The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-05-16
PLACES REIMBURSEMENT DATA AT
M OF BUSINESS WORLD

StIuCllOUs
History records but few fruitful
governmental agencies that did not
have a firm and penetrating quality
at the base. Raising the framework
for the task Is merely a matter OF me-
chanics in organization. In
the meantime the council and advisory
commission should accumulate all Of
the literature bearing upon this queS.
ton and form II into a working II.
brary.
1T may be that as the war nears It's
ends n as h issue between au-
tocracy and democracy becomes aver
sharper and more terrible, the civilized
world will demand that Immediately
at the wars close all reconstruction
Of the worlds affairs be based upon
the dictum Of Lincoln that no man Is
good enough to govern any other man
without that other mans consent, to
the end Of approaching the proper
reimbursement Of national, interna-
tional, and racial relationships. / offer
this, though. not for the purpose OK
injecting idealism In a discussion
where undue accent Of IL does not be-
long, but to emphasize anew that none
Of US can see the end Of the road
and that therefore all plans for re-
construction should be builded so as
TO permit Of flexibility Of action and
even Of minor policy at any given
time. The main thing now is to come
TO concrete thinking and study Of the
entire problem"
Director Clarkson Immediately be-
gan the organization Of a staff OF ok
perts, including o. M. w. Sprague.
professor Of finance and banking al
Harvard, and Herbert N. Shenton of
Columbia. Out Of this stan work grew
the reconstruction research division,
which was organized on February 8.
1919, with Mr.. Shenton as It's chief.
"The reconstruction research divi.
sion," said Charles II. Chase, a men,
Der, has come to feel more and more.
as the reconstruction has progressed.
that Its information service should be
made available to the leaders Of pri-
vate enterprise, just as 1t Is made re-
sponsive to the needs Of governmental
agencies. The problems and respon-
sibilitieS Of reconstruction tend, as
time goes on, to fall more and more
heavily upon the shoulders of busi-
ness and relatively less upon governs
mental machinery. OF the two grand
divisions of reconstruction, demobillza,
ton and reorganization, the former be,
longs chiefly TO the government and
the latter devolves mainly upon pri,
vate enterprise. The former tends
steadily toward its conclusion :; the
latter broadens into the foundation
Of an indefinitely expanding future,
And though the government has, and
will continue to have important re
sp%onsibilities I'm connection with the
economic reorganization Of the nation,
1t must be acknowledged that those
who are to deal with these problems
hand-to-hand are the directors Of bust.
ness undertakings.
1T must be recognized, also, that
we have come out upon a new world.
In a sense, In emerging from the
world war. Our Industrial and com.
mercial reorganization must be effect
ed under conditions that have under
the struggle. Not only price levels.
but price ratios also, have e
changed, and In many cases perma.
nently so. New industries nave arisen
markets have been altered; interna.
tional economic relations are modified;
means of transportation and communi.
cation have been partially revolution
tied but nothing has undergone great.
er change than our social viewpoint.
and especially the viewpoint of labor.
There are new opportunities and new
and promising outloOks, hut they are
| not quite like those Of pre-war times.
The chessboard has been shaken some
Of the chessmen have disappeared,
while several others have been moved
forward or backward a little.
mot only have purely business fac,
tors altered, but new duties have
arisen-the social responsibility Of the
business enterprise has become a much
more serious matter than 1t used to
be. In the light Of world develop
ments 1t Is obvious that our business
system must prove its resourceful-
ness; 1t must demonstrate hitherto
%unrevealed capacity for reimbursement;
1t must show a disposition to meet and
satisfy certain species Of expectation
which have gained recognition during
the war and can no longer be nee
moniously ignored or suppressed. As
Secretary Redield says: We cannot
be a law unto ourselves any more
General and continuous prosperity
must he underwritten and guaranteed,
If our institutions are to avoid the
risk Of a trial at the bar Of public
discomfort. Rules of thumb are liable
to prove inadequate In this period OF
readjustment. Nothing short Of alert
Opeu-mindedness, reinforced by pos
session of the fullest available infor-