Evening star., 1932-10-23
Text of ROosevelt's Address

times Of depression, and I am going to
read you just one sentence which EN-
phaSizes the entire purport OF that re-
port.
"Peace-time slumps in business wert
the direct result of booms, so that thu
boom and not the slump should be thu
direct object Of the attack"
Subscribes to Observation.
Now, that's pretty good common
sense, and I subscribe to 1t; and the
Secretary of Commerce. Secretary
Hoover, himself wrote the introduction
to that report, and as a result, my
friends, it Is perfectly fair charge tc
make that when the boom started In
this country on an unprecedented scale
about the year 1927, there was no at.
tempt on the part of the administra'
ton to give any regard to or even tt
read over the sound conclusion stated
in that report of 1922 which had beer
done under the auspices of Secretary
Hoover.
In fact, as I have shown repeatedly
the administration from 1927, al
through 1928 and down to the actua
crash in the Fall of 1929. instead OF
trying to flatten, instead of trying tc
prevent the boom from going on up
wards, actually promoted and en-
couraged that boom; and then, after II
broke, proceeded to minimize its i'm
portance to the Nation.
So think that as a matter of sound
political argument that have clearly
demonstrated that the official actions OF
these Republican leaders were not
guided in those critical days when we
were experiencing one of the greatest
booms in history by the calm conclu-
sions that had been reached in 1922
That, submit, Is the extent to which
their official actions, when confronted
by the reality of politics, were guided by
their scientific conclusions with which
they had agreed earlier.
Holds Logic Faulty.
And the second point follows close on
that. If the conclusions sponsored by
Secretary Of Commerce Hoover in 1922
and 1923 were true, then the explana-
ton of the depression now made by
President Hoover cannot be true.
In other words, if depressions are
caused in large part by over-extended
booms, as the 1929 report sponsored
by the Secretary of Commerce says
they were, then I agree with him, but
I cannot agree with him in 1928 and
also in 1882, because what he believed
at one time Is not what he says at
another time.
And so, there is a clean-cut argu-
ment and I submit that 1t is a test
of the sincerity of the alibi of the Re-
publican leadership in this campaign
Now, my friends, I am sticking to
argument with good humor. and I am
going to take up just one more point.
1 want to make this point: That the
facts do not justify the assertion that
the boom was OF foreign origin. or
that the depression was OF foreign
origin.
Attacks Depression Claim.
The facts, my friends, are these
and don't permit any hysterical ad-
last-minute campaign to
deceive you-the President has told
this country recently this: This depres-
sion in the world began in ii coun-
tries, having population of six hum
dred million people, before 1t even ap-
peared in our country.
Well, let's take look at that; and
these figures are very simple: Can you
measure depression by popu-
lation? In other words, is it fair to
include the Caledonians and the Eski-
mos and the Kurds and the Nigerians
and a lot Of other people who have
no trade or connection with the outside
world? Why, Of course. not. Yon can
pick out by going around the world,
hundreds of millions of people who
live unto themselves, who have pract1-
cally no outside connections with other
nations and If you base depression on
their standard Of living. if you base de-
preston merely on population, you are
creating an entirely false idea among
our people.
What is the true measure Of depres-
sion in world terms? Why, obviously
the measure must be made in terms
of trade Now, let us analyze little ::
A depression had been going on IN
China and India. with their vast mil
lions, due in large part to the deprecia-
ton of the value of silver for 10 long
years before our depression started.
There was nothing new in the depres-
sion among the millions in China and
India Why. it continued throughout
our years of great prosperity and It
didn't depress us to have those seven
hundred million people in China and
India living in depression. And yet
the President in using the population
of the countries as a measure Is to-
tally in error My friends, 1t is world
trade that counts.
80 Per Cent Were Prosperous.
Now let us get some more simple
facts: When our boom in 1929 broke.
what percentage Of the nations engaged
in world trade had been affected?
Using world trade as basis. only 20
per cent of the people of the world
were in a state of depression and 80
per cent of the people of the world
were prosperous. Just as soon as we
went into a nose dive or a tail spin,
whichever you want to call it, in 1929.
the depressed percentage Of the world
rose from 20 per cent to As per cent,
because we Americans represent very
large factor in world trade, and then
on top Of that. in 1880, when the
Hawley- -Smoot tariff bill was passed,
another great increase in the proper
tionate depression Of the world took
place. raising the percentage of depres-
for the whole world. In other words,
lIly AliClI0o, CllC AA6ulCo VI eAoaS aOAA Y
lie. The figures of trade prove the
point that we have made repeatedly in
this campaign, and that is that the
depression in this country was pri-
marily responsible for the depression
in the rest of the world. Yes, no
amount Of campaign alibis. campaign
explanation, campaign hysteria or cam
paign appeals for sympathy can put
those facts aside.
They stand as an indictment against
the Republican administration. And ]
repeat what I have said before, and
what I shall continue to repeat:
First, that the failure of this admin
istration to meet the realities cf 1929
started the world into the depression
Secondly, that the Hawley-Smoot tariff
law carried the decline of world trade
from what amounted to a minor disas-
ter to a genuine international calamity
For this calamity, my friends, the eco
nomic policies of the present admins
tration are responsible. Those are the
facts.