The Bismarck tribune., 1933-04-17

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GIVE BUSINESS A CHANCE
Garrison, N. D.,
April II, 1888.
Editor, Tribune:
The rise and fall Of the tide Of bus
iness follows a prescribed course over
period Of time that Is commonly
referred to as business cycle.
At various times during this cycle
the orderly movement of events is
disturbed by schemes and plans from
the imagination Of impatient po-
liticians and others, quite vivid In
| our state and nation at present, in
an attempt to hurry the natural
course Of business development.
For the past three years, and q
little more. the world has been ex-
periencing the ebb flow Of q busi-
ness cycle, with low ebb having been
reached in June Of 1882. It took two
and one-half years for the tide to
flow out from the high mark Of 1929
to the low Of 1932-and since that
time only 10 months have elapsed.
II the tide Of business improvement
Is to flow In at rate comparable to
the speed of the ebb tide-we can
hardly look for business to reach Its
next peak for another 20 months
which would be approximately Jan.
l, 1885. Yet there are many who are
already becoming impatient because
the incoming tide fails to flow more
rapidly than the ebb tide-and these
are the authors Of the schemes and
plans that are now being considered
by impatient groups who are un-
willing to wait for and contribute to
the slow and sound return OF real
prosperity.
Recovery by scheming, initiation,
artificial bolstering Of credit, artific-
ial stimulations of business volume
and other unnatural methods appeal
to the writer and observer as THE
Lazy Way" to effect business i'm
provements-and we are inclined to
regard all panaceas with q weather.
eye.
The vigorous, courageous way to
recovery is the only one that will
prove to be worthwhile In the long
run. That means work-and plenty
Of it: economizing within reason, but
not to the extent of deprivation;
reciprocity in business dealings,
which means square dealing between
creditors and debtors with every rea-
sonable consideration being made by
creditors to make the payment Of In
debtedness possible.
We do not believe there Is q scheme
that could be devised to court busi-
ness improvement that can do much
more good than 1t does harm-for
there IS an immutable law that 'for
every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction''-and that law has
always prevailed.
Prohibition is an example Of pana-
cea that failed. There is no deny
ing the fact that prohibition Is right
and sound in principle-but because
it cannot be enforced-it has become
great evil. We have discovered this
fact by bitter experience.
Take the proposed allotment plan
for agriculture. II extended to all
basic commodities-and enforced
it might prove beneficial-but what
is to prevent agriculture from boot
Logging its produce to avoid the re-
strictions of the plan?
Consider current initiation. The
more money we have In circulation
in relation to true incremental
wealth. the lower becomes the value
of the dollar. Permit initiation to
follow It's own natural course-and
the dollar would repeat the history Of
the German mark.
The Lazy Way has never yet, to
our knowledge, proved to be the best
way to accomplish any important OBJ
jective-and the present situation
shows no great variation In principle
from the past situation in which
business has found itself.
More regulation within the limits
Of the actual business structure-and
less government regulation from
without-would appear to be q feas-
ible premise upon which to base
program for improving the economic
structure. The utility industry has
made start in this direction through
the formation of the Edison Electric
Institute and II the same sort Of pro-
gram could be adopted by other pri-
mary industries much benefit might
accrue to the whole field Of business
There Is. however. place which
government may properly assume IN
the revised economic structure-a
place that the politicians have been
inclined to neglect in favor Of a med
dlesome tendency to encroach upon
that part of the economic structure
that does not concern them.
The business OF government right
now is to reduce the expenses Of gov
ernment by withdrawing from situa-
tions that are beyond the province
of politics: to reduce the federal bud
get to an absolute minimum-en-
couraging deflation Of international
debts and reducing armaments by
agreements with foreign nations; to
cut the tax burden Of the masses
whose income Is the real seed Of
domestic buying power from which
recovery must be born. That would
give private business q chance to pro-
ceed. And In the meanwhile they
could sing Shine on Harvest Moon
instead Of Goodbye to the Farm
J. E. SULLIVAN.
STILL FOR BILL