Evening star., 1931-06-20

cancel those debts, Representative Je1I
Busby, Democrat of Misgissippt de.
clared last night In an address over the
Dixie network OF the Columbia Broad
casting System. The only other alter
native, he said, Is q sharp modification
Of the tariff law go Is TO make ID pog-
sible for US to trade with foreign coun-
tri1s Is we have formerly done; 80 that
We can sell them our wheat, our cotton
and our other products Of which we
have . surplus and take in trade for
them commodities they have to offer
and for which We have . need"
"If our country Is overloaded with
money" he continued, and we do have
now almc0t one-haIf of the worlds Nold
without nieney to buy ouHNsurplus prod
ucts, and II by reason 81 the recent
high tariff We win not permit our people
to exchange their products for the
products Of other countries. we not only
make It impossible to collect the debts
due us, but We bring trade and com
merce to . StandStill and commit them
to condition Of stagnation."
Peak q Wealth.
No clear understanding OF present
conditions, he said, can be reached
without o general glance at the fleids
Of finance and wealth. The peak Of
wealth IN the United States, he said,
was reached IN 1870 when it was placed
at 94e4, ,000, 900, 900.
"By i02S," he continued, .'this had
dropped to Ss7s, ,OOO. 900 900 an and to to
834O, ,O0O, ,OOO, 900 In 1880. Since that
time there has been . gradual shrinkage
Of the national wealth, until now It Is
probably not more than 4326, ,O00, 900, :
| 900. However, It II fair to saw that
with the s1rtnkAge Of national wealth
as measured in dollars from 94o4, ,OOO,-
0O0, 900 to S326, ,0O0, ,O0O, 900, or approxi-
mately $4,000, ,000. 900, the purchasing
power OF the dollar has increased,
thereby largely offsetting this shrinkage
In national wealth
Attention should also be given to
what is called the national income. The
money value of the annual national In
come in the United States was fixed at
| 464, 900 .0O0, 900 in 1929! In 1880 1t
dropped to $66. .700. 600, 600, q loss Of
3l7, ,3O0, ,OOO, 90, or 20.4 per cent. This
loss was very largely suffered BY labor
and agriculture. It Is the direct fruit
Of unemployment and reduced commod-
ity prices. This In turn has caused the
depression to more seriously affect the
masses Of the people.
"One Of the things generally alleged
by economists to have played q part in
bringing about our financial depression
was the excess Of production over con-
sumptlUn, both In raw materials and
manufactured goods. It In doubtful
| that II the masses Of our people had
Sumeient sustained purchasing power to
provide themselves With the reasonable
necessities Of life that any overpro-
duction Of food supplies or manufac-
tured goods would have ever been ap-
| parent.
| "AnnAhar nonk-ih.,k{,.. ~.,,.. -
the artificial maintenance of commodity
prices by arrangements which serve for
Q time, encouraging production out Of
line with the economic law Of supply
ana demand. When these arrangements
failed and commodity prices fell, It was
| with sudden effect rather than In o
slow and orderly manner.
'UnquestionAbly another contributing
cause has been the high tariff wall built
up BY the recent Hawley -Smoot tariff
bill which paralyzed trade ana exchange
gree with other countries.
The funded war debt owed the
United States by European countries Is
more than $12, 900 900 900. Other loans
m&de by American bankers and indi-
vidualS TO foreign countries and their
nationals have been placed ct more than
SIS, ,000, 100000. The annual interest on
| these debts Is easily more than q bill
lion dollars, and this interest has usu-
ally been met by new borrowings from
our country. Before the Hawiey-Smoot
bill became q law, the annual trade bal
| ance ives over q billion dollars In favor
Of the United States.
Il have called attention to this sit
uatton TO suggest that the only possible
way the foreign countries and their ma.
tionAls can pay their debts to our Gov
eminent and it's people Il through the
channels Of trade and commerce. II
the countries who owe us had an the
gold In the world that Il Cotside Of the
be more than $4,000, 10000 II they
should deliver that gold to US as q pay
ment on their obligations, It would not
discharge one.fourth Of the amount
) that Is due uS.
There can be but little doubt that
our recent tariff act, which IL the high
est tartn law ever enacted in our coun-
try. played o great part In setting in
motion the machinery which has re-
suited In q Worldwide depression. From
the very beginning Of the consideration
OF the Hawley-Smoot tariff bill foreign
countries feared the result on the COM
merce Of the world. They have protested
against its enactment and in many in
stances have enacted retaliAtory tariff
laws N Q spirit of resentment.
Silver Is the basis Of currency in
India, China and Mexico. These coun-
tries contain one-third Of the people in
the world. Silver has dropped In price
until the commodity value Of the silver
In dollar Is worth only 26 cents. With
the shrinkage Of the value Of silver,
the purchasing power of the countries
whose currencies are based on silver
has likewise ShrIlnk. Since they can
not pay for commodities in other coun-
tries, they have largely ceased to be
factors in commerce. Exports to these
countries have been reduced and trade
has lost aS . result. Silver Is one Of
in value has been q contributing cause
throughout the world to the depression.
Circulating Money Medium.
"Our situation Is not caused by lack
Of money or by high interest rates. OF
the ten and q quarter billion dollars
Of gold in the world, our country holds
81, 797, ,0O0, ,0O0,. or 46.e per cent Of it.
This perhaps IL more than we need for
any purpose Of stabilizing our currency.
II all the gold In the world. two-thfrds
United states, was more evenly dis
tributed among the commercial nations,
the currency Of those5 nations would be
more stabilized. This would increase
their purchasing power and would
enable them to take . more active part
in trade and commerce..
I'VE often hear 1t said that the
banks now have more money than ever
before. what Is the matter with hust-
nessr The circulating medium Of
! money In the United States has not