Evening star., 1934-02-12
INVITATION" LOSES
FEARFUL MEANING
America, Recreated During
DebaCIe, Reforms Its
Money Beliefs.

recreated. 1t has been educated. Be-
| fore the debacle 1t had a supersti-
ton, a fixed idea that imitation"
meant just one thing and that one
thing so ruinous 1t should never be
mentioned in polite society-to wit.
| the printing of money in such un-
! limited quantities that it became
finally mot worth a continental" ;
the kind of thing done by the Ger
mans, whose postage stamps finally
cost a million marks apiece.
The gold standard was the founda-
! ton and very heart of this religion.
1t was supposed to be the basis of
all civilization, morals and progress.
1t was the one immutable and per-
feet thing in the world. And it was
| precisely defined. A United States
dollar was exactly so many grains of
gold Of a fixed quality.
Not only all United States money
could and forever must be instantly
redeemable in gold on instant de-
mand in this precise quantity per
dollar, but every debt and bond ne
| gotiated between honest citizens must
be paid in the same manner. The
slightest deviation was unthinkable.
Imitation Found Relative.
Then one day. with no more ado
| than getting of a bicycle. We went
1 off the gold standard-which experts
say has now been restored in modified
form. No skies fell when we went
| off gold. Dawn broke next day as
usual
| The result was that from all quar-
ters the light flowed in. Every one
began questioning Thousands be-
gan answering. and today in every
part of the Union people will tell you
that We were of the gold standard
I during the war. That in fact every
body has been off but Switzerland
and Holland. That the perfect
Frenchmen get of and get on again.
! Imitation is discovered to be a rela-
tive term. meaning no definite thing,
any more than rising tide indicates
any depth Of water. In fact. I have
been told on every hand from coast
to coast that every day we are either
initiating or debating. That the tide
Of credit is either coming in or going
out. That one OF the greatest infa-
tons in history took place in the
I United States in 1927-1929 under the
leadership Of the high priests of the
covenant. That all business increases
under imitation and contracts under
deflation. That there are many ways
Of initiating. That issuing bonds is
Initiating. That buying Government
securities in the open market is in
hating. That coming silver is in
f1ating. That cutting the gold con-
tent of the dollar is initiating. And.
most Of all. that an increase of bank
credits is initiating. In a word, that
any increase in the volume of busi-
ness transactions or rise in prices is
called imitation oy some expert, and
| properly So
Imitation Was Necessary.
AS has been known in the rational
world dealing with all other aspects
OF human life. there is no such thing
as standing still All human affairs
go up or down. backward or forward.
Improve or deteriorate. They cannot
remain static. We spend every min
ute Of our lives initiating or debating
So, the people say. there is no such
question as Shall We iniate?" We
are Initiating. 1t was simply a mathe-
matical and physical fact that If fac
tories were to run, the idle to 20 to
work and debts to be paid, we had to
| initiate. Nobody so blind but that he
had perceived. he said. that the more
We Debated (sold out debtors. cur
tailed credit. etc., the worse of we
got.
Still, I have discovered that every
one is as terrified as ever of what
they call "greenbacks," SYNONYMOUS
with the unlimited German mark ner-
formance. But the people believe the
whole question is one of degree.
The President urges that we en-
oeaVor 10 be fair" He suggests as
fair the general situation prevailing
/ in 1926
My observation is that this rough
objective has been accepted bv an
overwhelming majority of the people.
Granting this. and granting further
tnat the Government inevitably fol-
lows an aroused public opinion. the
course OF events becomes fairly clear,
Those who desire the price level of
1925 are pleased and not disturbed
by the measures taken to bring it
about. Those who wanted the cur
/ rent level to stand attacked these
measures from every possible angle.
A meeting of minds, or even a def1ni-
ton Of terms between these factions
is impossible
Opposed by Professionals
II the people desired to confScate
the wealth and destroy the power of
| the great creditor class, they would
They haven't the slightest desire to do
so. If they wish to redistribute the
national income and with it the power
and influence of the creditor class.
they can and will do so.
Now 1t is perfectly clear that this
Is taking place with the enthusiastic
approval of the populace. The proc
ess is opposed primarily by profess
s1onal dealers in money debts and
their clients. Financial houses and
that part of their clientele who live
upon returns from securities. includ-
Ing endowed colleges. hospitals and
the guardians of trust estates. and
those semi-public servants, the Off
/ VIC VA AAASdA dAICC COIHpdnleS, COnSgl-
tute the defense.
They are on the spot. They are
the enemy. Any banker, broker or
underwater will admit it. They are
no longer listened to.
But after all, the people say. it is
no physical revolution. The objective
is too conservative. 1t does not seek
TO dethrone any one. The United
States in 1926 was not exactly COM
munistic state, it is pointed out
In the light Of this view, there never
was any doubt the Government would
take over the Federal Reserve gold
and eventually devalue the dollar and
spend the profit in recovery.
No Debate on Debts.
| I was going to write what the
people think of increasing the public
debt to s31 ,000, GOO .000 But there is
| nothing tn write abolIt When thoSe