Evening star., 1933-08-18
Poor Advice.

With the President himself in the
thick of battle on the N. R. A. front,
new appeals from earnest inflationlsts
for direct currency debaSement seem
more untimely than ever. Such ap-
peals can only lead to the Presidents S
embarrassment. A general who IS
busily directing the attack at critical
moment according to one carefully
mapped plan of strategy can expect
little aid and comfort from counsel
bidding him turn about and try some
thing else, just because some OF the
lines seem to Waver.
The wavering lines right now are on
the agricultural front. After their
first gallant push, prices for farm pro-
ducts are showing tendency to re-
cede. But the battle there is still in
its early stages. Nobody ever expected
that the troubles of the farmer would
be cured permanently in three months.
And on the industrial front the ad-
vance seems steady, with something OF
crisis indicated by the concentrated
move toward the stubborn citadels OF
steel. oil and coal that cannot hold out
much longer.
In the midst of all this with the
country sold" on the N R. A. campaign
and with scores Of millions Of dollars
being doled out to the suffering farmers
to enlist their aid and cooperation in
the gigantic experiment Of crop control,
can any one accept seriously the ad-
vice of the inf1ationists to undertake
systematic and direct currency debase-
ment as another boost for the farmer?
As for the effects of imitation on the
agricultural situation, Secretary of Agri-
culture Wallace suggests that "infia-
ton takes the pressure off temporarily,
but remember this also, that physical
readjustments in agriculture have to be
made" In the excitement of imitation
propelled skyrocketing Of farm prices,
what would happen to those physical
readjustments" in agriculture? They
would be knocked into the traditional
tary Wallace recalls, In the speculative
markets it seems that when imitation
starts the speculative farm products go
up faster in price than others, and so
If anything happens to stop the infla-
ton the prices of the same speculative
commodities fall faster than other
things. This applies especially to wheat
and cotton" And When they fall again,
the only remedy, according to the theory
of imitation. Is more imitation.
BY Herculean endeavor the N. r. A.
is trying to bolster purchasing power
and wages to keep pace with already
rising prices. 1t is slow work. Could
it be otherwise? There has been one
difficulty after another. Could any
thing else have been expected in a
drastic attempt to place the Govern
ment in partnership with every en-
ployer in the land? But once started
there can be no turning back without
additional disruption of business. Re
covery along the lines mapped out by
the present N. R. A. campaign cannot
logically contain imitation as one of
its elements of strategy. Complaints
of rising prices by consumers unable
to meet that rise are already flooding
the N r. A. What will happen when
prices are inflated by direct currency
debasement, with ten million people still
out of work and with the newly en-
ployed millions on wages adjusted to
present levels?
1t will be a distinct gain for recovery
when there is general recognition of the
fact that long hard fight is ahead;
that the solid foundations for recovery
must be laid before there can be any
recovery, and that currency debasement
will more effectively undermine the
foundations for real recovery than any
other single act.