, 1923-03-14
The souAREsT CITY
Construction Not Conversation

PEvIEWING some of the accomplishments of
Il the administration of which he WIS a member;
and a~nalyzing some of the spirit of fault finding
which is chronic in the country today, Former Sec
rotary Fall, has given the country something to
consider for a time at least. Addressing himself to
the latter subject he remarks:
'1t is no reflection on a community's intelli.
gence to say that it insists on having a lot of things
done, but doesn't know what they are. 1 under.
take to say that there is no political community in
the world today that has crystallized anything like
an adequate notion of what it wants done for it
self by its legislators and administrators There
is mighty little of direction and guidance for the
public man, in the knowledge that his c~onstitu-
ency expects him to "do something about things
In the long run Legislators and administrator
DO not get much farther than 10 formulate into
working policies and programs the purpose at the
bottom of the community mind. If the community
doesn't know pretty well what it wants and espe-
cially if it is in n frame of mind to be dissatisfied
with whatever it gets, it can be reasonably sure
of not getting much.
Now, that is just about the state of the pub.
lie mind today in most communities that enjoy the
privilege of choosing their law without purpose of
reflecting on the intelligence or sincerity of the
voters. l don't care what particular group in the
community might be called in to prescribe for the
present illness of the body polite throughout the
western world; whether you send for the diplo-
mats, or the college professor or the lawyers or the
trade unionists; the butchers, the bakers, the doc.
tors of medicine or the doctors of divinity; no mat,
ter which group of stratum of the community you
send for, you will find when it attempts to agree
what sort of medicine society requires at this time
it will be pretty likely to talk a long time and
then break up in a laundering row.
'"Ihere never was a time when the critic on the
outside looking in, found more to ~criticise than
he can find in these days. There never was a time
when conversation was easier or construction hard.
er. If you don't believe me, just take n year or two
of leave from your regular job, and frame up your
own scheme to rehabiliate the world, to balance its
budgets, reduce its taxation where il ought to
be reduced and increase it where it ought 10 be in
creased to demobilize its armies, scrap its navies,
restore the gold standard, doctor up the informal
ional exchanges, put an end to the menace of mil.
insure the cooperation of nations and the peace of
continents without detracting from the sovereign
independence of any state, Draw up your own pro
gram for setting everything right everywhere.
When you have finished it, then call in ten of your
sanest, most intelligent, most reasonable friends,
and get them to accept it,"
Turning to the problems confronting the Amer.
lean people, in common with all peoples, and what
has been done by this administration during the
past two years to solve these problems? The sec.
rotary answers thus:
Capital has been described as stored up labor
employed for production of new wealth. Money is
a very different thing, as one may note by the most
casual study of, say Russia and Germany. They
have oceans Of money such as it is; but of capital
useful for production Of new wealth, they are woe
fully short. Money may be produced by fiat, or
by the lucky discovery of new gold mines; but these
processes don't add greatly to the real wealth of
the world. Nothing but work will do that: and
we need more than financial formulas or economic
theories TO get the world back to work. Even then
its work Will be largely wasted IL we 60 on spend.
ing it for wars and the material with which TO
make wars.
We are an extrayagant generation; extravagant