The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1920-11-25
Foreign Advertising Representative
THE AMERICAN PRESS association
GROUNDS FOR CONFIDENCE

Touch a man s pocket book ans
you get his undivided attention
Few pocket books are ESCAPING
the touch which is in process to
day through the return swing O
the economic pendulum-and ev
elyone is in the deepest sort o.
a quandary as to how far the pen
dulum will swing in its sweep to-
ward lower prices, and what will
happen ere a new basis for bust
ness calculation is reached.
Possibly mo more authoritative
statement in this connection has
been given out than that appear
ing in the November economic re-
port Of the National City Bank
of New York, from which we
quote the following:
1t is inevitable that this slump
would come whenever rising
prices reached the top and the
public became satisfied that the
future course of prices would be
downward rather than upward
1t came prematurely in 1919, be
cause the influences favorable to
squirt of private expenditures
at that time were too strong to
be held in check. It is better that
the check should come now than a
year later. Although the reac-
tionary swing has gone farther
than most people expected it to,
there is no reason. for extreme
pessimism about it. Undoubtedly
some prices have gone too low al
ready 1t is unreasonable to sup
pose that prices are going back
at this time to pre-war levels, and
where they do it is safe to, say
that the things are too cheap and
can be bought to advantage.
"There is good reason for con-
fidently believing that this corln-
try is not going into a long per-
iod Of depression. Such expert
ences in the past always have fol-
lowed long periods of internal de-
velopment, including extensive
construction work, such as rail
road building, BODYBUILDING, etc.
Our periods Of prosperity and
credit expansion have been OF
this character, and it has usually
happened that the movement has
overrun the needs of the country
at the time, and period of
growth was required afterward
to bring the country up to its new
This was the case III
1873 and 1898, the two most i'm
portant crises OF our recent his
tory. In the period following 1913
recovery was delayed by the con-
troversy over the money question.
1.-THE boom period which has
been responsible for the existing
expansion OF credit and high
prices was not due to internal de-
or construction work
on the contrary it interfered with
normal development and improve
ments, and the facilities Of the
country are behind its needs.
Never before was there so much
work in sight needing to be done,
,r SO many opportunities in the
world outside. The immediate 4
problem is that of price readjust-
nent. 1t is not a case of exhaus-
ion or Of waiting to grow up to I
Investments that have been made. i
he new work would not go for t
zard upon the level Of costs ere f
ted by the war, and regarded as G
bnormal and temporary. Il
Although \the buying power b
the agricultural districts has i
cen affected by the fall Of farm v
roducts the fact remains that 4
lie yield of these products is the .
.rgest on record. The yield is L
4 important factor in the de-
inc and in some crops it will
in large part for the
ecline. In corn and oats the
.rmer sells the surplus after pro-
ding for the keep Of his work
FINALS and other live stock; on
short crop the surplus is small
id may not bring much even at
high price. but on large crop
Of the surplus is for sale. If
heat is low all farmers will pay
IS for flour, and if all goods
me down the farmers loss of
releasing power will be cores
ndingly less. The decline inl
rm products has been so sudden
to give a shock, but measured
prices III the past still gives
eat buying power.
+" In this connection, however,
would sound a note Of warn
! which we have often sounded
fore. The foreign exchanges
We been working lower, and if
sy should break seriously
ol1ph to comne1 a still greater