Evening star., 1928-11-03
TEXT OF SECRETARY HOOVER's ST. LOUIS SPEECH

proach to solution from that of a gen.
eral formula; it is flexible and adapt
able. No such far-reaching and Spe-
cific proposal has ever been made by
political party on behalf of any indus
try in our history. 1t is direct busi-
ness proposition. 1t marks our desire
and at the same time maintains his in
dependence and individuality.
Farmer Himself to Act.
This plan is consonant with our
American ideals to avoid the Govern
ment operation of commercial business
| for it places the operation upon the
| farmer himself, not upon a bureau
cracy. 1t puts the Government in it's
real relation to the citizen-that of CO.
operation. It's object is to give equality
of opportunity to the farmer.
would consider 1t the greatest honor
could have If it should become my
| privilege to aid in finally solving this
the most difficult of economic problems
| presented to our people, and the one in
which. by inheritance and through long
contact, 1 have my deepest interest
| l am hopeful that in the December
session of Congress it will be possible to
reach that solution. However, as l
have already said, if this is not possi-
| Bile l would call a special session in
order that we might speedily arrive at
determination of the question before
the next harvest.
New Cooperation Seen.
| / have said that there is a third
great group of activities in the promo
ton of the public welfare where the
Government, without abandoning the
| American system, may develop a new
| principle of relation with its citizens
| We have in the past quarter of a
| century evolved a higher sense of or
| ganiZed cooperation than has ever
! been known before. We have 10000
| examples OF this conscious cooperative
| development in the enormous growth
of associat ionsl activities.
Civic associations, chambers of COM
merce, trade associations, professional
| associations, labor unions, trade councils,
farm organizations, farm co-operatives,
welfare aSSociatiOns-these are so all
embracing that there is scarcely an in
dividual in our country who does not
now belong to one or more of them
They represent every phase of our ma
tional life, both on the economic and
on the welfare side. They constitute a
vast ferment toward conscious co-opera-
very fabric of American life.
While some of them engage in highly
| Objectionable attempts to wrongly in
| fiuence public opinion and the action
of Government, the majority of them
recognize responsibility to the public
as well as to themSelves-and a large
part of them are founded solely on
public interest.
Function Of Government.
Wherever these associations under
take high public purposes wish to see
active cooperation by the Government
with them. Without intrusion the Gov
ernment can serve to bring together
discordant elements and to secure CO.
operation between different industries
and groups. 1t gives great hope of a
new basis of solution for many of our
problems and progressive action in our
| people.
1t should be the response of Govern
ment to our new economic conceptions
1t is conSonant with the American Sys-
| tenn. 1t is method that reinforces our
individualism by reducing and not in
creasing Government interference in
business and the life of our citizens.
Such cooperation strengthens the
whole foundations of Self-government
and serves to maintain equality of op-
| portunity and constructive leadership
This cooperation can take two dis
ttnct directions-it can assist in the
! promotion of constructive projects of
public interest on one hand, and it can
assist in the cure of abuses by the vol
untary establishment of higher code
of ethics and stricter standard in the
conduct of business.
Result Of Experience,
These are not theoretical proposals
Seven and a half years ago I intro
! duced this relationship between the De-
partment of Commerce and industrial
commercial and civic organizations of
our country for the promotion of mat
ters that were of public Importance.
| We co-operated with these associa-
tional groups in promotion of foreign
trade, in the elimination of waste, in
furtherance of economic and scientific
research, in improvement of homes, and
in scores of other activities. During
this period hundreds of committees
have been in active cooperation with
the Department of Commerce, not un-
der compulsion and not even under
solicitation from the department, but
merely because the Government was
willing and ready to assist in bringing
together the elements of any movement
that would promote public welfare. I
perhaps may make my proposals more
clear by giving you some. illustrations.
First, l may review case of assist
| ance to labor and business. In 1923,
under my Craftsmanship, there was or
ganized series of committees repre-
senting the manufacturers, contractors,
engineers, real estate men and labor
in the building trades. Its purpose WIS
to reduce the loss of time due to the
seasonal character of these industries.
AS result of the organization set
up the average Winter unemployment
in these trades has been reduced from
about 100 days to about half that num-
ber.. There has been no decrease in
daily wages. The annual income of the
workers in these trades has been sub
stantially increased by the decrease in
idle days and the business given greater
stability.
Regarding Business Cycle.
Another instance of action of funda-
mental Importance to the farmer, the
business man and the worker consists
of the measures taken in cooperation
between the Government and business
agencies to mitigate the violence of
the so-called business cycle. Booms
and slumpS have occurred periodically
these periodic hard times, with their
hideous unemployment. decrease In
wages, bankruptcy in business, than
both labor and the farmers.
Time forbids a discussion of the in
tricate problems involved and the REM
edies which have been inaugurated.
The proof of their effectiveness lies in
the fact that we have had far longer
period of stability in industry and COM
merce, far greater security in employ
ment and larger buying power for farm
products than ever before in our his
/ tory. The solution of this question was
just as intricate as those which we face
in agriculture.
Still another instance of these activi-
ties, and one with which 1 have felt
great cnnnnrrn has hnnn the offort "a