Beeeaber 28, 1958,

Dear Steve* This is the letter from Mr. Eliot Janemy, of Hep Xork City, abotit which X spoke to you over the telephoae &ad which I hopo vou irlll be able to bring to the Presi- dent's attention, as I feai right nov whila he is preparing his annual aess&ge as aa his budget swsssage it ssay be very ful to get the point of view expre&ssd ia this letter*

Sinoeorely

Stephen Secretary to the President, The White House*

enclosure MSE:VE:b

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve of St. Louis c 0 p I ELIOT JANEWAY 789 West End Avenue December 26, 1938 The Hon. M. S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Eccles, May I be among the first to congratulate you on your open letter of December 22 to Senator Byrd. It provides one of the fullest, clearest, and most forcible statements, in many months, of the absolute- ly essential role played in our economy by public spending. In view of the political capital being made by Barney Baruch's senators against such investment outlays, your explanation of the calamity of "economizing" is most welcome now, when it is particularly needed to clarify the minds of many honest but ill-informed citizens who are being seriously troubled by the fulminations of the Southern die-hards. Certainly you may expect to see your theses infiltrate through- out the literature of constructive discussion of our economic problems, with specific application to the need for Government investment in such stagnant sources of potential recovery activity as railroads and utility equipment. I at least shall do my part in a series of articles I am pre- paring for early publication in the NATION. Men like Harry Byrd and Pat Harrison are able to make the appeal they do because they are entirely ignorant of the most elementary princi- ples of (or, for that matter, of any art other than pork-barrel- ing.) The only means of cutting the ground out from under the feet of these irresponsible adventurers lies in cogent and factual statements like yours, appealing to the clear economic interest of the public at large• Mr. Baruch, at least, makes no bones, in private, about ad- mitting that a frankly big business Administration would be compelled to spend as "extravagantly11 as the has. Your letter is therefore to be taken as an indication that the New Deal means to stand its ground and give back blow for blow in the fight that the renegade Democrats have opened. Such a fight will revive much enthusiasm for the policies of the Administration, which has, per- haps been allowed to flag. Let the principles of your letter be translated into a concrete and employment-making program, like railroad rehabilitation, and the en- tirely unrepresentative character of these shallow partisans will be ex-

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis posed. The country wants to work and will loyally support an Ad- ministration which assures security in employment. Your letter holds out the hope that the Administration will now proceed to elaborate such a program. When it does, you may be sure that Senators Byrd and Harrison will be off the front page, and that Mr. Baruch will be buying the market.

Assuring you of the hearty support of many economists and journalists, I am

Yours Sincerely,

(signed) Eliot Janeway.

EJ:SL

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis