davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1921-12-18
Aims at Preserving Home Market
By Maintaining Good Wages
And Living Standards.
Efficiency and Elimination of
Waste in Industry Methods
At Base of the Program.

, up and down so much. but keep
:. along the even tenor of its way
without seasonal disturbance from
avoidable causes. By determining
what makes these valleys and peaks
Secretary Hoover believes that an
adjustment can be made and We
can get away from extreme fluctu-
alton in business.
Another element of the same broad
program-stili looking at the pic
ture OF industry as a whole-is the
economic flow of goods between
this country and other countries.
Study of the relationship between
raw materials and finished prod
ucts brings a discussion Of the
tariff. In the past this has been
studied and discussed from a po-
litical rather than from a sound
business standpoint. The tariff
has been discussed every once in
so often, not solely with a ground
work of fact and understanding Of
facts and the economic importance
of the decision. but too largely
from the standpoint of party
politics.
1t probably is inevitable that
there will always be such politi-
cal discussion of the tariff, but
Secretary Hoover plans to put be-
meath it such basis of fact that
all business men, when they talk
about the tariff. will have an un-
derstanding and appreciation of
what it is going to be and what it
will mean to them.
r X + X
A third aspect of the picture of
industry. looking at it broadly. is
that there are certain obviously
unsound conditions. Right now
there is a surplus of products on
the farms and no market. This
country is spotty as nation.
There is a great deal Of work in
one locality and none in another.
There has been no national picture
taken which would show these
spotty conditions so that a COM
mon understanding could be had.
Still another big thing that Sec
retary Hoover sees in the ma
tional picture is the tremendous
waste in industry. This takes the
form Of actual material wasted In
the manufacturing of products, due
to faulty design and execution; 1t
takes in the development of wrong
production methods with a waste
of time and labor and the many
wastes in distribution. This is all
illustrated in a report. under Mr.
. Hoover's inspiration. made by the
Federated Engineering Societies
on "Elimination Of Waste" -.
Secretary Hoover. is trying to get
at all of these general problems
in a comprehensive way and at the
same time is making a very spe-
cialized study of each. He does not
think that the Department of Com
merce should tell every one what
Evening star., 1921-12-18

through trade associations. He be-
lieves heartily in the trade asso-
Citations as the one best mechan-
ism to get collective action.
\ X X
Acting on this general idea, Sec
retary Hoover was engaged for
several months in forming COM
mittees in three or four directions.
In general there are three parts
to the Hoover program, because
there are in the Department Of
Commerce three bureaus which are
particularly close to and in inti-
mate contact with American busi-
ness. There Is in the department
the marine group. consisting of
the bureau of navigation. the bu-
reau of lighthouses and the bureau
of steamboat inspection. all Of
which touch the marine side Of
American business. Likewise there
is the bureau of fisheries, which
has the same relation to the fish
ing interests and the fishing in
dustry that the bureau of mines
has to the mining industry. Some
folks believe that the most i'm
portant work of the bureau of
fisheries is to help members of
Congress get their home streams
stocked with trout at Uncle Sans
expense. But some of the big
things the bureau does is to pro-
tect against pollution of waters.
the development of oyster beds.
the development of fishing inter-
ests as commercial entities. The
building up of trout streams is but
a little side line. The fishing busi-
ness of the United States is in
itself very important.
X X x X
But it Is not in connection with
the group Of marine bureaus or
Evening star., 1921-12-18
Department of Commerce Being
Brought Into Close Touch
With Nations Business.
Experts Make Salary Sacrifices
For Sake of Helping to Put
Big Plan Into Operation.

