The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1934-08-17

stlverites would be pleased with this,
but they are not talking In terms Of
80 to I. They bark back to the old
10 to 1 ratio Of Bryan's day, and insist
that comparative production Of gold
and silver makes this the normal ratio.
Too Much Gold
While there was no discussion Of
this point on the floor Of the house or
senate during the passage Of the silver
bill In the last session, there il q wide
~ held theory, even among treasury
experts who are opposed to bimetal-
,lism. that the United States has too
much gold for its W good at the
present moment. A better distribution
of gold, they believe, is apt to be one
Of the beneficial results following the
enactment Of the silver law.
By buying silver from abroad on .
considerable scale, the argument runs,
this country would be creating buying
power abroad without increasing com
petitive imports. II the United States
were to buy a similar amount Of tex
tiles or liquor, 1t would have a depres-
sing effect on domestic production Of
the articles thus imported. Bringing
in goods from abroad does not increase
the consumption of that particular
kind of goods. As the old high tariff
spellbinders used to say, every dollar
Of imports means just a dollar less d.
vided between American labor and
American capital.
= But the case Of silver IL unique.
By previous action this government
is buying every ounce Of silver pro-
duced in this country at a fixed rate
actually higher than the world price.
1t makes no difference whether the
production scars or diminishes. SO
that II this country should in addition
buy, say, 1OO,OOO.OOO unces Of silver
from China, there would be no roper
cussion hitting the silver miners nor
the silver mine owners. The silver
would simply 60 In the United States
treasury vaults and either lie there or
be coined.
Meanwhile, however, such purchases
would increase enormously the posi-
BILE buying Of American exports by the
countries from which the silver was
bought.
New Traffic Plan
A number of large cities are giving
serious consideration to a proposal re-
Gently made by former Mayor John
F. Honey Fitzgerald, Of Boston, for
solving traffic problems at congested
cross streets and at the same time pro-
viding work for large numbers of men
without b%urdening the city treasury.
Mr.. Fitzgerald's plan is simply the
construction of ,under-passages at high
ly congested corners, such, for exam
pie. az Fifth avenue and Forty-second
street In New York. His plan further
provides that the municipalities levy
an additional cent tax on. gasoline =
Originally, Mr.. Fitzgerald, proposed
that federal money be used for this
purpose. He suggested then that the
money be loaned to the municipalities
by the RIG or some other federal
agency and repaid from receipts from
the gas tax. So enthusiastic was Nj.
Fitzgerald that he made a special trip
to Washington and talked to the Presi-
dent about It. Mr.. Roosevelt liked the
idea but it was discarded as far as the
federal government was concerned, be-
cause, technically, 1t was not strictly
a "self- liquidating" project It was
not similar, for example, to a bridge,
where tolls for use Of the bridge could
be charged. Since that time, however.
interest in the idea has grown, largely
due to the constantly increasing con
gestion from automobile and truck
traffic in the big cities.
Mr.. Fitzgerald told the President at
the time he took the matter up at the
White House that he thought an extra
cent on the gallon would make very
little difference to the purchasers Of
gasoline, whereas, In the big cities,
the time saved by under-passing at
busy corners would more than COM
pensate motorists and truck drivers.
He called attention to the amount Of
gasoline wasted by idling motors dur
ing such delays and said he believed
the saving here alone would make up
for the extra cent a gallon.
Favor Under-Pass
well, the gasoline tax IL II cents
in England, and the people pay it." the
President told Fitzgerald at that time.
an Vienna it's % cents" Honey
Fitz retorted.
Maybe this was bad psychology for
the motorists, because the President
not SO long thereafter approved the
treasury's plan to increase the federal
gasoline tax-and with NJ under
passes.
At the time Of the first proposal,
the Fitzgerald under-pass idea aroused
the support of a great many cities,