The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-06-24
NEWSPAPERS OPINIONS
ONE SOURCE OF TROUBLE

The fondest hope of President Roosevelt is that
his program of recovery will get the wheels started
turning, and the impetus will enable the train OF
recovery to move forward until it can create its
own steam. The president realizes that it will be
impossible to use government credit for an lndeh-
mite period of time, for certainly there is limit
to governmental borrowing.
The national government is deeply in debt and
it is perfectly natural that the reckoning day must
come. With this in mind the attention of indi-
viduaI citizens should be called to some very def
mite facts and to the part they must play in the
recovery program. Under the presidents plan, the
individual as we'll as the corporation will be given
an opportunity to get out of debt Money is being
cheapened for that specific purpose, and the debtor
who refuses to work diligently to pay out of debt
as rapidly as possible is counting even greater dali
ger than ne is in at the present time Once the IN
dividual debtor is rid of his obligations taxes Will
have to be hosted in order to bring down the out
standing obligations of government. In other
words the government is using its credit now to
get things started, and once started the taxpayers
will have to carry on and finally take the govern
ment out of debt
It is we'll to pause as we start on the road to
recovery and consider the matter of credit the one
thing which is more or less responsible for the bulk
of our troubles Time was when the man with the
proverbial shoestring could go into any kind Of
business from a grocery store to banking. In
measure the same condition prevails today, and il
is still the source of much consuming grief.
The man who wants to go into the grocery bust
ness finds an empty building, rents it with proln-
Use to pay rent buys stock of groceries with the
promise to pay for them as quick he sell
them, and starts doing business. He may operate
for month or year, depending largely on wheth-
err his personal expenses are large small. Even
tually the company which furnished him with his
stock and the landlord lose on him. The business
career of this erstwhile groceryman has done 70
one any good, but has done unreasonable harm.
He has taken business from legitimate grocers, he
has operated at loss which must eventually be
paid by the other grocers, for prices of their pur
chases must be set at figure to take care of such
losses, and the landlord is no better off than he
was. And this condition does not apply only 70
grocery stores but likewise to every kind of bust
ness including printing offices, newspapers, cloth
ing stores, manufacturing establishments, and va
rious kinds of shops.
Going further into the matter we find that the
farmer offers a splendid example of what credit
may do The merchant advances as much credit
possible, and then the government steps IN 10 loan
more money to make a crop, of which there is al
ready tremendous surplus. The farmer is much
worse off at the end of the year. and the farmer
who is operating legitimate basis finds that
the prices are below cost because his government
loaned money to farmers who were not entitled TO
credit to produce a bigger crop which drove prices
down below cost.
1t is not our purpose to blame anybody with these
unhealthy conditions, for we must all assume re-
sponsibty However, we do feel that we shuod
face the situation fairly and squarely, knowing the
source of some of our troubles and honestly en-
deavoring to take corrective action.-The Stanly
News and Press.