The Washington times., 1931-11-02
True to Type
CYCLES WITHOUT, STARTERS =.
NOT MUCH HELP AT :"
THE MOMENT
By GILBERT SELDES-

times strike me as chilly wel-meaht and slipping down
the hgh-road of all wellmeant intentions One is the
obnoxious broadcast that such and such
piece about to be played through the courtesy Of the
Buff d-Gold Shoelace and Accessory Manufacturing
Company is the best for the depression blues.
The other at the opposite end of the scale, is the re-
erated statement that every depression far has al
ways been followed by prosperity: The first simply
do not believe; there is moral and psychological
preblem involved which J. win promptly sidestep The
second is nearly true and what 1t amounts to- s
that still alive -. ="
The Hen and the Egg s<..
friend of mine has been working on this theory of
cycles and think his conclusions will be startling, but
nothing will be startling to the who is ullng
himself to sleep with the fond hope that everything will
turn for the better of its accord than this simple
fact in addition to luck upheavas of naure and the
discovery Of gold some intelligence must be- used to
shorten depressions and to create prosperity " -:
The idea that prosperity follows depression is cheer
ing enough if we know why it folows it is not dog
running under carriage, nor monkey chained to
barrelorgan, is it day following night by process
out of our control Prosperity is human situation
created by human beings who discover how to bring 1t
about 1 ;% ~
Accident or Law
Some time ago was speculatins on the quality of
mind informing leaders, specifically wondering
whether they still believe in Santa Claus. suspect
that many of them, economists and statesmen alike
hold to the catastrophe theory the idea that the world
created in convulsion Of the ether that gov
ernment rises out of revolution, that panics fal
people like thunderbolts and that prosperity shoots into
view like Haey's comet but not quite 50 regularly.
The maxim to go by is thsthose who think the panic
Of 1929 accident expect prosperity to- arrive by
another accident. Those who know hat the shock in
Wall Street was only the final move in a progress
which began to be inevitable months before expect pros
perity to return by the same slow stages. ..s
No SeIf-Starters
The cyclica theorists are little better than the catas
trophiss They at least imply that there is order
in the universe that things happen in accordance with
some vague law. But they only helpful if they
make it clear from the beginning that the cycle doesn't
work of ITSELF it is not the perpetual motion machine
You have to give it power from outside. Otherwise
you have electric light bulbs in house to which no
current has been connected, = T.. ~
Believing in Signs 49,. .....
Over $4,000 people in the State of Pennsylvania had
the witty and profitable idea of putting up signs read
ing Stop and "Sow Down" along main motor arteries;
not for the greater safety of drivers but to draw at
tention to the hot dogs canded apples jars of honey
and other commodities they had for SALE The cruel de-
parment of highways has confscated the signs Thirty
SIX thousand, and hearts are bowed; $4,000 men
and and their families believe that their business
has been ruined. ..... ...
Roads for Comfort
IN sense they right. A new principle has been
enounced: that the roads are made for the motorst.
and that the motorst is not made for the odog stand
il revolutionary The next step will be the removal
of signs which obstruct the view round curve, and
ter that billboards which deface the landscape will
no. Anyone with prophetic eye what this
will lead to. It will make motoring pleasure.
wonder whether it has ever occurred to those who
aeplore the speed-mana of American motorists to
Gder the effect Of signs speed. After fifty miles Of
Dew Drop Inns Toms Bar-B-Q and Ye Olde Comfort
Statone the motost naturally drives through the cou
try like the old-fashiOned bat out of hell. Why
shouldn't he?
Capone Is DispIeased ... H..
At the moment of writing AL Capone has given up
all hope of stay of execution, but have not Imme
dately after sentence passed the experts said he
could manage to stay two years out Of Leavenworth
and in ia q ko Aol-S,