ticular industry to get him the
right sort of man. He said, In ef-
feet: Here's what we want and
what you want You know the
right sort of a man and the one
best qualified. You pick the man.
Here's what we are able to pay.
To give an Illustration, he made
such a proposition to the Automo-
bile Chamber Of Commerce. That
committee considered ninety-eight
men and picked two-one to be a
contact man in Washington and
the other to go abroad in the iu.
terests of the industry. That's an
example of the spirit of co-opera-
ton that has been developed be-
tween the department and each in
dustry, and shows also the extent
20 which the industries are going
to put Just the right man on the
Job.
Here's another example Of the
same sort. only it worked out a
little differently: Secretary Hoover
put the question of getting the
best man for their line up to the
Rubber Association of America
They had a foreign trade depart
ment Of their own, organized to d"
somewhat the same thing as was
planned for the government to do
The rubber association said: The
men we have will be more useful
to the government and to us il
they go to Washington" So they
closed up their own foreign trad'
depa-tment and shipped it on to
the Department of Commerce.
That is the basis on which other
industries selected the best com
modify man for service with thu
department. In several instance
the commodity divisions are being
developed under the direction OF
men who were already in the de-
partment and on account of specia!
fitness placed in charge OF one OF
the new divisions. such as cleo
trical goods and heavy machinery.
Fifteen such divisions have beer
established under this special ap-
preparation from Congress.
As part of the reorganization
work and paralleling the reorgant-
zatfon. the problem presented it
self of how to get the mass OF In
formation-of specialized informa
tion-to the business men. So Sec
retary Hoover remade completely
the principal publication of the de-
partment - Commerce Reports.
This was a daily issue. with a
great quantity of very valuable In =
formation from all parts Of the
world, but there was no co-ordina-
ton, no Interpretation Of what 1t
meant. 1t was unorganized-or-
ganization. you will note. being a
Hoover specially. 1t was unas-
simulated for the ordinary busi-
CONTINUED on Third Page,
Evening star., 1921-12-18
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

ENERAL prosperity is on the
4 way. The machinery for
T economic readjustment on
~ a longtime basis is at
work. THE Hoover plan" is be-
ginning to operate, and every
where throughout the country the
people are coming to see the ad-
vantage of pulling together.
Probably every one in the country
has heard of 1.-The Hoover plan;
probably no one in the country but
Herbert Hoover himself has had a
very clear and sharp conception OF
what the Hoover plan really IS
and how it is working. Even the
army of engineers and the organ
lied business men of the country
who are backing the plan and CO.
operating in it cannot describe its
broad framework. its details or its
scope.
They are working. for the most
part, with faith in Hoover. 1t is
time that the conception of Hoover
as a miracle man. as a WONDER
worker, should give way before
realization that the Hoover plan is
q common-sense. practical ousi-
ness, Observation-Disclosures
mon-good proposal.
\ 4
Boiled right down, the Hoover
plan is efficient economy-of raw
materials. of resources, of produc-
ton, of manufacturing skill, Of
man power. of capital. of ingenu-
ity, of genius. 1t Is making the
most OF American talent and op-
portunity through the great Ameri-
can principle of "in union there is~
strength" intelligent co-opera-
tion.
The great achievement that the
Hoover plan aims at is to restore
general prosperity on a permanent
basis. This means the holding of
home markets for 80 per cent Of
American production, while pre-
serving American standards of liv-
ing, with an adequate wage. and
the development of foreign mar
kets for the 10 per cent surplus
prOQuctlOn OF Tue CouHtry.
The Hoover plan is working
out of the idea that it is possible
to make an economic program for
the United States that will set all
manufacturers and merchants for
ward with something in common.
X r + y
To get a real concept Of the
Hoover plan one must take
mental picture of American indus
try as q whole. For the last fifty
years you will see that business
has been fiuctuating in cycles. ris-
ing and falling like the tide. a
high wave today and s1ow ebb
tomorrow. The Hoover plan aims
to level of these peaks and val
leys so that business will not go
Evening star., 1921-12-18

