Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1930-07-31

our national financial organization.
Many of the old-fashioned panics came
because there was not enough flexl-
bility in our system OF issuing cur
rency, so that when people lost con-
fidence in current conditions and
wanted to do business on a cash basis
there was not enough currency to
handle the job. The Federal Reserve
System was founded very largely to
take care of this situation, to regu-
late the amount of currency by the
needs of the situation. And despite
all the criticism that has been leveled
at the Federal Reserve System-much
of it due to ignorance or to politics
no fair critic can deny that it has
served to cushion depressiOns and
keep some of them from becoming
panics.
Another reason for this comparative
stability is probably the greater diver
sity today of ways of earning our llv-
ings. AS long as our nation was prin-
cipally agricultural with most of the
population dependent on the farms,
an unusually poor cotton crop or
failure of the wheat crop made the
whole country feel poor. Today,
thanks to the development of agri-
cultural machinery, far smaller pro-
portion of our people is able to raise
a far larger volume of farm products
This has released many millions OF
workers into other lines-the auto
mobile industry is perhaps the most
conspicuous, with it's closely related
J lines of petroleum production and re.
; fning and filling stations, tire manu-
| facture and distribution and repair
garages and the like. All of these
industries continue to operate at {
greater or less rate of activity, wheth
er crops are good or poor. And thu
5 people whose livings come from these
| diversified activities continue to earl
t and spend money, which helps main
: tain prosperity.
4 With this increased assurance o
financial stability, the American pub
S lies habits of spending and savin
have undergone radical changes.
e used to be that the most rigorou
!. frugality was urged upon every DO
y and girl. The man who saved hal
d of what he earned was the model t
o which we were taught to look wit
e awe and respect. And there was
a good deal of sound sense in this al
: titude, since most people were non
it too sure that they would have thei
= accustomed incomes next week or nel
l. winter.
e Do not misunderstood me as su.
costing that the time has now com
p when people should spend money &
1t fast as they make it This has nevt
n been wise policy for anyone, it is m
N now wise and as far as anyone ca
IL see will never be wise. There has
E. be some provision for a rainy day.
: There is, however, happy mediu
~ that lies somewhere between extrav
?. gance and miserliness. Exactly whe1
- this comes is something that ea(
must determine for himself. AS nea
~ ly as l know how to locate it, it COM
at the point where the individual hi
the necessities plus those addition
comforts which he can afford viii
~ at the same time making reasonab
:. provision for the future of himse
and family. Organizing his person
= finances on this basis, the individu
=: feels prosperous. He has, as near
" as his income permits, the living CO
=. ditions that he most desires, and alol
:, with them the minimum of worri
- for the future. Moreover, he &c
from life as much of happiness as
obtainable from material sources.
r. By spending a reasonable propo
re ton of his income, the individu
or helps to continue prosperity and
&c keep it on the upgrade. BY saw
n. now as much as prudence dictate
he assures his ability to spend in t
e- presumably distant future when
IA income may fall below normal.
in And along with the solid comic