The Fireside Chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt | Page 5

for labor, and at the same time encourage each industry to
prevent overproduction.
Our Railroad Bill falls into the same class because it seeks to provide
and make certain definite planning by the railroads themselves, with
the assistance of the government, to eliminate the duplication and waste
that is now resulting in railroad receiverships and continuing operating
deficits.
I am certain that the people of this country understand and approve the
broad purposes behind these new governmental policies relating to
agriculture and industry and transportation. We found ourselves faced
with more agricultural products than we could possibly consume
ourselves and surpluses which other nations did not have the cash to
buy from us except at prices ruinously low. We found our factories able

to turn out more goods than we could possibly consume, and at the
same time we were faced with a falling export demand. We found
ourselves with more facilities to transport goods and crops than there
were goods and crops to be transported. All of this has been caused in
large part by a complete lack of planning and a complete failure to
understand the danger signals that have been flying ever since the close
of the World War. The people of this country have been erroneously
encouraged to believe that they could keep on increasing the output of
farm and factory indefinitely and that some magician would find ways
and means for that increased output to be consumed with reasonable
profit to the producer.
Today we have reason to believe that things are a little better than they
were two months ago. Industry has picked up, railroads are carrying
more freight, farm prices are better, but I am not going to indulge in
issuing proclamations of overenthusiastic assurance. We cannot
ballyhoo ourselves back to prosperity. I am going to be honest at all
times with the people of the country. I do not want the people of this
country to take the foolish course of letting this improvement come
back on another speculative wave. I do not want the people to believe
that because of unjustified optimism we can resume the ruinous
practice of increasing our crop output and our factory output in the
hope that a kind Providence will find buyers at high prices. Such a
course may bring us immediate and false prosperity but it will be the
kind of prosperity that will lead us into another tailspin.
It is wholly wrong to call the measure that we have taken government
control of farming, control of industry, and control of transportation. It
is rather a partnership between government and farming and industry
and transportation, not partnership in profits, for the profits still go to
the citizens, but rather a partnership in planning and partnership to see
that the plans are carried out.
Let me illustrate with an example. Take the cotton goods industry. It is
probably true that ninety percent of the cotton manufacturers would
agree to eliminate starvation wages, would agree to stop long hours of
employment, would agree to stop child labor, would agree to prevent
an overproduction that would result in unsalable surpluses. But, what
good is such an agreement if the other ten percent of cotton
manufacturers pay starvation wages, require long hours, employ

children in their mills and turn out burdensome surpluses? The unfair
ten percent could produce goods so cheaply that the fair ninety percent
would be compelled to meet the unfair conditions. Here is where
government comes in. Government ought to have the right and will
have the right, after surveying and planning for an industry to prevent,
with the assistance of the overwhelming majority of that industry,
unfair practice and to enforce this agreement by the authority of
government. The so- called anti-trust laws were intended to prevent the
creation of monopolies. That purpose of the anti-trust laws must be
continued, but these laws were never intended to encourage the kind of
unfair competition that results in long hours, starvation wages and
overproduction.
The same principle applies to farm products and to transportation and
every other field of organized private industry.
We are working toward a definite goal, which is to prevent the return of
conditions which came very close to destroying what we call modern
civilization. The actual accomplishment of our purpose cannot be
attained in a day. Our policies are wholly within purposes for which
our American constitutional government was established 150 years
ago.
I know that the people of this country will understand this and will also
understand the spirit in which we are undertaking this policy. I do not
deny that we may make mistakes of procedure as we carry out the
policy. I have no expectation of making a hit every time I come to bat.
What I seek is the highest possible