The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-11-20
CREDIT MEN HEAR
 NATIONAL LEADER
Substitution of Statutory Laws For Economic
 Measures FallaciOus

"Because they lack thorouBn UT Aerstanding of business and econ- omic principles, some men who arc able Ks public speakers and un- doubtedly sincere are spreading fal. Iacies today regarding our general economic problems. They seem to belinye that almost any economic law can be replaced by statutory law"
 That is one of the points brought mt hy David A. Weir, assistant ex- ecutivA manager of the national as. soc,ati0n of credit men in his talk hefcre the Hartford Association oi Credit Men at the University Clun last night.
 "When a basic economic law IS involved" the speaker declared. aahout all that can be expected ot staCutes is that they may be in- strunental in regulating the work ina of the economic law. There IS c very decided distinction between such reguglatory measures ana those which would attempt to sun- stitute for economic principles"
 Continuing his analysis, MT. Weir said that many of our business difficulties and economic malad- iustments may be traced to @ faulty conception regarding real values Too often we fail to distinguish between actual value and that which merely seems to be Of value.
 "The results of this faulty belief have been apparent frequently m the conduct of individual business All too often over emphasis has been placed upon sales volume without due reagrd to the profits arising from those sales. Large sales and volume and gross income ean never be a satisfactory Substi' ute for net profits. -
 "As a reslt of this faulty thinking we have introduced into congress such measures as the Frazier-Lem' ke bill and other inflationary pro. posais. While this particular pil was defeated at the last session ol congress, 1t is Q mistage to assume that the danger is past Constant Watchfulness is necessary to pre- vent the passage of skifully dis' Ruised unsound inflationary meas iires, which fall to distinguish be- tween money and wealth. Th' chief losers when such measures are enacted are the wage and sal ary earners, whose dollar incom' may rise during imitation but whose purchasing power is almost inVaT' aably decreased.
 Another evidence in moderr thinking of this failure to distin' { R,,ish between practical values ant aliuring but impractical reans, lie' in the doctrine that social advance Ynent may precede economic ad' vancement. The two must go to- eether or both will fail. There Il little profit in placing desirable social legislation on the statute books unless there IS sufficien prosperity in business to provide the funds necessary for supporting the desired social advancement.
 "Whether 1t be in business, II social life or in the affairs of gov ernment, we need men who arr capable of thinging things through There is often greater danger 1T half-truths than in vicious untruth The latter may be detected ant combatted. The half-truth may b' plausible enough so that men. ar' led astray and fictitious economic social and political ideas developed In this time of business recovery it is especially necessary that these half-truts be combated if we are tt build e solid foundation for more permanently prosperous condition