The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1915-11-29
Roger w. Babson Talks
About G ittiions Pro-
duced by War:
!. AMERICAN! DOLLAR D {!
1t is the Only Currenc on
Earth That is Not De-
reased in Value.
sY ROGER w sAssoN. n
tWritten Especially for The West

~
BY ROGER w. seARsoN. X
,tWritten Especially for The West
virsinian.)
few days ago 4 saw a very inter:
esting cartoon. 1t was a picture of
Uncle Sam appearing at the door of
his house in answer TO a ring and
finding on the steps a little baby in
a basket labelled financial suprem:
acy. Behind 10 tree appeared the half
starved mother labelled Europe who
was anxiouslyS awaiting to see &c in:
Gle Sam would take her baby In OF
course Uncle Sam took it in. There
was nothing for hint to debut to take
TT In. But the picture did not tell
whether he will adopt this baby as
his own, or permit 1t toyreturns to its
mother as soon as 1T is able D., Il z Z
This cartoon expressed, better than
can statistics, the great opportunity
offered to the United States today.
This opportunity moreover is three
fold !; a great financial opportunity, a
great commercial opportunity, and a
great political opportunity At pres:
ent I'VE are having these three oppor.
.tunities itirustsupon our doorstep: AT
the moment we are perhaps making
he.bestiofIt them 6;
But do we realize what they arc, do
we realize that. no such opportunity
for supremacy was ever presented to
any, nation in the history o.! the
world? Are. we willing to make the
necessary sacrifices to hold the I su:
premacy oven II we secure 1t? This
lis the question New York is now the
worlds smone center. ~
First. the American dollar. To s.
The real fact OF the case is that the
United States dollar bill, which you
have in your pocke is the only cur:
rencyS on the face Of the earth which
today IS not depressed in value. Hence
our dollar now Temporarily takes the
place of the famous English Pound
Sterling as the worlds standard.
This rs a great opportunity for us. g
AS the dollar becomes the world
standard, New York becomes the
world financial center, and the United
States theIworldI market place Wheth:
teT We viii hold this or not after the
warts over, depends upon you and
me. II weywillI economic and use our
money to loan inst lead OF to spend, ~
we will produce and use our energies
to raise more crops instead of 5luXur;
Iies: and 10 we will refuse to tolerate
any imitation OF our own currency,
then we Z can hold this position as the
money center Of the world We I Ger.
itainIy have al splendid start since the
gold reserves OF our banks are now
greater than ever before, while ,sthe
surplus reserve heldi8by the t New
York banks alone Eis the biggest in
their history. ~
1--WE are the world s market place.
Y Do you know that today Uncle Sam
Isl the greatest ordertaker the world
has ever seen? Fo-5. never was the
case in history when SO many orders
have been thrust upon a people as Us
true with us today. Our crops are
greater than ever before. The demand
for these crops Is greater than ever
before and the prices are high Our
farms this present year have been
almost gold mines. The moving OF
these crops are helping the railroads
and I as the railroads began to prosper,
a score or more Of other industries
rapidly doomed.
But prosperity will not be confined
10 the farmers and the grailro Our
mills have suddenly become OF inter
national Importance. i refer not sim
ply to those plants which are making
ammunition and instruments OF de-
struction. l refer to those Smanufac:
turing agricultural implements. wool:
en- and cotton goods. iron and steel
products; together with the many 9th;
er$lines necessities. OF course. the
manufacturers OF luxuriess are still In
the dumps 4 and there are several in.
dustries swrich are still dull. but the
manufacturers Of all the necessities,
from shoes and caps to carts and
portable houses are on the verge of
reaping a great harvest. Prices U.s. no
object Our goods are needed abroad
and must in some way be secured.
With the ablebodie led men of Europe
at the front, the great mills of Eng:
land, France and Germany are unable
to supply their own mar ets not to
mention 1 the markets of South Ameri:
ca and the rest of the world! Hence