Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-03
The Gospel of Confidence.

II anybody expected President Hoover
before the bankers at Cleveland last
night to deal In concrete prophecy
about the business situation, disappoint-
ment Is the result The Chief Execu-
tive carefully kept on the perilous ice
Of prediction. He confined himself to
generalities concerning the severe
shock" and REORGANIZATION in our eco
nomic system, which have temporarily
checked the march Of prosperity" But
he did not fail to preach to the masters
Of the Nations finances a healthy and
hopeful gospel Of confidence. He ad-
jured them that in their intimate re-
lations with the people, as guides,
philosophers and friends, there rests
upon them in peculiar sense the duty
of maintaining that morale without
which business recovery cannot be &C.
CELEBRATED.
Perhaps the President calculated that
to dogmatize the bankers of the coun-
try about the economic outlook would
be akin to carrying Goals to Newcastle.
One of their own shining lights, Col.
Leonard P. Ayres of Cleveland, had told
the convention earlier in the day that
the end of 1881 might reasonably be
fixed as the date when 'statisticians'
normal" 1. e., the mean between the
peak Of pre-crash. prosperity and post
crash depression, would be at hand.
At several points Of his thoughtful. II
cautious, remarks, Mr.. Hoover stressed
the ephemeral character Of Americas
commercial and industrial. plight. We
have survived "a thousand temporary
setbacks,'' he asserts. Temporary" Is,
Of course, relative term. Hitherto our
economic recessions have run an aver
age course Of twelve or thirteen months.
If Col. Ayres' expert representation is
well founded, business viii have been
Gin the red" 50 to speak, for more than
twice as long a period.
Yet-and herein lies the kernel of
President Hoover's Cleveland speech
there is nothing in even so protracted
q spell of bad times to dishearten, dis
courage or demoralize our people. 1t
cannot sap or undermine the funda-
mentals upon which American national
wealth and prosperity rest. These re-
main, unimpaired. as Mr.. Hoover use
fully points out. That they will, as
In the past, prove to be the foundation
of revived welfare cannot be doubted.
The President counsels the country to
take heart from its history. In the
homely vernacular, he says to US that
we may be down, but we are far from
being out.
BY their unstinted applause Of these
steadying sentiments, the bankers con-
verted them into the keynotes Of Mr..
Hoover's address. They approved his
animation that "this is no time for
surrender" They ascquiesced in the
declaration that "the spirit Of this peo-
pie will never brook defeat" Between the
lines of his speech runs the plain hint
that TO put It's house in order Is rather
the task Of American business itself.
The Government can only cooperate
in that process, as it has signally done
during the past year and half.
It is well that Mr.. Hoover chose, IN
preference to prophecy, to emphasize
his "undaunted faith in those resources
and qualities which have driven us ever
forward" The American people need
to regain confidence in their own
boundless strength. No surer remedy
for the economic blues is available.
The inexhaustible fountains Of we'll
being are still with us, carrying their
certain guarantee of solid future for
a virile people of 2o.0oo,00 souls. No
less proper than the Presidents re-
minder on this score is his exposition
of the fact that the 1929-1930 depres-
sion is world wide. springing from causes
far beyond our own power TO control.
THE need Of today" Mr.. Hoover OBJ
served in his peroration at Cleveland,
"is continued unity Of effort and es-
adjustment of safeguards for the fu-
ture." If American business takes that
admonition to heart, its existing trials
and tribulations viii turn out to have
been blessings In disguise.