Document gDRVYbRE6wmBjwRQJMpwMjNeq

LIL1ENTHAL--Maker of Atomic Policy DAVID LILIENTHAL holds one of ib world'* big Job*. A* chairmen of tho U. S. Atomic Energy Commluion he guide* nuclear research and development in the nation where greatett stride* hove been made. With bl* four associate* be direct* an atomie empire--Ook Ridge; Han ford, Lo* Alima*, the new national laboratories *oeb a* Argonrte and Brookhaven, and the many smaller project* in Industry and edocatlonal center*. It it an empire with a budget of a million dollar* a day. He eorne* to tbe toik with a record of action and a -;phUoophy that have earned ibe.reipeet-end.confidence... of hi* fellow Americans. A* policy chief of TVA at it* inception in 1911. he was prime Israel for criticism of tbe venture. In IS year* with TVA, he survived eongreilonel inveiiigation and bitter opposition to make the Authority best known of New Deal Invention*. In to doing he won the personal admiration of many deter minedly oppoeed to TVA. With Acting Secretary o! State Dean Aclieton he wrote the report that made If. S. policy on atomic energy, (fe stands for international control ol oil the crucial phases of atomie energy. Until such control I* realised, he wants America to lead In nuclear research. He know* that tbit means making more atomic bomba and accepts the Impli cations. Keenly aware of the profound significance of nuclear research to world peace and tbe future well-being of the world** peoples, he is yet sufficiently realistic to know that the read is long and strewn with many obstacles and phfolla. own land*, telling them just what America la like, what our motives are. The confusion abroad (a natural enough. But we should lake core that we our selves do not get confused obout the sources of our strength, about what it Is that makes America strong and that will keep her strong. What la this source and this lounda* lion of our American strength? The enawer most cumraonly heard is: Our economio system. This "system" Is variously referred lo as the capitalist system, or democratic capitalism, or the system of free enterprise, or some similar expression. THE BASIS OP STRENOTH The central role of free, competitive, private enterprise can hardly be ex aggerated. But neither this nor any other answer in economic terms can explain our basic vitality. The basic source of the strength of American civilisation does not lie in n "economic system." The well-springs of our vitality are not economic. They go deeper still; (hey sre ethical end spiritual. Our society in America ii founded not upon the cold and blood less "economic man" of the Marxist, but upon a faith in man as an end in himself. We believe in man. We be lieve In men not merely os production units, but as tbe children of Cod. We believe that the purpose of our society is' not primarily to assure the "safety of the state," but to safeguard human dignity ond the freedom of the indi vidual. We ore a people who have built upon s faith In the spirit of man, who conceive that the development and happiness of the individual U the pur pose and goal of American life. 1 judge that we are not ready to "trade in" this luminous concept of a people's pur pose far the notion that the America of the full of Rights, of Walt Whitman and Justice Holme* and Abraham Lin coln, is simply a highly productive eco nomic system. What we have, actually, la not a sys tem at all, but almost Us opposite, that is, a society of the greatest Imaginable diversity, and flexibility, taking things as they come, deciding how to handle lituations by the facts of each situation itself---"doing what conies naturally." "SYSTEM" IS THE RESULT What 1 have said may start an argu ment, but it will not be merely on argument over the meaning of words. I speak of the substance of things. I am asserting that the vitality of our distinctive institution* of production ond distribution of goods ultimately de pends not upon rigid and fixed eco nomic principles but upon ethical and moral assumption* and purposes; that our unparalleled productivity and standard of living are not the conse quence of an economic system, but rather the other wsy around; that our economic success end nur nourishing economic institutions arc the conse quence of our ethical and moral stand ards and precepts, of our democratic faith in man. We have ethical guide lines in this country. We have developed rather highly a sense ol what is right and what is wrong, of what Is fair and decent, and what is just crude use of arbitrary power. A cynical labor leader or busi ness giant, a cynical politician or public official--thoso who conceive of .American society as nothing more than * jungle in which the most ruthless prevail*--we may not catch onto such men right away. We can be fooled for a time by a mask of pretense. Sometimes we are alow to repudiate cyn ical disregard of our democratic faith --but that faith is always there, the foundation of our buying ond telling, our hiring and firing, our political and financial institutions. No factory can he operated, not o carload of wheot M 1*1 ROWER January 1949 AMERICA'S STRENGTH--THE ESSENCE "Upon mirIJ-wldo .two w .land lod-r 01 Dxemplm, and . dc,I-- proIDJonl.l* of certain heroic principle, of human life, ahool which wo feci to doeplr Ihol we are prepared lo etalte ererrJhlna op" k*cpln Ihem oll-e and lloorlihln,. -'What I* thW *ouree and this foundation of our American trenfth? The eentral role of free, competitive, private enterprise can bsrdlr be exaggerated. But neither tbl* nor ony other answer In economic term* can explain our barie vitality. The well spring* . . . go deeper allllt they an ethleol and spiritual. We believe In man. We believe In men not merely a* production units hoi as the children of Cod. We