Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1919-06-13
PLACES REIMBURSEMENT DATA AT
COMMAND OF BUSINESS WORLD

enlightened organization for recon-
struction.
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 ia merely 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 working H.
brary.
1T may be that as the war nears its
ends and as the issue between au-
tocracy and democracy becomes ever
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 IL
good enough to govern any other man
without that other mans consent, to
the end Of approaching the proper
readjustment Of national interna-
tional. and racial relationships. I offer
injecting. idealism In a discussion
where undue accent of 1t 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
Sho
to concrete thinking and study Of the
entire problem"
Director ClarksOn Immediately be-
gan the organization of staff of ex-
perts. including o. NJ w. Sprague,
professor Of finance and banking Mt
Harvard, and Herbert N. Shenton of -
Columbia. Out of this staff work grew
the reconstruction research division,
which was organized on February 3,
1919, with Mr.. Shenton as its chief.
1.-THE reconstruction research divl-
sion," said Charles III. Chase, a mem
Der, "has come to feel more and more,
as the reconstruction has progressed,
that It's 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 bust
ness and relatively less upon govern
mental machinery. OF the two grand
divisions of reconstruction, demobiliza-
tion 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-
sponsibilities In 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.
ut must be recognized. also, that
In sense, in emerging from the
world war our industrial and com
mercial reorganization must be effect
ed under conditions that have under
gone considerable alteration during
the struggle. Not only price levels,
but price ratios also, have been
changed, and in many cases perma-
nently so. New industries have arisen:
markets have been altered; interna-
tional economic relations are modified;
means of transportation and commune
cation have been partially revolution
lied 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, but 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 much
more serious matter than 1t used to.
be. In the light of world develop
ments it Is obvious that our business
system must prove its resourceful-
ness; 1t must demonstrate hitherto.
unrevealed capacity for readjustment:
1t must show disposition to meet and
satisfy certain species of expectation
which have gained recognition during
the war and can no longer be uncere-
ignored or suppressed. As