The New York herald., 1921-01-23
january Goth. 1921.

Gentlemen:
received your letter of the 10th at AS P. NJ
while presiding over a regular monthly meeting
Of the Board of Directors of Cities Service Com
pany, and owing to this and to several other
rapidly succeeding engagements until quite late
in the evening was unable to reply until to-day.
First let me express my appreciation Of the
tone of your letter While 1 cannot agree with
your position. nevertheless l give you credit for
being as sincere in your views as know am
in mine
If the impression persists that your
own (my) position is self-contradctory" want
to correct it, If possible I always try to think
straight and then try to speak or write my
thoughts plainly If 1 wrong in any way
will be glad to be set right, and If have advo
Gated wrong policy ! will without hestancy
publicly endeavor to make amends. These are
times when our difficulties entitle the public to
earnest discussion to harmonize differences of
opinion rather than argue for the sake of justify
ing selfish position
have carefully read your letter with an ear
nest endeavor to preserve an open mind and it
is only fair to you to say that 1t has not changed
my opinion in the least
You admit in the second paragraph of your
letter that the present economic conditions have
been in a large measure the result of extravagant
buying" Now. it you had patient who was suf-
fering from over-eatng, you would not resort to
forced feeding when his stomach turned against
food simply because he had speeded up his favor
ite restaurant to certain volume of business
and that therefore this volume of business had
to he maintained Or. If you had patient suf-
ferling from over-drinking. you would not urge
him to drink more just because his wine mer-
chant had become over-stocked even though this
former rate of patronage.
You say. The root of the entire evil"
is the buyers strike Surely you do
not mean that the buyers strike is what has pro-
duced our present situation. 1t is far from
root 1t is natural reaction from the "spend-
ing orgy which prevailed and which you speak
about in the thirteenth paragraph of your letter.
Before the spending orgy" had spent itself we
had reached the point in our financial strain
which in the judgment of our bankers required
them to call halt and to place the business
world on rationed loans
I cannot accept and do not necessarily dispute.
the statement you made in the fourth paragraph
of your letter My idea Of Thrift is, Work and
Earn--Don't Waste. Save part of what you earn
and deposit or invest it where it is safe and
where it will do you the most good
There are hundreds Of men who have abundant
capital who applicants for the loan Of cash
from their banks. but the banks are unable to
loan them as freely as they need the money or as
these banks would like to do: but these banks,
and especially the commercial banks, can be de.
pended upon to loan this money wherever it is
safe and where 1t Is most needed rather than to
loan 1t purely for their own selfish interest. In
ability of many manufacturing concerns to raise
cash by the pledge of capital is what has caused
the vast army Of unemployed. Give them
chance to get cash for the pledge Of capital and
they will resume operations giving employment
to the unemployed thus reestablishing the pur-
chasing power of the public and enabling them
selves to convert capital into cash, with which
to repay these loans.
People will buy if they have money to buy
with--end the world problem has never been TO
stimulate the need and desire for consumption.
but to produce in sufficient abundance what Is
needed for consumption What brought us to
our present situation the tendency to con-
sumo until we had eaten seed corn. SO
cannot concur In your statement that obviously
then the thrift program cannot help out of the
situation"
We who are advocating Thrift cure for
our troubles cannot undertake to have either
labor or the banks conduct themselves ito your
liking. but we will gladly join with you to in
duce the banks labor to do that which Is best
for country n whole, believing in this
present situation that each and every interest
viii nroeper more with n thoroughly sound CON