The Bismarck tribune., 1931-05-05

process OF orderly and broad oStrlDu-
ton of products and services. These
defects in the present system we shall
overcome by degrees. AS We fmd
some way to achieve greater eQuill-
brium between production and con.
sumption and a better distribution Of
labor, so that we shall not always
have the painful spectacle OF men
willing to work but unable to find q
market for the only commodity which
they can exchange for food and cloth
ing. These are largely problems Of
distribution and consumption. and
am confident they will be solved IN
time, as were those earlier problems
Of industrialism when man first be-
gan to be displaced by the machine
Seem More Acute Here
Here in America our problems seem
to us more acute perhaps than they
really are because they exist as the
result of a vast, and at the same time
fairly recent, industrial development
| which had made necessary change
in methods and outlook to which We
have not yet had time to become &C
customed. We shall succeed, In time
in working out our economic saliva.
ton in accordance with the special
needs of our own people and the So
cial and industrial system which has
been built up. But it will be done IN
the future, as in the past, by indiv1d-
ual initiative and not by surrender1ne
the management of business and IN
duStry to the government or to any
board or group Of men temporarily IN
vested with overhead authority. Con-
ditions today are neither so critical
nor so unprecedented as to JUSTIFY 9
lack of faith in our capacity to deal
with them in our accustomed way.
Since the war, America has enjoyed
decade of industrial and economic
progress unequaled In the nations
history. Our present experience 1ndl-
Gates the machine cannot be made to
function at full speed all the time
When q lack of balance develops,
there is a general slowing up until q
readjustment has been effected and
the balance restored. Some day, per-
haps, we shall have mastered our eco
nomic machine so as to have 1t under
better control.
Progress Is Maintained
But until that day comes it is well
to remember that these temporary
setbacks do not obliterate the progress
made during the forward movements,
and that, when the upward trend is
resumed again, We shall start, not
from the old level, but from the new.
It would be difficult to believe that
the progress made in this country in
the last 10 years will not be conSoli-
GATED and carried forward. All the
basic factors that made it possible are
still here. Many of these same fac
tors exist also in Europe; and, while
the world has passed through a diff
cult period in the last 18 months, we
must not forget that the difficulties
encountered were less formidable than
those confronted and Surmounted in
the early postwar peroid. Then the
problems left by the war had not been
settled. Since that time Europe has
shown recuperative powers that are
amazing. There has been a steady
march Of reconstruction. Under the
Young plan and the coordinating in
fluence Of the Bank of International
Settlements, confidence has been es-
tablished in the willingness and the
ability of Europe to honor its obliga-
tionS.
There is much that still remains to
be done. The trade of the world must
settle into new channels and will in
crease In volume, Notwithstanding tar
IFS and other barriers. We have also
come to a realization of the fact that,
IT world trade is to be built up, there
must be give and take among nations.
But 1t must be remembered that the
all-important factor is purchasing
power; and purchasing power, in so
far as America Is concerned, Is de-
pendent to great extent on the
standard OF living which obtains in
this country. That standard of living
must be maintained at all costs, and
certainly the present is no time to un-
dertake drastic and doubtful expert
ments which may even conceivably
result In breaking down the standard
of living to which we have become &C
cuStomed. What we must strive for is
to improve the standard both here
and in other countries as conditions
warrant. In fact, the ultimate solu-
ton of the worlds difficulties would
seem to lie in the possibility of build
ing up higher standard, especially
in the great and as yet undeveloped
consumer areas, and in creating there
and throughout the world a steadily
increasing demand for the goods and
services which Europe and America
are prepared to supply.
Should Not BE Discouraged
No one should be discouraged about
the ultimate outcome. We are, as
said at the beginning, passing through
a transition period, and such periods
are always difficult to understand.
But anyone who has witnessed the
new inventions, the birth of new in
6ustries, and the acceleration of pro-
duction and consumption, and the
structural changes which have so
vastly increased the wealth of the
world and altered our entire mode of
living within the memory Of those
present, cannot be discouraged about
either the immediate or the distant
future. The opportunities which have
SO multiplied in the last generation
are only the forerunners Of others,
and perhaps greater ones. which will
come.
I have no means of knowing when
or how we shall emerge from the val
ley in which we are now travelling. But
I do know that, as in the past, the
day will come when we shall find our
selves on a more solid economic foun-
dation and the onward march Of prog
reSs will be resumed.
Small Margins
Deals Flayed
By Financier
Continued from page one)
that under present circumstances
psychological factors may have a
preponderating influence In deter
mining the course Of events. 1t
4 L. &vnkn rn 4