so
February, 1937
THE K I N G ' S BUS I NES S
The National Election Viewed Beneath the Searchlight of the Prophetic Word
By LOU IS S. B A U M A N * Long Beach, California
N O W that our presidential election has been history for more than two months, and the sovereign people have had time to cool off a bit and reflect, we have summoned sufficient courage to discuss the subject: “ The National Election Viewed Beneath the Searchlight of the Prophetic W ord .” If, as a host of devout people believe, we are dwelling in the twilight of the present age, then surely the economic, social, political, and spiritual trends within the mightiest, the richest, and the most influential nation on the face of the earth cannot be with out some significance. And nothing can more clearly reveal those trends than can a national political campaign. A C orrect P red iction a n d I n ter pre tation Prior to the recent election, we read the campaign pre dictions of nearly all the famed interpreters of politics. And the one we picked as the most nearly correct was, strange to say, that of a communistically inclined woman! Dorothy Thompson, writing for the New York Herald Tribune Syndicate, said: It looks as though he [President Roosevelt] will be reelected. And I do not think that it will be a purchased vote, purchased by the bounties of the Federal Govern ment. . . . Nor will it be the fact that the country is recovering, that business is on the up-swing. No one believes that this process would be retarded by the election of Mr. Landon. . . . This election will be decided less by thought than by instinct. But instinct is telling a great many people that Mr. Landon stands for Government doing as little as possible; for trusting to the free play of economic forces to get and keep this country stable and progressive; and that Mr. Roosevelt stands for Gov ernment setting objectives, giving direction and actively doing something. I believe that the people of this country, the majority of them, and by no means the least patriotic and the least intelligent, want Government to take direction, want leadership, want action. 1 believe that the whole course of history is in this direction, and that it is as inevitable as that the sun will rise tomorrow. And if Mr. Roosevelt wins, it will be for this reason. He will not win for his achievements, not for his person ality, not for his radio voice, not for his statesmanship, but because he has shown himself more keyed to the temper and the yearnings of the world as it is today. “ T h e G o v e rnm e n t to T a k e D irec tion ” Note it carefully: "T h e people . . . want Government to take direction, want leadership, want action. . . . I t is as inevitable as that the sun will rise tomorrow. And if M r. Roosevelt wins, it will be . . . because he has shown himself more keyed to the temper and the yearnings of the world as it is today." And for once at least, Dorothy Thompson was right. The “ temper and the yearnings o f the world as it is today” are everywhere calling for “ Government to take direction.”
And whether or not a supposedly yet free citizenry realizes it, calling for the “ Government to take direction” means, in its final analysis, calling for dictatorship. In a majority of the nations in Europe, “ Government” is taking “ direc tion” not only of the bodies, but also of the very souls of men. With the possible exception of Britain, America is the world’s last great stronghold of freedom. And yet, Columbia, with eyes wide open, galloped up to the ballot- box on November 3 and overwhelmingly approved the most intensely personal government, clothed with the vastest punitive power that America has ever known. A F ear a n d D ang er of “ S h a ck l e s " Frank R. Kent, famous political columnist and in terpreter, truly says: Men of industry and finance are at the mercy of the government to a degree that would have been incredible three years ago. . . . The basic one [fact] is that the governmental power to punish exists today to an extent never dreamed of in this country., Formet United States Senator James A. Reed, of the same political party as President Roosevelt, and erstwhile seriously considered within the ranks of that party as a potential candidate for the Presidency itself, declared. “ A vote for M r. Roosevelt is a vote for governmental chains upon every citizen of the United States,” and he said further, “ This New Deal has from first to last . . . its purpose . . . to set up a government which regiments and controls and dictates to every person in the United States.” If Senator Reed seems too severe, let us recall that M r. Roosevelt himself, on January 3, 1936, in his Annual Message before Congress, calmly said: They [ “our resplendent economic autocracy” ] realize* that in thirty-four months we have built up new instru ments of public power. In the hands o f a people’s government this power is wholesome and proper. But in the hands of political puppets of an economic autocracy, such power would provide shackles for the liberties of the people. Let us fondly hope that our benevolent American Dicta tor-President, admitted by all men to have greater power centered in his hands than any other man on earth pos sesses, will ever remain “ benevolent,” and will only make “ wholesome and proper” use of his newly created “ instru ments of public power.” Let us also pray that with a change of the wind, these shackle-making “ instruments of public power” shall not fall into “ the hands of political puppets of an economic autocracy” whose number may prove to be “ 666” (Rev. 13:18). However, the important thing to note is that the President readily confesses that “ instruments of public power” that can easily “ provide shackles for the liberties of the people,” now exist. W e are made to wonder why, for one hundred and sixty years, American freemen had no need of these “ instruments of [ Continued on page 69]
*Pastor, First Brethren Church.
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker