The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-07-07
THE MATERIAL SITUATION.

grasp the multitude of factors that make up this situation
end in this respect statesmen suffer the handicap
as ordinary mortas If the political adjustments fail
work successfully it will be partly because of the inab
ty Of the human mind to master the problems presented
to as result of the great No one question: the
good faith of the delegates to the Paris conference
They are merely unable to cope with the situation which
must work itself out.
The war expenses and losses estimate at about
5000 900 900 600 The world is off by that amount
because of the war The losses every kind Of &C.
tivy and production but staggering they are they dc
not include the manhood loss which far more dfa
trous There no method of calculating what the mar
hood loss in terms of money But by merely re
hectng upon the tens of thousands OF homes that mus
struggle for bread without breadwinner the thousand
of industries crippled for lack of labor the impaired trans
portaon systems on land and water and the tia
must lie waste for few years. it is possbe to form
mental picture of the loss Of wealth represent
ed by the manhood loss.
The first question before mankind is food, as usual
The peoples live from hand to mouth even in times O.
peace They are now living on stinted rations in Eu
food surplus This surplus going to feed the hungr!
war nations and in the process the war nations are gon
still deeper into debt England is of the most thrifty
and resourcefu of all nations and yet the balance agans
her png up in this country because Of the unayoHaol
necessity of filing up some of the gaps Of war One-hal
Of the manhood Of England that went to the front was
out Of action That is stroke that cannot be cured b.
a conference of diplomats however inspired Time mus
do its work.
The war burned up wealth. The nations stayed on
100 per cent basis long they could and then wen
sliding down the inevitable slope toward bankruptcy
Their borrowing power diminished their needs ncreas
ed double handicap that deprecated their money ras
ed the interest rate ate up remaining securities and com
PEELED them to issue paper money secured only by nope
The currency situation of Europe very bad indeed
spite of all the wonderful vgor which the United State
has lent to the allied nations Without American aid tn
allies even if ultimately successful, would have bee
bankrupt and would have been forced to remodel thel
system of existence AS matters stand some of the al
lies are compelled to take in SAIL despite their PRIDE an
their ardent wish to stand where they stood in 1914 The
are not so strong they them and must fall bac
somewhat in the line Of nations.
Europe is crater which must be filed if the none
circulation of the world is to regain its level lmmens
enterprises throughout the world dependent upon tn
stability of Europe The United States as creditor OF
the allies is deepuly involved. This government ~oul
not become nsovent if Europe should fail to pay its
borrowings but the failure to pay would be symptor
Of entire collapse which would speedily bring world
wide panic The United States would not escape mat
ter how urgently Europe called for food, clothing an
other materials or how high the prices she paid
There is world initiation of money which has destroy
ed the odtime values This initiation affects the Unite
States and the American dollar The necessity for NOR
dollars has brought them into being and there ar
relatively more numerous and less desirable than tn
things they buy Accordingly labor food and everythin
else that can be exchanged for money commands NOR
of the abundant money than it fOrmey commanded o
the scarce and more resirable money
The process is still at work and probably will continue
for year or Money will be more plentiful thai
ever and accordingly not quite valuable 1t will taxi
more dollars to buy anything purchasable. Enterprise
will be more active than ever. Production will be stu
pendous in volume. The country will leap forward il
every material way it strains every to meet thu
demands of the world Then there must be another ad
usment the level demand is approached and the need
of Europe are met Money must eventually be brough
back toward its old level which means that prices ant
wages must diminish relatively Whether this readjust
ment will be gradual and safe abrupt and caamtou
will depend largely upon the and foresgh
of Washington Post.
The og-Walow Bugle: "Our contemporary, thu
Times, boasts that it prints only all the that's fit t.
print. Right. We print all the rest On account of
circulation increase you'll have to get your