Evening star., 1934-02-13
BY RALPH w. PAGE.

Drtttng.
BY RALPH w. PAGE.
Aristocratic estimates of the infor-
nation. intelligence, moral values and
inherent human power of the average
voting citizen of the United States
are ridiculously below the mark.
Any man who travels the country
over as I have in seeking informa-
ton on economic subjects cannot fail
to be profoundly impressed with this
fact.
The farmers of the Middle West
know more about the function and
the relative position money holds in
the sum total of human affairs than
the bankers do. In my opinion.
To be sure, most of the farmers
never thought about the subject at
all until recently. But their minds
are as keen, their principles as good,
their values Of life as sound, as any
bankers or any college professors.
Further. their minds are not condi-
toned or atrophied or sealed by the
shibbolets, preconceived rules and un-
changeable formulas that so obviously
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preoccupied with money.
Fair Dollar Is Desired.
do not pretend to say that the
farmers conception Of money is right.
1 am no judge, but I say they know
more about the function and rela-
tive position of money in human
affairs than bankers, for the simple
reason that they are eager to learn
all they can, and to discuss the whole
subject in the light of the sum total
of the experience of human beings.
And this can be done by no man
who is obsessed on one subject or
committed to one system.
What, then, do the rank and file
OF people, including farmers, think
about this money business. popularity
called the monetary policy? They
want fair dollar. That is exactly
what they say-"a fair dollar"-just
as they want a fair price, a fair
profit, a fair wage.
This is a conception utterly beyond
the possible comprehension Of Vic
torian capitalist. 1t sounds to him
like something in Alice in Wonder
land"-like asking how long is
string or how heavy is a goat?
The criterion In the case Of the
dollar is a dollar fair to creditors
and debtors-one that theoretically
has the same purchasing power as
the dollar originally borrowed. If
the creditors are to be protected. this
calls for an arbitrator. Fortunately
the debtors are practically unanimous
in their willingness to leave the de-
cision of the fair" value to the
President. The creditors, a slim mi
nority, would do well to accept him
also.
Reaction Must Be Noted.
No cross-section picture Of Amer
ican life would begin to be real that
overlooked the reaction that all these
events and opinions have upon the
wealthy and conservative members Of
financial industrial society. They are
to be found principally in the en-
virons of La Sale street in Chicago,
State street in Boston, Wall street
and similar streets In the larger cities
in the Northeast There is also a
solid body of kindred minds IN San
Francisco and Portland on the Pacific.
Elsewhere, South and West, even the
bankers belong to an alien agrarian
school of thought.
It must be borne in mind that the
most aggressive, enterprising and ex-
perienced men in commercial life in
the United States belong in this cate
CORY. 1t would be a ridiculous error
TO add brains" The great minds
and the great souls of no era have de-
voted their lives to business. "Busi-
ness" including underwriting, is to-
day terribly hampered by its stupid
and ignorant reliance on Grass mate
rialism and it's plain lack of sense
In judging the motives of human be-
ings. Nevertheless, their ranks in
clude the strong men," the trained
men and a majority of the cultivated
people in the country. And they make
a case.
Drop into the Downtown Club on
Pine street in New York, where the
wires of big business and world finance
converge, at lunch hour, and it will be
expounded to you. 1t goes like this:
There is great good in some OF
the popular ideas now being so cava-
lierly dictated by the Government
Abolishing child labor Is all right.
A minimum dole to the unemployed
is necessary. Supporting banks Is a
good job. Open. market operations
to loosen credit are a recognized
maneuver, begun by Mr.. Hoover. But
L. Of nfhar items
Security Business Hit.
ITO begin with. the securities act
makes it impossible to put out new
issues of securities, or even to refund
the old ones. 1t kills private enter
prise precisely where it is needed-in
the development of capital goods
the extention or replacement OF
plants, machinery and buildings. No
sane director in any corporation or
banking house will jeopardize his
whole fortune by approving an issue
subject to laws saying he Is personally
liable for all losses due to any mis-
taken or omitted statement in a pros
pectus. This ruins the underwriting
and security distributing business, ana
with it the whole commercial struc-
ture of the United States.
Issuing Government bonds to give
the money away to leaf rakers and to
build useless dams will inevitably ruin
the Governments credit, and so ut
terly ruin the country. If 1t is stopped
before it actually results in ruin. 1t
will still have put a terrible burden
on the taxpayer, and also a brake on
American business. A policy OF Gov
ernment spending for recovery may
be a short and temporary and evil
necessity. but it Is time to stop right
now. We're headed for bankruptcy.
THE worst is the waste of all this
money 10 hnild dams To dupliCate