Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-11-19
6continned From T,blrd Pace !

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price rises due to imitation are those of
Russia, Germany and France after the
war. They are, Of course, examples to
be Stunned rather than followed.
II dollar devaluation serves merely to
raise the price of things by decreasing
the standard Of value tthe dollar by
which the prices are measured, it is a
little difficult to see how anybody is
going to be greatly benefited, especially
when the wage Garner and the salary
worker are not given the extra dollars
in compensation to Offset the rise in
prices. It is not so difficult to see how
O great many people viii be badly hurt.
Those who Might Benefit.
But there are some who might benefit.
The President has said that one of the
detectives Of the price-raising program
Is TO make possible the payment OF
public and private debt mere nsarly at
the prize level ct which they were in
CURED" No one can contest the merits
Of such an objective if higher prices are
understood as denoting the BUSINESS
improvement with which higher prices
are usually associated Payment of debt
is. of course, facilitated by business i'm
proveraent and business improvement
is normally reflected by higher price
level.
But confusing and dangerous ele-
ment is injected when the purpose OF
reaching the objective is represented in
terms of Justice" to debtors; when
the method of dispensing such alleged
Justice is the direct debasement of cur
rency and when the attempt is made to
single out class of debtors to whom
justice is to be given-for instance,
those who borrowed in 1926.
It has been said many times that 1t
Is impossible to draw a line between
debtors and creditors, or to arrange
them in two classes, one against the
ether A great part of the population
consists of those who are both debtors
and creditors-creditors as concern life
insurance policies deposits in bank, re-
tirement annuities, securities. salaries
and wages; debtors as concern home
or land purchase. doctor and grocery
bills or the acquisition on the INSTALL
ment plan Of automobiles. radio and
new dining room furniture.
II is true that great many farmers
who borrowed money when wheat was
selling at high prices are finding 1t diff
ficult, If not impossible, to pay their
debts when wheat is selling at low
prices A great deal is being done now
manipulating the currency in behalf of
farmers, or any other class OF citizens
who assumed debt in prosperous years,
In order to permit them to pay of the
debts in debased currency, has been
questioned In the days of William
Jennings Bryan's Gross Of Gold" and
free-silver campaigns the plea then
was to debase the dollar to favor the
debtors. That doctrine was repudiated
on the theory that the payment of dol
lar debts in half dollars was not hon.
est. In more prosperous times the doc
trine has been forgotten.
In this depression the same doctrine
Is being preached again. 1t is difncult
for many people to understand, in the
first place, where the justice lies in de-
basing the dollar to favor debtors. For
every debtor there is a creditor. Many
debtors are also creditors. For every
debtor benefited a creditor Is injured.
To benefit the farm debtor the mortgage
holder-.n many cases another farmer
will be injured. If the mortgage holder
is a life insurance company or a bank,
The policy holders and depositors viii be
injured. If the Federal Government is
the debtor which sold bonds, the bond
Understanding the banks which
used depoSitors money TO purchase
them-will be injured.
Problem of Maintaining Prices
But aside from the debtor creditor
question, there are two parts 10 the
administrators price-raising .xperl-
n1ent.
The other is to keep them thre.