ment. improving its service to
business in a practical way.
Now comes an illustration OF
how the second bureau Of the
Department of Commerce, which
most directly and intimately
touches business. has been made
over to better serve business. The
bureau of foreign and domestic
commerce has been very COM
pletely reorganized. AS new head
Of this bureau, Secretary Hoover
got DIR. julius Klein, who had
many years of practical expert
ence abroad In foreign trade; who
had been chief of the Latin
American division during the war
days, when Latin America was the
best customer of the United States:
who was at Harvard in charge of
foreign trade courses in the grad
uate school, and who thus had the
necessary background.
AS a result of Secretary Hoover's
own conception of what the de-
partment might do and the view OF
, the foreign trade contact commit
tees, it was shown that contact
men were needed In the depart
ment-men who were experts in
various lines, and men who knew
the economic conditions in the
great geographical sections. Under
Ia ~ v,,a fanfnrqr
of electrical goods came to the
department for information. it was
necessary for him to go to four or
five places, where each dealt in
small way with electrical goods.
So Secretary Hoover got from Con-
gress an appropriation Of $250.000
for so-called commodity divisions.
The commodity idea is that there
should be in the Department of
Commerce specialists or experts on
J the commodities most important to.
the general commerce of this
country.
These contact men work both
ways-first. with the contact COM
mittee for their particular COM
modify to find out what the COM
mittee thinks could be done to pro-
mote foreign trade for their par
ticular commodities: second. they
place at the service of the indus
try the manuscripts and tremen-
dous fund Of information already
collected and what is constantly
coming in from 900 men abroad,
including the consular service.
whose members report to the De-
partment Of Commerce through the
State Department the economic
phases Of their work and observa-
tions.
In carrying on that work there
has been developed a second point
of contact with the industries. In
stead Of hiring men himself, Secre-
tary Hoover put it up to each par
Evening star., 1921-12-18
Another Harding-Plan Conference
Likely to Be Held Within a Year

country will probably be: why. you
lfgerent intent in this regard. and be
heartily welcome to it,"
1t looks as if the Senate will have
enough foreign questions before it. in
the various treaties to be considered
growing out of this conference, to keep
it working overtime throughout the
session. At this time there appears to
be little likelihood that these questions
will invade the realm of politics as
political issues. however, and for that
outlook there is genuine gratitude on
Capitol Hill.
Senators and representators would be
aehast at the thought Of political issues
cropping out Of the treaties this spring
and summer on the eve Of the congress
sional elections.
n r y X
, Way back in the early weeks Of the
stage, doubts were ex-
pressed in some quarters Of the ability
Of the conference to frame a treaty in
volving the participation Of. the United
States in an international agreement
which would be ratified by the Senate:
and, 1t was said that it would be fatal
to enter into a gentleman's agreement
not requiring the assent Of the Senate.
1t is recalled that at the time Secre-
tary Hughes rather tartly remarked
that he wondered If any one thought
the American delegation would be un-
mindful of the constitutional rights Of
the Senate, or II they would forget the
record Of the Senate in voting on the
Versailles treaty.
Secretary Hughes never had the re-
motest idea of trying to go around
the Senate without noticing that
body's prerogatives, nor had he any
doubt that thetreaties which would
come out Of the conference would
conform to the opinion in the cham
bsr.
i + 4 +
The administration and the American
delegation are confident that moro than
a sufficient number Of votes are already
in sight for confirmation Of the four
power treaty. and. indeed. Of any
others that are to be presented; also
that from now on the opposition will
steadily diminish.
The policy Of the President In not
sending the treaty to the Senate now
is said to reflect the view that the
Evening star., 1921-12-18

