Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1933-10-26
ALASKAN VIEWS U. s. SITUATION

| Editor AskOv American:
Well l see in the papers and hear
over the radio, that the administra-
ton has abandoned its initiation pro-
gram, and going back to Mr.. Hoover's
credit expansion program, with the
country ridden with debt we are go
ing to have more debt. AS long as
this program lasts you can look for
commodities going down and banks
closing their doors. A person familiar
with simple arithmetic ought to be
| able to figure that QUIT is plain
suicide.
Suppose everybody back there has
Isigned the MIRA pledges. Granting that
the MIRA has done some good, l still
am cynical about the effectiveness of
pledges not backed up by force with
teeth in it. 1t seems to me this eco
nomic situation will only yield to
hard common sense, just plain horse
sense, the idea that ballyhoo will
help is very doubtful. 1t can be
summed up in a few words; few
people have all the wealth in the
country and the only thing that will
help is to take their ill-gotten wealth
| away from them and spread it out
among the people who produced it.
Surely nobody is so sentimental after
hearing how the wealthy have robbed
them, as to have any scruples to take
it away from them again. But COM
ing back to pledges l long ago lost
confidence in mere pledges, / remem-
Der years ago evangelistic preachers
came through my home town in south
western Minnesota, and managed to
extract a couple of thousand dollars
in a month or so. They would line
the whole town up in the opera house,
sing and talk until everyone was car
ried off their feet, they would make
the enthusiastic sign a card to the
effect that they were converted and
from now on would walk the straight
corrigible stew buns around town,
would sign the cards, proclaim them
selves converted, reformed and their
complete abandonment of their evil
and dissolute ways. 1t grieves me to
have to say that these pledges did not
last long. In some cases even before the
revival meetings were over these con-
verts would fall off the water wagon
pretty hard. 1t is pretty hard to get
people to reform themselves; unre-
lenting authority is the only thing.
When the lion and the sheep lie
down and sleep together, it is because
the sheep hasn't anything the lion
wants.
There are very few people now ex-
cept who have lost money in banks.
Just because bank goes broke, it is
not necessary to assume that the
banker was crooked or inefficient.
Circumstances over which he had no
control, in most cases broke the de-
funct banks. But after listening to
the Senate's investigations of some
banks closely connected with Wall
Street, it is surprising that the people
stand peacefully for it and let them
get away with it scot free. 1t seems
to me that most of the so-called best
minds of the country were getting
INV iittiC III llO apparent
service and when the crash came the
surplus was gone, which otherwise
would have been there; consequently
the stock and the deposits of these
banks were jeopardized. OF course the
bankers wanted the support of those
who more or less mold public opinion
Surely these people who accepted
something for nothing, could be relied
on to support the bankers, when they
were hauled up before the bar of pub
lie opinion. Consequently nothing
was done, or will be done. 1t is some
times better when the foundation of
house becomes rotten, to tear the
whole thing down. than to try to patch
it up; then build again.
S. ]. SIMONSEN.