The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1920-02-13


wML.ieSi.EY. Mass. Feb. IA
Americans shouA not b. surprised
At the sorviGn exchange situation.
The reason the mark. franc and nsv
arc - cheap u because thsy have
bcon EAde 20 cheap.
Pxper money V juse IKE 1owcrn
or anything else In ths world. What
there In . lot Il 20 don't carr for.
II roses were an common a. daisies
they would sail Al this same price.
II VIC had ~ many spplss ~ vs
have potatoes they would be ~
cheap. The truth n that th~rs are
nineteen timcn ~ many MARKS In
Germany today - beforv ths war.
Also there arc SIX times a. many
francs In Franco. There arc seven
times an many lire In Italy.
Another roason why exchange n
low In because Il II for he interust
OF men In Europe who owe money
10 havc money deprecated The
cheaper Il Ii the more q man can evt
for . days work and the quicker he
can pay off his dcbtx.
Manufacturers In these foreign
countries. who run export businesses.
ara also Interested In keeping the
currency appreciated. They rot gold
for ths Epods which they export and
they pay their tabor In appreciated
currency.
Devastated nonsy u rad for the
mAn VITO has got lot Of mcnsy.
but . nns thing for the man whs
owes . ioe II II the old story OF
the mills Of the gods grinding slow.
~. but exceedingly fne- Tho hank.
crs Of Europe thought they made .
lot OF money cut OF the var but they
arc now finding out that this money
Ia Of LITTLE value.
We should not feel bad evcr ehe
foreign exchange situation u In
simply a case Of tho kws Of nature
working out IN thelr tus2 and In
evitablc way.
EUROPE CAN'T BUY
As MUCH As FORMERLY
Ths foreign exchange situation
Win prevent Europs from buying NJ
much from us ~ they otherwise
would ana n vim cause Europe 70
ssnd to N much more than thsy
othsrWina would. This means that
our exports In 1890 will be less than
In 1913 and that imports In 1890
VIM be more than In 1919. This again
y only night and natural
We Drof1ted fron the war and 40
cuDuiated the majority Of tho gold
supply of the world. but we can't
keep II ms . nation any moro than a
family or individual can keep their
money indefinitely. II is said that
there arc only three generations from
shirtslcsvcs to shfrtsiccves. Statistics
show that this applies to nations al
most a. 1t does TO individuals.
OF course. business Is going to fall
of IN this country. II Ia only Just
TO the rest OF the world that We
should now give them q chance. We
have been manufacturing goods for
the entire world while Europe has
been at war. 1t In now only natural
and right that Europe should have
its turn.
This means that profits In this
country are at their maximum. The
days OF profiteering on the part OF
employers, wage-carners and mcr.
chants arc approaching an end.
There Will be no fall In prices for
a while yet. because many orders
are still untitled
When the tide turns. however. the
sheep will run Just as panicstrick-
enfy downward az they ARE now run
ming upward. When prices are going
up they get a momentum which car
rics them beyond their normal point
When they are going down they get
a similar momentum which takes
them beyond their true value. This
is especially true at the present time
when so many merchants are order.
ing more goods than they really ex.
pect to sell. on the assumption that
they won't get delivered all those
they have ordered. This means that
there Is going to be a great cancel.
lation Of orders when the tide finally
turns.
There is nothing for the average
man TO be worried about ut the mo-
ment but everyone should start In
TO save money. to prepare for the
hard times ahead.
CAN'T HURT BUSINESS
BY SAVING MONEY
Some people say that saving money
will hurt business. This is lie.
Money In never idle. when you put
money into the bank instead OF into
candy II is still put at work and II
still gives employment The differ.
encc N that the bank loans the
money TO someone TO build houses
or factories or roads which are con-
tinual sources OF wealth. while the
candy manufactures makes some
thing which in few hours has gone
down the sewer.