Evening star., 1933-02-24
DEPRESSION WAR
! URGED BY EDITOR
J. David Stern for Gold En-
barge and Credit Expan-
sion for Stability.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A campaign against the depression
cas- we fought the war" was urged
upon the Senate Finance Committee
today by j. David Stern, editor and
publisher of the Philadelphia Record
and the Camden, N. j., Courier-Post.
Appearing in the committees survey
Of economic conditions, Stern called
for a gold embargo such as was in ef
feet during the World War, and for
expansion of credit to stabilize the
dollar at lower levels.
1.-THE wartime procedure Of gold
embargo and temporary suspension OF
gold payment is preferable to reduction
of the gold content of the dollar"
Stern said, explaining this was because
most contracts provide for payments
in gold dollars of the same weight and
fineness as the present coinage. He
continued:
"The gold embargo method has been
tried and used without any friction
during war time. The. only possible
objection that could be raised to the
use of the same method at this time
is that the Government is not justified
in taking the same action in time OF
peace as in time of war"
Purpose TwofoId.
Stern explained he had double
purpose in recommending the gold
embargo.
First. to place the Government in
a position to issue such credit as Is
necessary to win the fight against the
depression by distributing purchasing
power among consumers.
Second, to reduce the swollen value
Of the dollar to its commodity value OF
1926, or the average for the years 1871
to 1929, inclusive.
"Thus far. we have attacked this
great emergency in weak and falter-
ing way. If we used only one-tenth
of the resources we did in the war.
the back of the depression would nave
been broken long ago:
"These credits should be issued to the
consumer. Up to the present time all
Government effort has been to stimulate
production. We have been attacking
the wrong side of the economic equation.
Stimulate consumption by giving the
people credit to spend and producers
will meet the demand"
Advancement to Banks.
To get additional credits into circu-
lation Stern proposed:
Advance by the Government OF SO
per cent Of the face value OF deposits
In closed banks.
Government construction and advance
to municipalities for slum rehabilitation
to the total of $5,000,000, 900.
Advance of SO per cent on the $9,0OO.-
o00, 900 of farm mortgages.
Amending of the home loan bank
law so loans can be made directly to
owners Immediately.
Enlargement of unemployment relief.
Stern said the American economic
structure rested largely on credits rather
than actual currency, adding that
"deflataion Is Self-accelerating process
which can have no other outcome than
the complete destruction of our entire
credit structure and the wiping out OF
all financial institutions"
The key to the present depression,
he said, lies in a Lack of scientific
knowledge of cur leading bankers" who,
he claimed, were ignorant of the laws
OF money"
stern departed from his prepared
statement to assert:
I'VE did not talk Of balancing the
budget during the World War.
Balancing the budget is book
keeper phrase. This Nation cannot af-
ford to be ruled by bookkeepers."
Stern criticized Bernard M. Baruch,
the New York financier, who appeared
before the committee at the beginning
of its hearings, as talking "of a war
time emergency and then he offered
weak peacetime remedies"
Tax Increase Deplored.
Any attempt to balance the budget
by increasing taxes, Stern said, ''is the
worst possible policy that the Nation
can pursue to aggraVate its misery.
1T is as wicked and silly for us to
talk about balancing the budget in
such a crisis as for the head of a fam
lily to talk about budgeting his house
hold expenses when his wife and chill
dren were in dire need of medical
attention"
Reconciliation of silver by adding
the white metal to the currency base
was urged on the committee by W.
Mont Ferry Of Salt Lake City.
Ferry is president of the American
Silver Producers Association and a di-
rector of the Intermountain Economic
Conference, composed of members from
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana,
Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming and Colorado.
Gold is too dear and things are too
cheap" Ferry said adding that silver
troubles had hurt American Oriental
trade while deprecated currcncies of
other countries enabled them to COM