US Presidency
1930

At that time I determined that it was my duty, even without precedent, to call upon the business of the country for coordinated and constructive action to resist the forces of disintegration. The business community, the bankers, labor, and the Government have cooperated in wider spread measures of mitigation than have ever been attempted before. Our bankers and the Reserve System have carried the country through the credit storm without impairment. Our leading business concerns have sustained wages, have distributed employment, have expedited heavy construction. The Government has expanded public works, assisted in credit to agriculture, and has restricted immigration. These measures have maintained a higher degree of consumption than would have otherwise been the case. They have thus prevented a large measure of unemployment. They have provided much new employment. Our present experience in relief should form the basis of even more amplified plans in the future. But in the long view the equally important thing is prevention.