The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1920-10-21
BUSINESS ON THE UPswING
4Dy Irving T. Brush, in The New
York Commercial

xic- Nnen business Is on the QOWn-
swing, 1t is unwise to be pessimistic,
9cr pessimism breeds Encouragement
and loss of courage is the father Of
failure Restrained common sense
hs good at all times. 1t Is absolutely
essential on the downswing.
This country has passed through
ffve years of unexampled prosperity.
A period of readjustment has arrived
and IL is best for every one to face
fAe facts. There is nothing to be
gained by getting blue because busi-
, ness cannot continue forever on the
-upswing. 1t never has and it never
viii IL We look at the best interest
~of the country, we must be forced to
the conclusion that 1t is time halt
was called.
"A generation or so ago our busi-
ness affairs were local to this side Of
rhe Atlantic. Today they are inter-
national and If we are to continue to
.endlessly boost the prices of every
thing that goes into manufactured
product, the time will soon be reach
cd when other nations will undersell
MS In the markets Of the world.
The preservation of our foreign
markets is, If anything, more impor-
Can't to labor than 1t Is to the owners
!. eof industry, and the important fact
TO every one, labor included, Is not
how many dollars are received at the
end of the week, but what the con-
tents OF the pay envelope or the pro-
ceeds OF the salary check will buy
In the way Of comfort and happi-
\ ness.
81 Ht is far better to keep the cost. of
comfort and happiness on a basis
where 1t can be purchased In this
! country for no more than 1t can be
bought abroad, for if we do not do
this, other nations will undersell us
in foreign markets and both the labor
and capital of this country will lose
That part of their job which is repre-
scented by producing manufactured
goods that are sold by us to the peo-
pie OF other countries.
~ During the war the world has laid
Its money on our counters and de-
ynanded our goods because we were
1he only producing nation in posi-
lion to supply these wants. This period
has ended and trade will return to its
we must compete for foreign business.
While this period of readjustment
is going on, some people who have
been skating on then ice may get their
Yeet wet. We will not have panic
in the old acceptance Of that term.
The term ~panis" in days gone by has
been associated with an actual in
ability to get a recognized circulating
medium. The ignorant have beseiged
The banks for something they could
stake home and count That was be-
sczae we had poor banking sys-,
tenn.
With the Federal Reserve system
In action the necessary circulating
medium can be provided and the
brakes can be applied with sufficient
care to prevent everybody from being
jolted out of their seats. That was
Hhe unpleasant part of our former
panics. Everybody was punished
whether he deserved 1t or not.
There has never yet been discover
.ed "a method by which business can
Tue conducted permanently upon an
tunsound basis, but our present bank
ling rsystem makes it possible to let
ThIngs SO gradually that the smash is
only felt by those who have so con-
Quoted their business that it cannot
bee avoided.
Our blessings have been recounted
80 often that everybody should know
them by heart, but when a man feels
blue about the future of this country,
ii is wise to sit down and count them
over again, recall the days before the
war, when the people of the United
States owed Europe vast sums, for
money loaned to us for the purpose
Of developing our resources and when
we sent hundreds of millions of dol
lars a year abroad to pay the inter
est Or this borrowed principal. Today
that debt is paid and we are the chief
screditor nation of the world.
Erom a money standpoint, we can
:. look the world In the face. The essen
tial thing for us to preserve is that
.greatest assets of all-the spirit of
America. This country has not grow.
q
about its resources. 1t has grown be-
cause its people have rolled up their
sleeves .ald worked.
We are in a position today to with
stand a money panic and in fact any
kind of a panic, except of our spirit
and courage. When we begin to be-
lieve that we can produce without
work. and arc entitled to comfort and
luxury without putting our backs and
brains into it, then the danger signal
IL indeed set.
The man with the right stuff in
.side of him thrives under a little ad-
versity. He cuts out his folish ex-
trayagance and gets down to real
honest work. A nation is but col
lection of individuals and the thing
we need to restore the spirit Of
America is less talk and more work
Those who are worth while will
come through with a new courage,