The Washington herald., 1920-11-20


Hoover last night before the Fed
Grated American Engineering Socie-
ties. meeting in the New Willard
Hotel:
'4The Federation Of Engineering
Societies. embracing thu member
ship of between. 100000 hd 100000
professional engineers. has been
created for the sole purpose of pub
lie service, This initial meeting
surely warrants some discussion OF
a few of. the problems to which this
organization for expression Of the
engineering mind can quite well
give consideration.
Among the greatest OF the prob
lens before our country and, In
fact. before tho world-are those
growing out OF our Industrial de-
velopment. The enormous indus
trial expansion of the past nifty
years has lifted the standard Of
living and comfort beyond any
dream of our forefathers.
Our economic system under
which IL has been accomplished has
given stimulation to invention, TO
enterprise, to individual improve
ment. OF the highest order. yet 1t
presents a series of human and So
cial difficulties to the solution OF
which We are cropping. The conges-
tion OF population is producing sub
normal conditions of life. The vast
repetitive operations are dulling
the human mind.
Cause of Waste.
"The intermittency Of employment,
due to the bad coordination of in
dustry; the great waves of unem-
ployment in the ebb and flow OF
economic tides; the ever-present IN
dustrial conflicts by strike ana
lockout, produce infinite waste and
great suffering. Our business en-
terprlses have become SO large and
complex that the old personal re-
lationship between employer ana
worker has to a great extent dis
appeared. The aggregation OF great
wealth. with its power of economic
domination, presents social, eco
noinic ills which we are constantly
struggling to remedy.
81 propose TO traverse only a
small fraction of these matters. 1
do not conceive that any man, or
body of men, Is capable of drafting
in advance a plan that will solve
these multiple difficulties and pre-
serve the system which makes indi-
vidual initiative possible.
Economic .Medicines.,
I'VE have had presented to US
economic social patent medicines OF
one kind or another, and, IN fact'
the great panacea of Socialism Is
today in actual trial in it's various
forms. In Russia the attempt has
been made to apply the most ex-
treme form of complete Communism
THE Russian experiment is bank
rupt in production. The populations
of our modern states have been
built up TO numbers dependent por
an intensity OF production tn can
only be maintained by stimulation
of individual effort through the inn
pulse OF self-interest, and de-
parture from this primary incentive
TO production has now been demon.
strated to lead only to famine anc
flames and anarchy.
I'VE have even had gigantic
experiment imposed upon the Uniteo
States by the war in the necessity
to operate vast merchant marine
at the hands of the government
with a result that should offer little
consolation to those who advocate
even the mildest application OF So
cialism-
4 Foundation of IndiyiduaIism.
1--WE have built up our civilization
both political. social and economic
on the foundation of individualism
We have found in the course OF de
yelopment of large industry upof
this system that individual initiative
can be destroyed by allowing con
centrauon of industry ana service
and thus an economic domination o.
groups over the whole.
I'VE have therefore built up pub
lie agencies intended to preserve al
equality of opportunity through
control of possible economic domi
nation. Our mass of regulation o
rubIic utilities and of many othe
types of industry. aiming chiefly 4
prevent combination in restraint o
free enterprise. is a monument u
our attempts to limit this economic
domination-to give a square deal
This regulation is itself also pro-"
Of the abandonment of the unre
stricted capitalism of Adam Smith
Il while our present system of in
lCividualisnT under controlled capl
talism may not be perfect, the alter
native offers nothing that warrant
its abandonment. Our thought
therefore. needs to be directed TO TIL
Improvement of this structure ant
not to its destruction.
>, Voluntary Associations.
"A profound development in oul
economic system apart from con
troll of capital and service during tn
last score of years has been tn
great growth and consolidation o
Voluntary local and national asso
Citations. These associations repre-
sent great economic groups of com
mon purpose and are quite apar
from the great voluntary group
created solely for public service.
: We have the growth OF great EN-
; ployers' associations, great farmers
associations, great merchants asso
/. Citations. great bankers association:
great labor associations-all eco
nomic groups striving by politica
. agitation, propaganda, and 'othe
measures to advance group interest
At times they come in sharp confiic
| with each other and often enougl
charge each other with crime
; against public interest.
Ard to me. one question of tn
successful development of our eco
nomic system rests upon whether w
to "sD"cts of these grea
/: national associations towards co-or
: dination with each other in the SO
+, luton of national economic prob
lens, or whether they grow int
: C"oups for more violent conflict. Th
To