Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-09-07
WEDNESDAY, EvENING, SEPT. 7.1s21.
EQUAL1zING THE STRAIN.

Every engine has something which serves as a
aywheel. That wheel, usually large and heavy, is
set IN motion by the power stroke of the engine, and
the momentum given to its mass carries the machin-
cry smoothly pastSthe following dead center and on
to the next power stroke, when a new impulse is
given. The result is that the machinery, instead Of
moving by %spasmodic jerks, runs smoothly and
steadily, delivering its power in a continuous stream.
We have dead centers in our economic life.
Things move forward rapidly for a time, then slack
up, and sometimes always stop. The power has
been about all used UP, and it is nip and tuck wheth-
Ser or not the machinery will move until the new
power impulse is given. It is possible for society,
through its several governmental agencies, to pro-
vide something in the nature Of a balance wheel
which will equalize the strain on the machinery and
provide a continuous stream of power to be applied
where needed.
In every period Of slackness the suggestion is
offered by a good many people that such a time
should be utilized by public bodies for the con-
s~truction Of needed public works, in order that labor
which otherwise would be idle may be employed,
and in order that the exchange of commodities
which is essential to a healthy condition may con-
tinue uninterrupted.
Such recommendations have been made quite
frequently of late. One was made by Secretary
Davis the other day. The conditions are such that
some plan OF this sort is needed for the general well
tare. 1t is estimated that some six million men are
out of4Work. Not in all cases are these men idle
because there is no work available for them, but in
most cases this is true. Business conditions have
been such that many large employers of labor have
telt It necessary to suspend or curtail their opera
lions for a time, and in the meantime men willing
to work suffer hardship.
There is an immense amount of public work to
be done. Roads are to be built, public buildings to
be erected, and other construction work must be
performed, if not immediately, in the very near fu-
ture. 70 impose on the public the cost Of unneces-
sary construction as a remedy for business string
eney would be a s~hort-sighted policy. But there is
a large amount of public work which is both neces-
sary and useful, and the time to embark on such
work is when other work is slack.
Public work is paid for in taxes. It takes time
to get the work under way and to provide for the
tax levies by which it is to be met. Contracts let
when things are moving slowly can be let more ad-
vantageously than when business is brisk. Labor
costs are lower, and material can be bought on more
favorable terms. And the payments for such work
let now will begin when money is circulating more
freely and is consequently easier to obtain. The
letting OF public contracts in this way will tend to
correct some of our business troubles, and will pro-
vide public improvements at the minimum cost. In
this way society can use its governmental functions
to operate as a balance wheel in our economic life.