Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-10
TARIFF REDUCTION
URGED BY MOODY
Economist Also Suggests
War Debt Cancellation to
Aid Trade Recovery.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

gpecial Dispatch to The Star.
LAFAYETTE, Ind, october l0.-Sub-
stantial business recovery is impossible
until several vital problems now block
ing the restoration of world confidence
are successfully disposed Of, the Second
Industrial Research Conference, meet
ing at Purdue University, was told today
by John Moody, president OF Moody's
Investors Service.
Mr.. Moody. who addressed the con-
ference on THE Trouble With the
Business World" vigorously attacked
what he termed superficial remedies for
the depression and declared that revival
will be delayed until tariffs are reduced,
interallied debts cut or Cancelled, ana
armament and other governmental ex-
penditureS greatly contracted, both at
home and abroad. The United States
must forego the policy Of attempting TO
lure prosperity by appropr1ating I'M
mense funds from public treasures In
seeking to bolster up industry. he added.
While sounding peSSimistic note as
he warned that we are reaplng the
whirlwind of postwar imitation and that
the United States must witness furtner
grief before the process Is complete, the
financier declared that there Is no rea-
son to doubt that the bottom Will be
reached in time. But confidence can
not be restored overnight, regardless OF
official pronouncements," he said.
Restoration of Confidence.
Though the entire civilized world is
desperately sick, I do not want to join
the anvil chorus Of calamity howlers
who see nothing but further disaster
ahead. At the same time. one should
TO- AplIInn
oneself with the notion that reCurn
to stability and prosperity Is to be
achieved by superficial means.
For nearly two years now we have
been told by economists, politicians,
bankers and professional soothsayers,
that the one thing needed to revive
business in this country Is a reStoratlon
Of confidence But we are not told
with any definiteneSs, how confidence
can be restored. President Hoover can
not restore it by telling us every little
while that things are getting better I;
nor can appeals to the people 10 buy
goods, when their purchasing power Is
gone. Serious diseases are never cured
by poultice plaSters.
The present worldwide disease has,
like a cancer, been undermining US lot
years. Its causes can be traced back
to the World War. Three years ago we
thought the effects Of the war were
receding into the background; but now
we know that this was not so.
Western civilization was wrecked al
the close of the conflict, but with intel
ligent and constructive leadership al
home and abroad, we might have avert
ed the present calamity. II ornaments
had been then reduced, war debts mu-
tually Cancelled and trade barriers cur
tailed, we would not find the world to-
day tottering under a credit crises, with
governments defaulting on their ooll-
cations, industries shut down, trade
stagnant, wages being reduced and mil
lions of unemployed in every country
Evils grow by what they feed on,
and the policy of worldwide imitation
in commodity prices, in debts, taxes,
tariffs and governmental extravaganza,
which was adhered to after the war,
brought on the long era Of expansion,
speculation, corporate capitalization and
financial greed-and feverish desire OF
our entire population to get rich quick
which eliminated in the crash Of two
years ago.
To-day we are reaping the whirl-
wind-and I fear the country must see
mora grief before the process is COM
plete But that the bottom will be
reached, and full recovery cone-in
time-there is little reason to doubt.
How soon that day will arrive depends
altogether on the willingness and abil-
ity of constructive leadership in America
and Europe to apply the proper
remedies.
Suggests Remedies.
What are the remedies? First of all.
a frank recognition that tariff barriers
must be lowered, interal1ed debts
heavily reduced or Cancelled, armament
and other governmental expenditures
greatly contracted, both at home and
abroad, and, in our own country, aban-
donment of the mistaken policy Of try
ing to create prosperity by appropriate
ing huge sums from public treasures to
bolster up industry. Our Federal Gov
eminent today is facing a budget deficit
in the billions, and it will be much
larger next year.
Until these big fundamental prob
lens, mainly international In their
scope, are definitely on the way to set
Element, world confidence cannot be re-
stored and no sustained revival OF gen.
eral business is possible, either in this
or any other country"