cally, Secretary Hoover found the
bureau Of the census preparing
population statistics, health sta
tistics, agricultural statistics and
other general classes of statistics.
More specifically as 1t touched
business he found that the census
bureau compiled a census Of man
ufactures every two years.
Now, the first thing that Mr..
Hoover wanted when he came into
the job as Secretary Of Commerce
with a zeal and determination to
help stimulate business and put
across an economic readjustment
business throughout the entire
country. To get that for himself
he had to go into various depart
ments for the facts-to the Fed
eral Reserve Board. the bureau Of
the census. the Department Of the
Interior, the Interstate Commerce
Commission. etc. All Of these gov
ernment agencies compiled and
published facts and figures along
their own particular lines, but each
compilation was separate. and they
were not all brought together and
co-ordinated IN one place to show
the whole story.
So for several months Secretary
Hoover worked getting these al
ready accumulated statistics as
sembled. and dovetailed them to-
gether to get the national picture
of business as 1t was. Then. as
the various committees which he
had called into conference came to
talk across the table with him,
they found him fortified with facts
and related facts regarding busi-
ness. AS he referred frequently to
his co-ordinated statistics, they
said: IF that is a good thing for
. you to have. and you find 1t SO
very useful. 1t ought to be a good
thing for US. We ought to have
Just that sort of concentrated and
co-ordinated and authoritative in
formation" So Secretary Hoover
staff ION the line" under the di-
rection Of Director william NJ.
Steuart, but under the personal
supervision Of DR.. Frank Surface.
whom he called into the service
for the particular purpose of max
ing a monthly business survey.
The broad object of this is to
introduce prophecy as well as his
tory. The census. by and large.
pened; the business men are more
interested to know what is going
to happen. OF course, the federal
department cannot indulge in
prophecy and cannot say with ac-
curacy what is going to happen.
It Is up to the individual business
man to make his own guess or cal
culations as to what will happen.
But Secretary Hoover thought that
the Department OF Commerce
should give the business man a
better basis Of fact on which to
figure. He thought that the busi-
ness man would be in a position to
estimate more accurately what
probably would occur II he knew
what happened last month instead
of what happened two years be-
fore.
So the monthly survey of busi-
ness is being made. and four num-
bers have been issued. with i'm
provements each time which have
resulted from closer contact with
business.
That illustrates how the bureau
of the census has. through devel-
opment of more intimate contact
and working under the new phi
losophy Of the department. been
able to turn that contact into
helpful action within the depart
Evening star., 1921-12-18

can have our assurance of no bel
foreordained the success that now
seems in sight was the lesson of the
world war. The nations of the earth
were bent on doing something to min
imize, if not prevent, chances Of a
new world war growing out Of the
seeds of the last one, or any latent
cause.
Superstitious folk who believe in
the sequence Of threes-if one thing
, happens, there will be two more-are
asking what will be the third surprise
the conference will spring on a wait
ing and interested world. There was
the surprise Of the reduced naval pro-
gram. and after it the unexpected
four-power treaty. carrying with 1t
provision for abolition of the Anglo
japanese treaty. Next. please?
/ + X II i
Thoughtful men in the conference say
/ that one of the most valuable results
| to mankind and the peace Of the world
! of this meeting promises to be the allay-
/! ing Of suspicious between the japanese
people and the Americans. The jap
anese have undoubtedly obtained a bet
ter idea Of the state Of public mind Of
America toward their nation, through
the dispatches Of the correspondents Of
. the great Japanese newspapers. and it
. is fair to believe that the conciliatory
course Of Japan has increased the
respect Of Americans for that country.
The decision which will be involved
1 in the naval program to refrain from ex-
tending American fortiicatiohs or naval
bases in the neighborhood of Japan
appears to be regarded as of great
| value by the Japanese: more SO. in
] fact, than by the Americans, who
have wondered why the Japanese
/ placed such great emphasis upon it.
The popular mind in this country did
not contemplate an aggressive line of
Notifications or naval bases in the far
east, but the japanese public appears
to have been very apprehensive that
such a program was in hand.
The Japanese attach great psyche
logical Importance to the willingness
of America not to undertake military
measures Of the character named in
Pacific waters and II 1t operates to ailay
suspicious and put the Japanese In =
safer frame Of mind. the verdict in this
Evening star., 1921-12-18
Why Pressure Comes From Europe
For a World Economic Conference

countries Of Europe to purchase foreign
goods more freely. thus revive foreign
trade and restore European markets
now inactive and well-nigh dead. Each
government would guarantee the credit
Of its own importers.
The fact that Europe has taken no
| serious step to inaugurate this or any
other plan Of self-help would seem to
indicate that in this crisis Europe is
unable to function. This might be seized
as an argument against any initiative
on the part of the United States. Fur
thermore. it Is said, how can a bankrupt
own citizens by simply issuing bonds,
! thus increasing its government debt?
All this seems to argue in favor Of
America keeping hands or until some
thing happens-either q total collapse
lapse or a slow revival obviating the
ned of any international economic con-
ference.
It is not difficult to assign a cause for
/! this widespread lack Of credit in Europe.
War IL the most uneconomic OF all pro-
cesses. 1t not only destroys existing
wealth and checks future production; it
forces excesses in credit or paper cur
rency far beyond q corresponding in
crease in wealth. Already 1t has i'm
periled, II not destroyed. the gold stand
ard in many countries resorting to the
!! "riotous revenue" of the printing press
Russia and Germany lead in the pro-
cession Of paper money. Poland is a
close third. The paper money Of these
three countries is in such vast quantities
as to render them almost worthless when
exchanged for gold. The German mark.
worth In 1914 about % cents, is now
worth about one-haK a cent. The Poland
mark In 1914 was worth about q cents;
now It is 80 low in value as to require
% Polish marks to buy / German
mark. In other words. Polish mark
is worth about one twenty-second Of a
cent in gold! Such currency is fantas-
tic, grotesque. 1t IL useless to attempt
to maintain international exchange and
normal trade and commerce under such
conditions.
+ + y +
|: Obviously. the effect 10 disastrous to
the United States American n,anufac-
turers and producers cannot DO business
Continued on Third Page.1
Evening star., 1921-12-18
BY n. O. MESSENGER.

