PLANNERS PLAYED THEIR PART IN WRECKING ROME

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 41, 14 January 1949, Page 5

PLANNERS PLAYED THEIR PART IN WRECKING ROME

History's Lesson For Bureaucrcay Most of these “Plans” for continued State Control—these “New Order” schemes, are exactly the same as ancient Rome adopted when it began to decay. They are all “decay schemes,” and this ought to be made widely known, writes H. J. Haskell in “The New Deal in Rome.” History repeats itself. Every prosperous nation has to fight for its life against Dictators, or against demagogues, officials and parasites. It is a startling fact that ancient Rome when it began to go down, had the same sort of Government Departments that Great Britain, Aus tralia, New Zealand and the United States have today. - Just Like Us It had a farm Debt Conciliation Committee, a Resettlement Administration, a Public Works Administration, a Food Relief Scheme, a Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, an Agricultural Adjustment Administration, a Farm Debt Administration, a Price and Wages Act, and so on. ‘ The old bogey of the “Profit motive” was attacked. There was a Price Control Act in A.D. 301, when the end of the Roman Empire was near. Prices were set too low, and at once there was a shortage of commodities. Rome was eaten up by doles and costly subsidies. At one time, 320,000 people were rationed for wheat. To keep the masses quiet, they were given “bread and games.” They were pauperised by state help. As many as 200,000 were given free br.ead —21bs per day, Also, they were given pork, olive oil, and salt every now and then. The Government became a giver. The hand-outs attracted to Rome the vagrants and the lazy people. They attracted the German tribes too, and they began to filter into Rome while most of the enterprising self-reliant men left Rome and went elsewhere. Inflated Currency Then the currency was inflated by a flood of new money. Almost all private enterprise came to an end, and the whole nation came to a standstill and decayed. Rome fell because of internal decay. The heart was taken out of enterprising young men. The masses were taught to expect something for nothing. Rome became totalitarian. The Government set out to control everything. As a result there was soon not much to control. The controlled industries became extinct. Just before Rome collapsed, half of the people were on the public pay-roll, and there was not enough money to pay them, as the taxpayers had been bled to death.