March 6, 1934
Here is a coincidence of some interest to me. In my interview with L.E.D., reported on the reverse of this sheet, I asked this administration critic for his solution, and got a frank "I don't know." Two days later the President addressed his NRA congress, and I listened to him over the radio yesterday, and was amazed to hear him face this issue squarely. The following clipping is from the Gate City of March 5, and is included here for comparison. I wonder if Big Dick read it."There are some people, of course, who do not think things through; as, for example, the man who complained in one of yesterday morning's papers that criticism was held to be unpatriotic.
Puts Case Clearly.
"Let me put the case so clearly that even his type will understand. If we admit that the government has a specific problem to solve and undertakes to do it in a specific way, the critic is unpatriotic who contends himself with loudly proclaiming that that way, that method is no good; that it won't work; that it is wrong to do this. This critic contributes nothing--he is not constructive; he is unpatriotic because he attempts to destroy without even suggesting a way to build up.
Critic Patriotic.
"On the other hand the critic is patriotic whether he be a business man, a worker, a farmer or a politician if he says, I don't like the methods you are using to solve the problem; I believe it would be far better if we were to use the following alternate method, and thereupon outlines for the benefit of his neighbor and his government a helpful proposal."
Then, he added, the "average American is doing splendid service by coming back at the captious critic and saying to him, 'Well, old man, and what do you suggest?"
