Stenographic Transcript 1Z8th PARMER FROM WASHINGTON broadcast
7/J/49
Presenting
A Washington Radio Conference on the Air in
A NEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AGAINST NATIONAL WANT
participated in by
SENATOR JAMES E. MURRAY-SENATOR JOHN SPARKI111AN•SENATOR HUBERT HuMPHREY
of Minnesota
of Alabama
of Montana
This is Charles Parmer from Washington ••• ~ the Fourth
of July, 1949, approaches, a new declaration of independence is
being formulated - a bill to be introduced in Senate and House,
which may guarantee freedom from want and misery ••• here, as the
week ends, three of our Senate leaders - Democrats all - confer
together - in the office of Senator John J. Sparkman of Alabama,
who for long has been planning such a fight. For your listening benefit, I've been permitted to place my microphone on
Senator Sparkman's desk. You may now hear their plans - for
the first time made public.
Sitting across from Senator Sparkman is Senator James
E. Murray of fubntana, who led a Congressiona l delegation on a
mission to the White House a few days a go to inform the President of their plan. And here is Senator Hubert Humphrey of
Minnesota, who has thrown himself wholehearted ly into the
battle.
I'm glad to ' tell you that these gentlemen - realizing
the gravity of our national situation- have brushed aside
sectional differences; they present a united front to our
common enemy - national want.
CHARLES PARMER:
Senator Murray, why do you plan this
bill on economic expansion?
SENATOR MURRAY:
Our bill is proposed as a means of
checking the development of economic conditions that might
result in a serious recession.
In many sections of the country
there has been a general slowing down in industry, and serious
unemployment is found in certain spots.
Our program is designed
to offset this unemployment , encourage business and industrial
expansion, provide ways and means of encouraging private enterprise, and thus avoid any dangerous conditions of unemployment
and business recession.
PARIIAER:
Are conditions that bad, Senator?
national standpoint, but in particular localities where unemployment has developed, it presents a very serious problem.
A prudent government should not be expected to take steps in
any other direction except to aid in preventing these conditions
from spreading and creating a serious catastrophe.
-2PARkffiR:
Did you say catas troph e, Senat or?
MURRAY:
Yes.
It was our failu re in the last depre ssion
ssion
to take appro priat e steps in time that perm itted that depre
can
to devel op into a serio us catas troph e. Only the Gover nment
this
take appro priate steps to aid busin ess in a situa tion of
is
kind. Every busin essma n knows that, actin g by hims elf, he
of
not able to contr ibute much towar d overc oming cond itions
sit
this kind; and there fore, a demo cratic gover nmen t must not
by while unemp loyme nt is devel oping in any serio~s degre e.
de
The Gover nment must loolc for the econo mic cause s and provi
appro priat e remed ies where ver possi ble.
PARMER:
you~self
~.1urray,
that you have align ed
with the North and the South .
MURRAY:
~
I note, Senat or
Yes, we have; and we have align ed ourse lves
th the East and the West also.
This is a natio nal probl em.
in
Every secti on of the count ry is witne ssing a curta ilmen t
nt.
busin ess and indu stria l activ ity and a rise in unemp loyme
the
These cond itions are found in the New Engla nd State s, in
large citie s of the coun try, on the Pacif ic Coas t, in the
South , and in almos t every area.
The prese nt situa tion is
extre mely unhea lthy, and can easil y becom e worse unles s steps
unemare taken to deal with it in a posit ive mann er. Alrea dy
on
ploym ent has reach ed a figur e of appro xima tely three milli
rs
and a half out of work. In addit ion, sever al milli on worke
conare on part time, and in some comm unitie s we have extrem e
have
ditio ns of unem ploym ent. If the unemp loyme nt we alrea dy
on
conti nues to grow, we could very soon have six or eight milli
es
unemp loyed worke rs in the Natio n. Every day the press carri
beartic les on this subje ct, and memb ers of the Cong ress are
it.
ginni ng to recei ve lette s from their cons titue nts about
And so I think it is obvio us that Cong ress shoul d give careful atten tion to these cond ition s so · as to preve nt them from
getti ng out of hand.
PARMER:
I unde rstan d, Senat or Murra y, that you con-
templ ate long- range publi c plann ing .
Spec ifica lly, what does
that take in?
MURRAY;
Well, we: propo se a. serie s of steps ,
First , we
to be
would provi de for a Natio nal Econo mic Coop eratio n Board ,
e,
compo sed of repre senta tives of indus try, labor , agric ultur
-3con sum ers, and oth ers hav ing spe cial qua
lifi cat ion s. This
boa rd wou ld stud y the dev elop ing con diti
ons and make reco rmn endati ons to prom ote maximum emp loym ent,
pro duc tion , and pur cha sing pow er. Thi s wou ld brin g the var
iou s grou ps in our
econ omy clo ser to each oth er, and wou ld
pro vide a uni ted
fron t to opp ose any pos sibl e rece ssio n
or dep ress ion . We
also prop ose ass ista nce to priv ate inv
esto rs, to exp and capac ity and pro duc tion in var iou s fiel ds
whe re it is nec essa ry,
and to enc oura ge such inve stm ent thro ugh
a spee ded -up amo rtizati on of such inve stm ent, and to sup
ply insu ranc e of suc h
inve stm ent in Sta te and reg ion al org ani
zati ons . Als o, we pro pose sci ent ific rese arch and adv ice for
sma ll bus ines s, and
stud y by the Fed eral Tra de Com miss ion
of any exi stin g bar rier s
to priv ate inve stm ent and pro duc tion .
