Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-01
HOOVER AND LAVAL
PARLEYS PRAISED
Business Magazine Finds
Hope for Better Under
standing in Conference.

The Hoover-LAval conversations were
well worth while" says the leading edi-
torial in the current issue Of Business
Week. 1T Is q good thing for people
with perplexing problems, especially
statesmen. who rarely see and stflI
more rarely understand each other. to
talk them over" the editorial con-
tinues. mo doubt the conference has
made Ii clearer to both what each is
up against. although the public does
not know much more about 1t than it
did before.
But 1t is clear that any action that
may be the outcome of this conference
viii be long delayed Necessary and in
evitable as they may be, negotiations
over war debts, conferences on security.
on currency and exchange sterilization.
and on the re-estahlishment OF some
sort OF gold standard. will take time
and encounter political difficulties In
each country.
Domestic Problems.
I'VE in America need not and should
not wait until all these tangled prob
lens are Strengthened out before set
ting our own house in order. Effective
international cooperation Is task for
the future In the end all our efforts
In this direction may prove unneces-
sary, for the accelerating trend toward
intensified nationalism is not so un-
sound as it seems on the surface.
Anyway. in the meantime We must
live as best we can by our own efforts
and on our own resources. Unless we
deal with our domestic problems sue
cessfully we shall not be able to help
the world very much.
Our most important and pressing
problem Is the strengthening of our
banking system so that it may better
serve the needs of American business
and assure the security and effective
use Of the savings of our people. Incl
dentally this problem is Of supreme
Importance to the res tot the world,
for the most that we can do for them,
and what they most want. Is for US to
lend them more money. But before We
can do this we must lend ourselves
some, find a way to put our financial
resources to work and expand domestic
credit so as to restore the normal values
and relationships of goods and services.
This is the immediate task that con-
fronts us, and there is none more vital
to the recovery and future prosperity
of American business. Every other
issue that now agitates the public Is
subordinate to that of reconstructing
and improving our banking and credit
system, and almost every one Is in
some way part Of that problem.
"As soon as we make a fair start on
this task the effect upon our economic
life will be electrical, and astonishing
to those who are still unaware Of its
far-reaching influence. This question
Of credit control is the hardest nut
that capitalism has to crack When
we come to the kernel of 1t the con-
sequences for the standard Of living of
future generations win be incalculable.
1.-THE potentialities Of prosperity In q
country so completely equipped with
raw material and energy resources as
the United States have barely been
scratched, but they will never be real
lied until these resources are supple
nented and supplemented by banking
system sufficiently strong and flexible
to furnish the credit energy required to
carry the results Of our unlimited pro-
ductive power into consumption.
Power and Banking Systems.
1.-THE promise of American life lies
in two things more than any other:
Our power system and our banking sys-
TEN. The development of these two
dynamic forces viii determine our des-
tiny.
dicate why the Business Week has de-
voted and will devote so much editorial
attention to the crucial questions OF
banking structure and credit policy
which have been precipitated by this
depression and which viii come UP for
continuous consideration during the
next few years.
This Is the homework which the
SCHOOL of recent experience has as
signed American business; and unless
we can pass the inevitable examination
In it, we shall fail In everything else. :"