Os
DRESIDENT HARDING visions
- another international confer
ence. nodded along the lines
of the Washington conference,
within a year after the close of the
present one, and will be grievously
disappointed if none follows. This
administration does not contemplate
calling or participating in an eco
nomic conference until all the work
of the conference now sitting is COM
pleted.
1t is the general belief in confer
economic problems will have to be
held sooner or later. and the sooner
the better, although there is concur
renee in the Presidents idea that it
is not advisable until the Washington
conference has cleaned the slate of
the political issues pending before 1t.
President Harding. it is said. would
prefer that the economic conference
kBs held in some European capital. 1t
IS taken as a matter of course that
the next political meeting will be held
abroad. very likely in Toxic.
r * +
So the American government seems
to have set a new fashion in interna-
tional affairs by assembling a group
of nations in friendly concert around
the council table-a fashion that
promises to be the vogue for the fu-
ture 'It beats going to war all
hollow" the opinion is said to be.
And it has proven such compare
lively easy thing to do. Possibly
some other nations can be imagined
saying, "Why didn't we think of ii
hrst?"
To be sure. there have been interna-
tional conferences of many kinds in
the past, but nothing like this one
nor anything like those that are ex-
pected to follow. They were but mere
International pink teas. SO to speak.
y =
One additional reason attributed for
the promised success Of the confer
ence by those who discuss it aca-
iemicaIly Is that this one did not
meet to lay down rules for hypo-
thetical cases likely to arise In the
future. but dealt with actual existing
conditions. .
OF course. tas primary cause which
Evening star., 1921-12-18

Germany IL the key ts the situation,
and that Germany Is helpless because
Of the harsh Versailles treaty. and,
compelled to resort to the printing
press for her currency, now appeals
to the allies for help in the payment
of feparation.
"As matters stand new.' says a
prominent American economist,
there is ne escape fer Germany. and
IL Germany falls economically and
financially, the disaster to other coun-
tries. and even the United States, will
be appalling" These economists be-
lieve In the establishment Of some
sort Of an international bank, with .
large part Of the gold Of the United
States as basis Of it's currency. 1t 10
dollar the standard currency Of Eu-
rope, and set Europe on its feet,
On the other hand, there is another
school Of thought opposing any en-
trance Of tho United States into world
ecenemie s6sirs until Europe reveals
some ability to function collectively
fer itself, "America must keep hands
Oh Europe In the matter Of taking an
initiative In calling an international
economic conference" says . promi-
nent oaioiAl In close touch with world
economics. Great ~ 10 the need for
action along this limo. do not think
1t Is time for America to move. Tho
real facts are that the world has not
yet fully demonstrated It's ability to
function economically and financially.
Until we are sure Of this fact. Amer
lea better not call an international
economic conference"
Which program do the facts Justify?
+A -
1t is not new to say that the world
war destroyed the economic machine
cry by which nations and peoples live
and thrive. It destroyed the eauilib-
rum Of production and distribution.
of trade and commerce. Of money and
exchange, and tossed into the air all
the fixed formulas Of human progress.
It is entirely new to suggest some
workable plan or sgreamsnt Under
which the economic Affairs. Of the
world may be restored to normal and
the United Ststss saved from the con-
sequences Of a possible world col