January 15, 1965

Johnson's Speech Like Mrs. Murphy's Chowder

While listening to President Johnson's recent State of the Union message, I found myself humming an old folk song called "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder," and with a start I realized there was a subconscious motivation. Like Mrs. Murphy's famous soup, President Johnson's blueprint for The Great Society was minus a few key ingredients but contained everything else imaginable — including quite a lot that had no business being there.

Here are just a few of his major proposals:

• Hospital and nursing home care for the aged, so-called "medicare."
• Increased Social Security benefits.
• Twice as much money for the War on Poverty.
• Federal aid to both public and private schools.
• A high-speed railroad line from Washington to Boston.
• A national Foundation of the Fine Arts.
• A war on crime.
• A war on government waste.
• A war on pollution, both air and water.
• Legislation to ensure every citizen the right to vote.
• Enforcement of the Civil Rights Act.
• Repeal of the "right to work" section of the Taft-Hartley labor law.
• Liberalized immigration laws.
• "New approaches" to farm problems.
• Extension of the Federal minimum wage to two million more workers.
• "Improvement" of the federal unemployment compensation system.
• A "massive effort" to save the country side, restore natural beauty, and landscape cities.
• Establishment of 32 giant treatment centers for heart trouble, cancer, stroke and other health hazards.

There was more — a veritable grab bag of goodies.

The cost?

A trivial detail that the President forgot to mention.

Though few Americans have yet come out of their trance to ask about the price tag, French President Charles DeGaulle knows a boondoggle when he sees one.

The airways had hardly ceased reverberating with President Johnson's happy phrases before the French Ministry announced it was converting 150 million of its American dollars to gold — and would the U.S. Treasury please send the metal right away?

The price of gold on the international market at London immediately was bid up at a "fantastic" rate to $35.20 an ounce, only one cent off the panic level reached during the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.

The U.S. Treasury sought to calm the burgeoning "gold rush" by hinting it would reduce the "cover" of gold held in reserve for each dollar from nearly 28 cents to the legal minimum of 25 cents.

This curious proposal — in view of the fears over a new round of American inflation to meet welfare commitments – undoubtedly will slow down the professional gold speculator.  However, the implied willingness of the U.S. to devalue its currency will make the private investor abroad uneasy and alert to unload his dollars at the next slight provocation.

I doubt that we will have a major financial crisis this year, but the danger signals are flying. A head-long rush into many expensive programs of public largess might precipitate a world-wide conversion of American dollars into real gold. In this event, the Great Depression of 1932 might look like a Sunday school picnic.

There was much in the message of merit.

Help for the aged is in order, but not through increased Social Security taxes. Congressman Frank Bow's private insurance proposal would provide more care at less cost and without a new gaggle of government employees.

The retraining and relocation of the unemployed makes sense, but make-work projects are a cruel hoax on the poor who return to poverty when the money runs out.

Federal aid to education is proper for colleges — church affiliated or otherwise -- but not for lower grade schools at the state-supported education level.

A coordinated program of medical research and scholarships is long over due, but care must be taken to keep their costs within our means.

Certainly every citizen — negro, white or polka-dot — should be guaranteed the right to vote without intimidation, attend public school without discrimination, and work with equal opportunity. However, the denial of individual personal and property rights, no matter how selfish or prejudiced, can not be sanctioned.

Why isn't it possible — even desirable — to construct PART of the Great Society this year and the rest over the next few years as we can afford it? Can't we embrace only a portion of the glittering proposals without slipping into a new Dark Age?

The most serious defects in President Johnson's message were his omission of the state of foreign affairs and defense which take more than half our taxes. He did propose a summit meeting with Russian leaders, but they promptly hooted that out the window. The state of our defenses was confined to exactly two vague sentences.

Oh, we are assured the Cold War is going swimmingly inasmuch as "no new nation has become communist in the last four years" — to the amusement of Cubans, Cambodians, Indonesians, Egyptians and Ghanians.

And, we are told that "we have built a military power strong enough to meet any threat and destroy any adversary" — to no amusement at all of American soldiers in Viet Nam and Korea. (Ah, ha! I bet you had forgotten we still have boys in fox holes in Korea.)

Undoubtedly President Johnson will address himself to these most important "states" of our union at some later date. Until he does we will do well to postpone our full-scale Exodus to the Promised Land.

Author: Lindsey Williams