Arizona republican., 1921-12-23
'When Shall We Return to
 Prosperity Answers Roger
 W.Babson to Great Audience

public went on a buying strike and determined to hang on to every cent they had as far as was humanly ros- sible until prices got back to the l l3 levels. The speculators were caught. the hoader of commodities was forced to unload. and we experienced the most drastic commodity panic in his tory. Our increased factory capacity was left idle. Business became stag nant, and we have been almost two years in the resulting depression.
 ''The causes for it are being re- moved. hSwever, and we are well along with the foundation on which the period of improvement will be built.
 ''The imitation is being wrung from wholesale prices which are down to an average of 25 per cent above 1913 levels. Retail prices have not de- clined so much but will probably work lower on lines not already re- adjusted. Wages have been reduced in many quarters to make lower costs possible. Workers are coming to see that they must give as much as they can for the dollar they get, instead of trying to give us as little as pos sible and still hold the job.
 "The fact is, that business Is larger today than it was in 1913. The diff ficulty lies in the fact that the man. ufacturers now must market a great deal more goods in order to keep his enlarged plant busy. With this situ- ation I can see for 1922 the keenest | competition that any of us have ex- ! perienced.
 Will Solve Problems
 "This same competition will in the | long run, solve our problems. It will increase efficiency. it will lead to | greater and more economical produc- ton through the standardization of the manufacturing processes It will lead to lower costs and lower prices. The manufacturer, too, will concen- trate his attention on giving just as much as he can for the dollar he gets. rather than trying to get just as much as he can from the product he offers. In short we are rapidly get ting back to fundamental of service.
 We are getting back to the solid foun- dation of honest value. In reality.
 we are all very much better off to- day than we were during the feverish rush of the last half of 1919.
 If I may use an illustration, 1 should like to compare the business
 situation with an automobile. We | have driven recklessly without re- | gard for safety. We strained our | business machine to the breaking | point and naturally something gave away. We have had time to get it | repaired. We have overhauled the engine. We have drained the crank | case and put in new oil. We have | filled it up with water and gasoline. | We are all ready to start. The only thing that is holding us back is minority. made up of a group of both workers and business men, who fool | ishly, insist in trying to start in high. | They want to begin just where We | left off in 1919. They want to jump l from a standing start to so miles an | hour. Naturally the engine stalls.
 If everyone will start 1922 by go- | ing into low. and getting down to | bedrock in prices and wages. We can get things started. Once under way we can shift into second and then into high with no trouble at all. believe that this will be accom- plished. By the end of 1922. things | ought to look a great deal better