next. Therefore, it is not the livihg
which the‘rich have taken but the opportunity
to make a living. Therefore, no one should fool
himself. The curse of the monopolist is not that
he has the wealth in:Hand, but that he has control
of the means of production of the needed wealth
and power to prevent its equitable distribution
if produced. The breaking up of the large for
tunes means that that paralyzing control will be
broken and that a sharing of opportunities but
not existing-wealth, will bring a new day and a
new deal to the masses of America. -Yet it ia
unreasonable to expect the turn to the left to be
constant and steady—waverings, and lurchirtgs
may be expected. . On the other hand, any barrier
to the leftward trend may be expected to check
the general swing in that direction no more than
temporarily.
At this writing no one seems to.have broken
his neck by jtsrap.mg into White Lake this sea
son. But that kind of accident has not been lack
ing at other swimming places. Yet it seems that
: V broken neck caused by jumping into water of
which one knows neither the depth nor what,
6n the bottom should be ascribed to attempted sui
cide rather than to accident.
The AAA plan for improving the lot of Irish
potato producers seems not to have worked so
well as in the case of tobacco and- cotton—or
isn’t there a rental and allotinent scheme for that
crop? If not,- one should he forthcoming, m view
of "the reported statement of an Albermarie
grower that he made only about a dollar tor his
Tabor in producing aeonsiderable crop. ^