State of the Union AddressesRoosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano)
History
State of the Union Addresses
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
That such influences operate to control banking and finance is equally
true, in spite of the many efforts, through Federal legislation, to take
such control out of the hands of a small group. We have but to talk with
hundreds of small bankers throughout the United States to realize that
irrespective of local conditions, they are compelled in practice to accept
the policies laid down by a small number of the larger banks in the Nation.
The work undertaken by Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson is not finished
yet.
The ownership of vast properties or the organization of thousands of
workers creates a heavy obligation of public service. The power should not
be sought or sanctioned unless the responsibility is accepted as well. The
man who seeks freedom from such responsibility in the name of individual
liberty is either fooling himself or trying to cheat his fellow men. He
wants to eat the fruits of orderly society without paying for them.
As a Nation we have rejected any radical revolutionary program. For a
permanent correction of grave weaknesses in our economic system we have
relied on new applications of old democratic processes. It is not necessary
to recount what has been accomplished in preserving the homes and
livelihood of millions of workers on farms and in cities, in reconstructing
a sound banking and credit system, in reviving trade and industry, in
reestablishing security of life and property. All we need today is to look
upon the fundamental, sound economic conditions to know that this business
recession causes more perplexity than fear on the part of most people and
to contrast our prevailing mental attitude with the terror and despair of
five years ago.
Furthermore, we have a new moral climate in America. That means that we ask
business and finance to recognize that fact, to cure such inequalities as
they can cure without legislation but to join their government in the
enactment of legislation where the ending of abuses and the steady
functioning of our economic system calls for government assistance. The
Nation has no obligation to make America safe either for incompetent
business men or for business men who fail to note the trend of the times
and continue the use of machinery of economics and practices of finance as
outworn as the cotton spindle of 1870.
Government can be expected to cooperate in every way with the business of
the Nation provided the component parts of business abandon practices which
do not belong to this day and age, and adopt price and production policies
appropriate to the times.
In regard to the relationship of government to certain processes of
business, to which I have referred, it seems clear to me that existing laws
undoubtedly require reconstruction. I expect, therefore, to address the
Congress in a special message on this subject, and I hope to have the help
of business in the efforts of government to help business.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account