Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-01
j. S. NOW FINANCIAL
LEADER OF THE WORLD
Nations Business Future I'm
clouded Despite the Walters
OF Woe Heard.

II is odd that our nation. which faced
the war so unitedly and resolutely faces
pence SO irresolutely nnd distractcdly.
! We come out OF the war so much strength
| cned In all respects, that the world recog-
nizes us as a moral and financial leader
| Yet few among ourselves see it, and there
| arc prophets OF Voc who may convince
| the wcak-spirited. This division Of opn-
| ions where there should be but one, il IL
lustrated in the joint debate IN which the
| President of the City Bank ioned Issues
with a professor Of the New York Uni
versity. The practitioner of finance saw
new problems, but he and his institution
proposed to rise to them, and find new
| opportunities OF service and profit. The
| professor saw lin the not distant future
crisis and panic, idle labor, bread lines,
| and riot
This contrast between the theorist and
| tho practical man does not stand alone.
\ professor whose writings on finance
have secured for him banking connec-
ton, sees nothing which can prevent a
general fall IN prices, and his theory pre-
vents trying to alleviate it, Hut the
president Of large industrial concern,
long prominent in the Manufacturers
Association, finds that rehabilitation Of
the army presents mo factor in this So
employed before they went away, and they
arc all needed back again "The shifting
OF labor from the work Of war to the work
OF peace will be accomplished with scarcely
ripple Tie knew Of one employer who
wanted 10 900 men. The Pennsylvania
railway wants $500 The local utilities
need thousands, 50 shorthanded are their
services, 10 the point Of danger.
Other couples could be made of diff
ferences of opinion between practical and
theoretical men, with the advantage on
the side Of the defenders of things as they
are and viii be rather than of the pro-
FOUNDERS Of theories and precedents as to
what they have been md ought 70 be No
precedent fits this case If the facts and
the theories collide, so much the worse for
the theories. No doubt imitation is bad,
and no doubt we are experiencing so much
OF imitation that there is need OF some de-
flation But there are other WAYS Of de-
hating than by panic and ruin The ad-
mission Of imitation does not convict our
bankers Of error beyond understanding
and excuse.
Our industries had to develop both the
speed OF the greyhound and the strength |
of an OK Speed requires waste Of fuel, |
and wages were the fuel used to increase |
the velocity Of the circulation Of oommo- |
dltIes, something as necessary TO consider |
MS the increase of tonnage. Probably the |
record increase Of wages was an average Of |
1920 for each working day for four months |
for one die-cutter to speed shipbullding. |
No union would dare to demand such !
wages No unionist would be allowed to |
take them. There are faults TO the debit of |
the unions, but they have no monopoly |
thereof Employers, including govern
ment, have their share to bear The in |
fation Of wages lies at the root of the in |
fation of all prices and OF credit 1t was !
waste, for the wages were not economic !
ally earned, as appears from the fact that |
the wages increased more than the pro-
duction. The excess of wages was and Is,
the burden Of the taxpayers. There is no |
cause for regret, for the speed Of commodi-
ty circulation was attained and the war
was won, as otherwise it could not have /
been
Defatlon is the reverse of that process
II skillfully managed, the defiation can be
so distributed as not to disturb the rela-
ton of prices between each other or Of
wages and cost OF living. As Mr. Vander-
lip remarked In his answer to the pro-
fessor, 1t Is not even necessary that wages
should fall, if production is given to match
the increase The eight-hour day can be
given if the men will produce what Is with
in their power without exhaustion, if the
men will allow efficiency 10 manage the
use of their labor power.
Mr. Nanderlip met the professors
prophecy of collepse through deaation by
suggesting that We grow up TO imitation.
The worlds possibility OF profit is not ex-
hausted, and If new profits can be made,
labor will have its share. More can be
allowed to labor in proportion that labor
allows more TO capital by producing more
for general consumption. The worlds
wants were undersupplled before the war
/ He'd or disabled 20. 900 900 of the worlds
workers Influenza took millions more in q
half year With that ARREARS of labor power
to be made up, it IS not within the power or
a generation 10 supply its wants on the
pre-war scale. Wants grow with salts
faction, and when the world finds that we,
and We alone, can supply its wants, there
will be an illimitable demand, only 70 be
met by foreign trade That is MIR Wander
lips prescription of the tonic TO tone up our
labor and capital 10 meet the prostra-
ton OF the wars waste and cost. 1t IS bet
ter to maintain what we can of war scale
production than 10 hQuidate wages, and
TO export what we can spare than 10 allow
1verproduction to shut our factories. We
IAN find an antidote to domestic imitation
N expansion of trade, and can earn high
wages and good profits by serving the
world We are facing an opportunity
-ather than crisis, and have only to
;hoose between listening TO the counsels of
)ur practical men or to those OF theorists.
New York Times.