Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-03-09

Of the greatest stress did you ever hear
any business man talk about tearing
down the Institutions Of our country? OF
course you didn't. We leave that to the
minimizing radicals.
American business must sell the in
stitutiOns of this country, not only to
the inhabitants Of this country, but to
the rest Of the world. and the sale ought
to be made for our future and perma-
nent good 1t ought to be made solely
on the basis Of proved efficiency.
Perhaps you read, as l did the re-
port of the Secretary of the Treasury
H. his last report the Secretary said
that only per cent OF all the Liberty
bonds sold by the United States Gov
erument are held in this country by
banks as collateral The rest have been
bought. paid for, absorbed and put away
Let this thought go through your minds
That means that we have purchased as
g. vest ments In three years SD 900, 900
worth Of securities. 1t also is pointed
out that the United States has redeemed
and brought back from foreign countries
in the same period S60O0OOO worth NOR
Of American securities formerly held
abroad. In spite Of our admitted extrava-
gance. we have succeeded in saving, in
the three years, a sum as huge a 5 SIS.
OO0.OOO That would certainly indicate
that the fundamentals are right.
RESOURCES OF
COUNTRY LARGE.
Just look over a few more figures
rapidly. With per cent Of the worlds
population, we produce or control p per
cent Of all its agricultural products; half
Of the worlds gold is ours; a third Of
its copper is ours; half of Its petroleum;
l.. f,,IF ct #a
manufactured steel; third Of It's dairy
products and livestock; a third Of its
shoes and linens.
"These are impressive figures because
they are figures upon which we must base
our hope Of future business.
within thirteen years, IN the interval
between 1907 and 1920 came two
great transportation inventions. Fulton
launched the Claremont on the Hudson
along in the first decade Of the last cen
fury. In 1921 Stephenson produced the
first locomotive.
1T has taken one century to produce
4 vehicle Of transportation to rank with
those two great advances. Think, fur
Their, that no discovery, no invention.
means as much Ia It's poteDtials to hu-
mankind as the creation Of new transpor-
tation facilities and think beyond that
that we are the inceptors and proprietors
Of this new kind OF transportation, and
you can see we have advantages distinct
i've to ourselves.
"Yet we fret. ! viii say that 1t has
been a great time for those who love adj
yersity. If you would listen to them
you might think we were at the lowest
ebb. But our troubles are only tempo
rary.
"If you were trying to put n finger on
the major portion of the troubles would
say that we overexpanded. We figured
that the abnormal would continue to be
the normal, and that the peak would
always be with us. Too much money
went back into the plant machinery and
equipment That would have been all
right If the remainder Of our earnings
could have been with us for q reserve. q
thrift measure. But, don't forget that
for the last three years we have been
working with a silent partner-the United
States Revenue Department
This silent partner takes the cash
and leaves the accounts receivable and
the inventory for the manufacturer If
we had had those funds we would have
needed less credit. We would have been
in better pos ton to support our dealers.
BELIEVER IN
OPTIMISM.
81 believe in the optimism that has
spurred Us on. We have never lost
through our fights. We went through
stormy war years and came out stronger
than ever.
we look at the banker as a dread
person whose chief aim in life is to say
No as viciously as he can. Why gentle
men. he is Il merchant in money. he
wishes your business. We are to blame
for many denials Of credit. We harm our
relations with the banker by our own
bad practices. II we wish his good will
and his respect we must do business on
sound business lines.
Another thing-we must stop scan
dalmOngering. When it comes to spread
ing scandal and damaging rumors and
telling competitors secrets, no crowd
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