Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1930-07-24
Advises Country To Stop Talking Hard
Times; Stop Moaning, Hire, Spend

Many men of sound judgment are
convinced the much talked about hard
times of the present is due largely to
psychological reasons; that fundament-
ally the country is as sound as ever
but that people have become fright
ened by the threat OF hard times, have
ceased to buy and trade in the usual
way which, Of course, will slow UP
business in all lines and eventually
helps in producing the very thing the
people are afraid Of The remedy, they
say, is to stop thinking and preaching
hard times.
The Seattle Daily Times Of July II
had stirring article in line with this
thought, quoting an address delivered
there by Wyhe Hemphill, president OF
the Seattle chamber of Commerce. The
Times said in part:
With bluntness that surprised many
OF his hearers, Wylie Hemphill, presi-
dent of the Seattle Chamber of Com
merce, today urged everyone to quit
moaning about business conditions
and to spend, expand and create more
jobs, instead of talking with "faces
long as ladders about cutting wages
and discharging employees. Mr. Hemp
hills speech was one of the most
straightforward utterances made BY a
man in his position in years and was
given with a characteristic 'let the
chips fall where they may" attitude
Optimism, Expansion Needed
Not the so-called stock market crash
but overproduction from machinery re-
placing man-power was declared to be
the cause of the present economic stu
alton
In one striking example he declared
that if no one spent anything the
country certainly would get in a la
mentable state, and then pointed out that
retrenchment has tendency to make
business conditions worse, while OPP
timism and expansion are really the
things most needed now
Mr.. Hernphill spoke in part as fol-
lows: THE hardest part of my job is
listening to persons looking for job
haven't the heart to turn them Out
or cut them short, because I've always
figured that some day may be in the
other fellows shoes looking for work
and then I'll be glad to get hearing
Most of them have one or two chill
dren. And although I've no jobs to
hand out, they somehow come to the
president of the chamber of commerce
to tell their troubles.
Now I'm not any profound economist
but I've got some homemade economic
ideas and one Of them is that this
stock market crash talk has beer
worked to death
Take the case of Bill Smith, who
bought $500 worth of telephone COM
pany stock during last years peak
from John Jones. Now that stock is
only worth $500 and Bill Smith is 60
ing around with his face as long as .
ladder.
But why should it make any diff
ference to the prosperity of the coun-
try. The only difference is that, before
John Jones had the stock and Bill
Smith had the $500, and now Bill
Smith has the stock and John Jones
has the $500. The big thing is whether
the telephone company is able to sup
port its payrolls and whether the mer-
chants are able to pay their telephone
bills, SO that the old dollar can keer
rolling around
Overproduction Is Cited.
The economic difficulties must be
charged to something deeper. That il
the way in which everyone seems t.
be perfecting machinery to do the
work formerly done by hand. Two mer
can run q machine and do as much
work as four used to do. The result is
overproduction and other jobs mus
| also be found for the 38 men.
| You multiply this instance by severa
| thousand and you see what IS a, thu
root OF the economic troubles