believe that the purpose of our society l not primarily to assure the `safety of the stale* but lo safeguard human dignity and tho freedom of the Individual. "Some would have u* believe that because we exeel in making million* of the tame kind of useful gadget* that therefore we ere fv*e men. No, that ha* tho eort before the horse. I* b because freedom for men Is a primary ethical concern of oars that we do so well In making gadgets and raising food and doing successfully many other thing*--among them the winning of won. uWe ourselves should be very dear about American fundamental* a* we move Into the most fateful role we have ever played In world affair*. For oar leadership In large part depend* apon oar continued capacity lo demonstrate bow superior, In human terms. Is our way of living. -If I am right In what I have been saying, then It Is important--desperately Important--that we be dear In our own minds about the true sources of our strength t that wo nourish and- safeguard the ethical principles (hat make t>* strong.** have a fixed "system." In the same town there is a farmers' feed co-opera tive that is not quite private or quite publie, operating aide by side with a big privately owned feed company. There are private banks, there are non profit insurance companies, there are state-owned liquor stores. We would never consider adopting government ownership or control of newspapers partly because of their educational character; but our school system, the cornerstone of.American education. Is almost entirely publicly owned and monaged. Thi* is all part ol the fa miliar picture of American diversity, of American flexibility. The fact is that we have hardly an ounce of economic dogmatism in u. This characteristic diversity of ours, this capacity to adapt ourselves to any need standa us--snd the world--in good stead tonight. For in western Europe there ore many different kinds of eco nomic undertakings and methods of eontrnlj; and, as befits world leaders, we are peculiarly equipped by reason of our own economic versatility to deal effectively with each of these, without sacrifice of our own unifying sense of purpose and direction. PROBLEM OR LEADERSHIP sold, not a labor dispute negotiated, not an election held, that theie ethical, legally unenforceable precepts are not part of the transaction. I do not tee how our kind of society could flourish in any other way. A highly interdependent country, one cap able of producing more than 9150,000,000,000 worth of good* a year. Is too complex for rigid planning and the enforcement of detailed plans by law. We must function in a loose, informal way under sanctions that are largely ethical and moral, based upon com monly accepted standards of fair play and respect for human integrity. This U the way we do function, by and large, and (hit it why we flourish. Some would have us believe because we excel in making millions of the same hind of useful gadgets that therefore are free men. No, that has the cart before the horse. It la because freedom lor men I* a primary ethical concern of ours that we do so well In caking gadgets and railing food and doing successfully many other things ""mong them the winning of war*. Diversity and flexibility, rather than stereotyped hard-and-fast system, is n essential part of such a noble con cept of society as is ours. We get our economic services in the way that at the time seems to work best, that will in a particular situation beat advance our underlying purposes. We do not start with all the answers, the economic or political answers. Wo make the an swer! up os we go along. Thus Amer ican industry is owned and operated, by and large, by competitive private en terprise; yet a year ago the Senate of the United States voted unanimously to establish public ownership and man agement in one of our largest indus tries and make It a government mo nopoly--I refer, of course, to the atomicmaterials industry. That appeared to be the thing to-do at the time, for reasons related to the facts of otomle energy, not for ideological reasons taken out of some book of economic dogma. AMERICAN OIVCRS1TY The moat rock-ribbed Midwestern town I know haVfor many years owned and operated its own electric power and light plant. Is this, then, a "Socialist" town? Hsrdlyl Its water service has been privately owned for the same period. There Is a privately owned uni versity, a public junior college. No one consider* that these things are in consistent; and, of course, they are not, except to the dogmatist who thinks we We our*elves should be very clear obout American fundamentals as we move into the most fateful role we have ever played in world eflalrs.' For our leadership *in large pari depends upon our continued capacity to demonstrate how superior, in human terms. Is our way of living. If I am right in what I hove been saying, then it la important --desperately important--that we be clear in our own minds obout the true sources of our strength; that we nour ish ond safeguard the ethical principles that make us strong. Now no candid person--no honest person--would deny that there are to day some disturbing tendencies in oar country away from thi* concern for the individual, away from our standards of fairness between men. We are witness ing in some quarters as ugly a scene of hoggishness and money mania as we have seen since the days of the *20s. Many of those who spent the years of their youth fighting for this country., returned to find themselves the victims of legal crookedness and outrageous speculation. These and other evi dences of disregard for our ethical pre cepts do exist in somo quarters; and to the extent that they exist they poison the wells of our material as well os our spiritual strength. ROWER Janoaiy 19*0 01 AS