We prop ose also stud ies by the var iou s
Fed eral age ncie s
of thes e econ omi c prob lem s and to prom
ote bet ter und erst and ing
and bet ter coo per atio n among the vari ous
grou ps in our econ omy .
We also pro vide for prom pt stud y of unem
ploy men t whi ch has
dev elop ed in spo ts, so as to pre ven t such
con diti ons from
spre adin g.
PARMER:
Tha nk you , Sen ator Mur ray •.•. • Now , Sen
ator
Spa rkm an, wha t abo ut this long -ran ge pub
lic wor ks plan ning
prog ram ?
SENATOR
SPAR~~:
Wel l, Mr . Parm er, I am a stro ng be-
liev er in a wel l plan ned pub lic worl{s
prog ram to be read y at
any time to thro w into the brea ch in the
eve nt tha t unem ploy men t
beco mes so seri ous as to req uire it.
I beli eve tha t the fed era l
gov ernm ent sho uld mai ntai n at all time
s a flex ible prog ram tha t
cou ld be exp and ed trem end ous ly in time
s of unem ploy men t, and
nat ura lly, in time s of good emp loym ent,
cou ld be con trac ted .
So we mus t hav e a long -ran ge pub lic wor
ks prog ram . Wit h a
rap idly g~owing nati ona l pop ulat ion , we
sho uld also give atten tion to some of the und er-d eve lope d
area s of the cou ntry
so as to make it pos sibl e to dev elop our
reso urc es and cre ate
new ind ustr y and new job opp ortu niti es
in thos e par ticu lar are as.
I wan t to poi nt out tha t one of the stro
ng poi nts in this
mea sure tha t we are pro pos ing is tha t
very thin g - so as to lend
enco urag eme nt to ind ustr y to go into area
s tha t are prese~tly
-4underdeveloped industrially, and partiaularly if those industries will utilize the natural resources that may be found in
I v.ould like to point out also that
those particular areas.
as a part of this long-range public works program, we certainly
should give very careful consideration to Pr esident Truman's
recommendation of a vast program for the development of our
river valley systems.
We are having hearings right now, by the
by, before the Public Works Committee of the Senate on the
Columbia Valley administration.
Senator Murray is the chief
s ponsor, and I believe both Senator Humphrey and I are cosponsors with him, on a bill to improve the Missouyi Valley.
Other vall eys in the country ought to be improved.
This kind
of a program woul"d produce opportunities for employme nt in those
pa rticular areas; such a program would prevent any possible
development of a depression in this country for a long time to
come.
We would have the deve lopme nt o f low-cost power in the
Pacific Northwest -we hav e alr ea dy g ot it some there, but we
need to expand it tremendo usly.
Also in the Missouri Valley.
I might just mention hurriedly pt.:.blic buildings, highways,
airports, a gene ral ove r-all public building - public works program that would cre ate jobs in great numbers if it became
necessary.
That is c e rtainly a major part of the objective of
this program.
Now, Senator Sparkman, how much do you estimate
PARMER:
such a vast program would cost?
SPARl\IIJlJ\N:
be estimated.
We ll, f,.I r. Parme r, I don't know that that could
You probably have in mind the feature in the bill
in which we recommend a fund of 15 billion dollars.
That I think
would be r e ferred to more or less as working capital for all of
these various objectives, and that figure certainly should not
be used as the estimate of the cost of the public works program.
Of course, we never get through with public works in this
country.
The big question is, how much do you want to congest
them in any one particular given period of time?
PARMER:
Thank you, Senator Sparkman.
And now, Senator
Humphrey - you, sir.
SENATOR HUMPHREY:
r11 r. Parmer, I am very happy to be
just a little part of this program.
You have heard from the
.
-5two disti ngui shed memb ers of the Sena te, who are liter
ally and
truly expe rts in the field of our econo my. I come
in more or
less, as you say, just to give a few gene ral obse rvati
ons. I
look upon the econo mic situa tion that now conf ronts
us, whic h
sure ly is not alarm ing but is one that dese rves our
cons idera tion, as simi lar to any situa tion that migh t exis t
in inte rnatio nal affairs~ For exam ple, in 1935 and 1936 ,
we knew that
Hitle r was a mena ce. We knew that he was takin g certa
in steps
that were aggr essiv e and that could caus e grea t trou
ble.
~estion
The
at that time was, shou ld we quar antin e the aggr esso
r
befo re he gets out of hand ?
Or shou ld we wait unti l he did -
and as we did, at Pear l Harb or, when ever ythin g was
.out of hand .
In othe r word s, shou ld we take prev entiv e meas ures
to stop aggres sion or shou ld we wait unti l a full scale war
come s upon us?
So we wait ed, for a full scale war, and we spen t not
only
hund reds of thous ands of lives but billi ons and billi
ons of
doll ars, into the hund reds of billi ons. Now, the
same thing is
true in econo mics - in our econo my. Shou ld we wait
unti l we have
what Sena tor ~,;lurray has refer red to as catas troph e
- or, back a
step , depr essio n - or shou ld we attac k these islan
ds of depr ession , rece ssion , unem ploym ent, wher e we see them?
When we see
them and at the time that we see them .
I belie ve in quar antinin g unem ploym ent; I belie ve in putti ng up a publ
ic notic e
that here 's a place wher e we need prev entiv e econo
mic medi cine.
We need to come in and cure the probl em righ t wher
e we see it,
at that mome nt.
PARMER:
going to do it?
Now, righ t there , Sena tor Hump hrey, how are you
And will this bill embo dy such prov ision s?
SEN. HUMPHREY:
I think it will ·.
And I think that the
one word in this bill that indic ates what we'r e afte
r is what
Sena tor Murr ay poin ted out - the Natio nal Econ omic
Coop erati on
Board - coop erati on betw een gove rnme nt and the peop
le, gove rnment and busin ess - coop erati on with the gove rnme nt
in the factors of the econo my and as Sena tor Spark man has poin
ted out,
publ ic work s is one grea t aspe ct - but not just publ
ic work s.
We also talk abou t coor dina ted plan ning , integ rated
plan ning ,
on the basis wher e you can proj ect it into the futu
re.
It is
like visu alizi ng an attac k on the part of an enem y.
•
What are
-6-
you going to do about it?
You have long-r ange plans.
And
then the substa nce of this bill i s cent e red around the very
The indepe ndent
nature of our econo my- privat e enter prise.
busine ss man workin g with th e estab lished instit ution s . of our
econom ic system - in other words , this is a bill that works
within the framew ork of the Ameri can econom ic plan; and as
Senato r Murray pointe d out, a gr ea t portio n of this
~ill
is
dedica ted toward s streng thenin g the produ ctive capac ities,
provid ing loans and credi ts and quick amort izatio n of plant.
In othe r words , using A~erican manag ement, Ame rican ca p ital,
to meet a proble m in our own count ry.
I want to say that
ther e are only two dang e rs that this nation faces - one is
on th e outsid e, from totali tarian aggre ssion, and I thinl{ that
da n ge r is even less than the dange r of breakd own within - our
own econom y. And surely if we can appro priat e billio ns and
billio ns of doll a r s to stop a poten tial int e rnatio nal aggre ssor,
we ought to a t l ea st be willin g to mak e p lans -sens ible, longrange plans within the Ame rican r:at tern, to stop any ldnd of
econom ic disas ter within our own e conom y. Tha t's why I think
this is a well planne d bill.
It is call e d the Econom ic Ex-
It is based u pon a g rowing e conom y.
pansio n Act.
have the status quo, Mr. Parme r.
We can't
Every year we get from
500 to 700 thousa nd new people in our work force; we have to
think of Ameri ca as a growin g count ry- a young nation still
growin g
an~
movin g ahead and unwil ling to stand an past laure ls.
PARMER:
Thank you, Senat or Humph rey.
Now Senato r, just
a day ago I heard you, down on the floor, say that you did not
stand for natio naliza tion of indus try.
HUMPHREY:
PARMER:
Well, that's c e rtainl y true .
Senat or Sparkm an, is this going to bring about
any nation alizat ion of indus try whatso eve r?
SPARKW~~:
No.
As a matt e r of fact, it is th e one in-
suranc e again st it.
PARMER:
that, sir?
Now, Senat or Murray, how do you feel about
Is th e r e any dange r to what the old-fa shion e d
leader s talk about - our Ame ric a n way of life?
MURRAY ;
Absol ut e ly not.
The bill e mphas izes the idea
of having this done within ou r e conom y.
It should be empha sized
..
I
I
..
that the proposed legislat ion in no manner whatsoe ver authorizes governm ent operatio n of busines s.
This is to stimula te
busines s- not to operate busines s.
PARJIJJER:
Thank you, Senator Murray.
Ladies and gentle-
men, we have just sat in the conferen ce of Senate leaders
~hting
for economic expansio n - to save this nation from
aepressi on.
The conferen ce was held in the office of Senator
John J. Sparkman of Alabama - and with him are Senator James
E. Murray of Montana , and Senator Hubert Humphrey of
M inn e sot~.
These three gentleme n - from north and west and south - have
united in forming a new declara tion of independ ence - independ ence
from national want and misery.
Gentlem en, our appreci ation to
you for letting our radio audience listen to your plans, today.
This is Charles Parmer from Washing ton, who wi 11 be with you
again next week, sam e time and same station. · So long till
·then t
Minnesota
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