A Book For Roosevelt

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be withheld.)

To The Editor of the CRIMSON:

Before his inauguration President Roosevelt had occasion in a speech to refer to the Forgotten Man He stated that his sympathies were with him, and intimated that it was this type who would receive his attention upon assuming office.

In the light of this speech, it is interesting to recall the origin of the term, Forgotten Man. In 1883 William Graham Sumner, then Professor of Political and social Science in Yale University, delivered an address under the title of "The Forgotten Man." Summer defined him as "the clean, quiet, virtuous, domestic citizen, who pays his debts and his taxes, and is never heard of out of his little circle." The lecturer then went on to say: "We all seem to be under the delusion that the rich pay the taxes . . It is the Forgotten Man who pays . . He works, he votes, generally be prays . . . but he always pays . . . It is plain enough that the Forgotten Man and the Forgotten Woman are the every life and substance of society."

This, then, is the Forgotten Man whom the President desired to help. But has he? Has the effect of legislation advocated by the Administration been to reduce his taxes? Has it not had precisely the opposite effect? Have not the taxes of the Forgotten Man--the backbone of the country -- been increased? Relief is being given to certain classes of farmers in the form of receipts from processing taxes which are collected in the last analysis from the Forgotten Man, Relief is being given to large capitalists through Reconstruction Finance Corporation Loans with the hope that they will seep down to the Forgotten Man. But instead his savings are steadily being drained out of his fast-shrinking pocketbook, in an attempt to revive Big Business. Thus far this attempt has proved unsuccessful. The very bread he eats three times a day is being taxed. The Forgotten Man must be remembered.

Of course, this does not solve the problem of the unemployed. The communicant hopes in a later letter to discuss ways and means of solving this problem by other means than that of oppressing that group which constitutes "the very life and substance of society." And for the moment we are content to say with Summer: "If it is desired to bring about social improvements, bring us a scheme for relieving the Forgotten Man of some of his burdens." The first step in such a scheme should be to suggest to President Roosevelt that a re-reading of "The Forgotten Man" might not be altogether a waste of time. REMARK.