Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-19
SURVEY OF BANKING
FACTORS IS URGED
Statistics Declared Helpful
in Solving Problems of
Present Depression.
BY JOHN r. SINCLAIR.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK. August 1s.-Uncer-
tainty, and to large extent alarm, des-
cribe the feeling of great many people
firh and low. In all walks Of life, re-
rarding present business conditions.
The more experienced and penetrat-
ing want to know whether we are on
the eve of o fundamental change in
the economic and social structure.
And everybody is interested IN finding
out what the weaknesses are IN tne
present situation that give rise TO Sucn
crises and how they can be corrected
II at all. A.
Immediate lob ahead for the United
States as whole, for each group OF
people possessing in common oennlte,
tangible. concrete set of interests, ana
finally for each individual?
unemployment Situation.
detailed outline of this would re-
ouire many, many columns of neWspa-
per space. If, on the other hand, we
try to present general formula Wnlcn
answers these questions within the
narrow compass of a single article, we
come up against the formidable ol1n-
Guilty that abstract language ooeell
mean much to most OF us.
The unemployment situation, nat
urallv. is the thing which hits hardest,
The merchant finds himself af1ected py
the shrinkage in buying power ana re.
duces his orders from the 1obber ana
ultimately from the manufacturer.
These in turn, anticipating a iallng
off In their business, reduce their pay
rolls either by part-time employment,
reductions in wages, or closing down
In whole or in part.
The banks seize this particular time
Ao call on everybody who owes them
ANYTHING to pay what they can, to
The great irritation of the borrowers,
who believe this is just the period when
banks have the least ,prontanie oppoI-
t,lnities for the employment OF their
funds.
We saw in a previous article how
widely the authorities differ on the
subject of the business cycle. Clearly
we are d long way yet from unoer-
standing the nature OF this peculiar
oscillation in the rhythm OF economic
life. 1t seems that about as useful
step as any is to lend intelligent sup
port to every movement and undertak-
ing of serious character aiming TO
understand better these rhythmic pc
culiarities in the life of the business
world.
No one would challenge for mo-
rnent the proposition that the proper
UNDERSTANDING "a OAiC PAC0ASNA
involves patient scientific work In a
variety of directions. The news col
un1ns carry from day to day the record
of the dauntless and unfinching ef-
forts of scientific pioneers to get the
best of this remorseless enemy OF the
race.
Well, in the same way, news columns
must carry from day to day, and sup
pose they will as time goes on, the
story of the efforts of practical scien-
lists in another field to get the best
of this disturbance to consumers. To-
day the f7uctuation of business for all
practical purposes, outside, OF course,
of the circle of specialists, is about
as unpredictable and in some senses
as destructive as the extreme hIctua-
lions of rneteorology, or even se1smology.
Statistics Helpful.
The gathering of statistics intelli-
gently and in a discriminating way,
along lines drawn up by people who
know very definitely what they are
after and how far 1t is practical to try
to gather such figures, will help ma
terially in letting us find out what
really gives rise to all this oscillation
from boom to depression.
OF course, finding the real causation
of the business cycle does not by any
means guarantee its elimination, any
more than determining finally the real
cause of cancer viii mean necessarily
its cure But what is perfectly certain
Is that If we do not md out what
causes these things we can't ever ex-
pect to cure them.
can see a look of disappointment
settle over my readers faces when they
think my first prescription Chased on
all my expert diagnosticians' opiniors)
is to get a lot more and lot better
records. But some other treatments
seem to be indicated which perhaps
viii appeal as a little more vigorous
and immediate.
With so little agreement on what
ought to be a fair public policy with
respect to the control of gold and the
movement of capital to and from the
great metropolitan credit centers and
in and out of the country, 1t seems
as though there is real ground for a
tors that now affect banking policy
BY that l mean the principles which
govern the movement of capital out of
the country, with all its tremendous
effect upon domestic industry and
commerce; the movement of capital In
the country from the farm regions to
the metropolitan centers and from
these to the great dominant money
market Of the United States, New York
Credit Policy.
mean, too, the various phases OF
credit policy that enter SO vitality into
tn acquisition of property and its uss
for productive purposes, such as, for
example, our strange, obscure and
chaotic system Of mortgage legisla-
ton, court precedent, bank policy and
realtors practice.
1t does seem that some common
ground could be found by the ele.
ments that have some larger FEELING
than the merest self interest, for an
intelligent survey of this problem
which affects the farm and the urban
community alike, although in different
Wavs
plans developed which make fol-
o b ced city and country life are
worth while.
(Copyrisht, 1880, by North American News.
paper Aliance.)