Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1919-06-06
|EgRaR[ A[[ls
AMERICAN CREDIT
Entire Continent n StatFsf I'm
rest rs the Result Of
Exhaustion Due
to War

III In \ sensational speech on Nay /;
before The Economic Club Of Me-
York, Mr.. Frank A. VanderIip, III
President Of the National City Banl
who has just returned from q pro
longed tour Of Europe. said that Eur
tope Is pafalyzed; that millions Of tn
people are out of work and on tn
verge Of starvation; that BOlshevisn
rs rampant not only in Russia, but Il
Spain; and that Great Britain Is OIL
the verge Of . revolution. Italy, h
lsaid, fears to disband her army be-
teause She has 20 employment for hel
men and is afraid Of idleness. In Eng
land, he said, q Cabinet Minister told
him that six or seven millions Of En-
lglishmen viii have to be sent out Of
the country and closer to the sources
of the food supply unless conditions
change speedily for the better. And
in this direction Mr.. Vanderlip held
out but little hope, saying that, as far
as be could see, conditions would be
worse q year from now than they are
at present. On this subject he said,
In part:
IF ! We're 70 try to put into words
what ! sum up as the most essential
thing to grasp about the situation In
Europe, the two words would be par
alyzed industry There Is an idleness,
there is a lack of production through
out Europe and indeed in England,
that you can hardly comprehend: Now
why should a factory unframed by the
war, in the midst Of q continent want
ing everything, incidentally be idle?
Why should there be 1,000,OO people
in England receiving an unemploy-
ment weekly dole? Why should there
be in little Belgium 100000 people re-
ceiving a weekly unemployment
wage?"
The answer 20 these questions lies
in the first place IN the impaired NOR
ole Of labor. In Belgium great num-
bers Of people have been maintained
largely by public FUNDS for four and
a half years. This is more or less
true all over Europe and people have
gotten out Of the habit Of self-main-
tenance. Then too there is this diff
Guilty. The manufacturers need raw
material and they have neither the
money nor the credit nor the goods
with which to pay for it. Regarding
this phase Of the situation Mr.. Van
derlip says:
"The manufacturer, starting with
disorganized labor situation, a wage
scale three times the pre-war scale, a |
demoralized morale, great difficulty in
getting foreign exchange to pay for |
his raw material, great difficulty in
getting bottoms to ship in, great diff
ficulty in getting it transported to him |
after It arrives at the port, must still
produce. But after he produces he |
has not the market that can pay, q |
market that will give him the means
TO 90 on completing the industrial
cycles of buying more raw material
paying his labor"
To remedy the situation, to help
avert the revolution Mr.. Vanderlip |
considers inevitable if things drift in |
Europe further along the direction |
they have taken, he urges a loan to |
Europe, not Of money, but Of credits.
II would send machinery, equipment
for the railways, raw material; send it |
On time; have the payments secured
by the very best security that they can
give, and that means special security
said Mr.. Vanderlip.
Mr.. Vanderlip Is not an alarmist.
he is q banker Of national and inter
reputation for sound business
Judgement and accurate knowledge Of
world affairs. In his opinion, unless
something is done, Europe will meet
! worse catastrophe than the recent
var, namely widespread civilization
destroying revolution. If this is to be
escaped it behOOves America and all
he world to give heed to his words.