The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-11-23

money" an inflated currency" green
backs and that line of talk. Credit,
they assume. should be left wholly to
the discretion of the bankers. The
evils of Government interference
through the operations of the War FL
having led to "~overloaning" in the ag-
ricultural regions Of the country. Now,
all this sort of objection might be
worth considering except for the un-
disguised fact that it comes from
large financial centers where quick
credits are vital to the continued pros
perity of large commercial and tinan-
cial interests. In recognition Of this
very necessity Congress gave to the
country the Federal Reserve Act,
through the operation of which it is
possible to move a few carloads Of
money from one city to another over
night, should the public become uneasy
and start a run on the bank" The
farmers believe it more important to
move crops than to sustain the stock
market; and so it came about that they
organized farmers associations, a
farm bloc" in Congress, and other eff
fectiye political machinery, designed
to make money and credits available
in their communities. The political
candidate who wanted to make New
Jersey as wet as the ocean" has moth
;,,r ON Tho prno,i11I 20 rp,in intnrnctc
of the country who propose to make
credits and money as elastic" in their
own communities as it is in Wall
Street. Now it may be, as some have
claimed, that there is too much money
in circulation, but even so, the class
of people remain undiscovered who do
not want all they can get of it for
their particular uses. 1t is all the
same, no matter whether it is in the
corn belt, the land of cotton, the or
chard country, manufacturing New
England, or in the grain-production
sections.
Most of the time between now and
Christmas will be devoted by the pol
iticians in Congress in explaining
how it happened" The sands of
life and the tenure of Congressman run
swiftly. An hour glass empties its
bulb in an hour. Congress empties
the political bulb every two years. In
the intervals between explanations of
the recent political mystery the Ad-
ministration proposes to push the ship
subsidy bill and a number Of other mat
ters of unfinished business. Sentiment
concerning the ship subsidy bill is
greatly divided, and there is little
probability of a bill going through
Congress until weeks, and perhaps
months of time, is spent upon it. Just
now there is the usual talk about free
ing the country Of the burden of Con
gress until next spring and summer.
But nobody need take that kind of
questionably become a necessity for
the Legislative bodies of the Nation
to remain in session eight or ten
months every year in order to keep
up with the growth of the public bust
ness.
The Chesapeake and Potomac Tele-
phone Company has asked permission
to reduce telephone rates to $4,000
Washington subscribers, each of whom
will receive benefits amounting to
about six dollars a year. The company
says that the return on its capital
stock has increased and it wishes to
give the public the benefit of improved
business by the lower rates. Naturally
the public is not going to object. An
other instance Of big reductions in
rates to electric current users has
been made by the Alabama Power
Company. This company is a con-
petitor before the Government for the
acquisition of Muscle Shoals. and a
facetious individual wants to know
whether the rate cut is intended to
keep up with Henry Ford, who re.
Gently made a reduction in the prices
of his rough-riders.
Peddlers Of shares in oil wells, gold
mines, rearless and guardless automo'
biles, rubber stock. and such-like mar
wells, have been meeting with remark
able success in talking dollars out OF
Government clerks. The failure Of
large number Of brokerage houses in
New York and other cities is thought
to have accelerated the boom in the
f~ree-lancing Of stocks. The big stock
exchanges. aside from the fact thai
they have experienced wide luctua
tions, have usually protected those
who bought stocks through them. But
the exchanges for unlisted stocks have
been less successful, and brokers play
ing through them have brought woe to
! widows. orphans and morons. In