Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1937-04-08

OIL dI1l16 I'LL
as a Teacher soundness by the
results that even
tually become understandable to the
rank and file of the people. Like
wise, throughout history the rank
and file of the people have learned
their lesson each time and have
avoided burning their fingers a Sec
ond time. That is, fingers were not
burned second time until a new
generation came along and refused
to examine and take into account
the lessons of experience.
Lately, we have seen another
such demonstration. We have seen
both the results and the refusal of
current leaders to profit by exper-
fences of the past.
refer particularly to conditions
involving United States bonds,
Those who have followed market
quotations must recognize that Unit
ed States bonds and other securities
issued by the treasury have suffered
from fluctuations in prices that por-
tend, if, indeed, they do not prove
that federal financial policies of the
last four years were unsound. There
was propaganda from official quar-
tiers during one of the periods of
sagging prices that the condition
resulted from market manipulations
and the activities of ''tipsters." Sto-
ries to this effect came directly
out of the treasury although they
did not carry the identity of the
official who made the statements.
The whole circumstance must be
considered together, however, if one
is to arrive at any sort of a con-
clusion concerning the true state
Of affairs. One must think of the
total amount of government secur-
tiles outstanding = something like
Observation-Disclosures one must
recognize as well what is going on
in commerce and industry. In addi-
ton to these factors, attention must
be given to conditions Of the last
several years when the Roosevelt
administration was engaged = and
still is engaged - in the great
est orgy of spending that our ma
ton ever has known. When you
add up these various factors, you
get an answer which seems to me
to be irrefutable.
In the first place, no nation nor
any Of its individuals can go on
indefinitely spending money when
it does not have that money. That is,
it cannot spend more than its in
come over any extended period
without suffering bad results. Our
nation did that. It made up the
difference between its income and
its spending by borrowing. It gave
government bonds to those from
whom it borrowed, evidence of its
debt. The immediate result of this
condition was that there are mill
lions upon millions of government
bonds held by banks, corporations
and individuals. These bonds bear
an exceedingly low rate of interest.
It is only natural that anyone
with money to lend will look for the
highest interest rate they can get.
If they happen to hold government
bonds, those bonds will be dumped
in favor of securities paying higher
returns. That has happened to some
extent already.
It is to be remembered as well
that these bonds were issued in the
currency of the
Supply and devalued dollar,
Demand the fifty-nine cent
dollar as meas
ured by the value of gold.
Now, the law Of supply and de-
mand that has always operated and
which always will operate places
a basic value upon commodities,
upon the services Of labor. It is OPP
Grating again and has brought about
a greater demand for commodities,
the things we need to eat or to wear
and the countless items of modern
day living. The prices of these,
measured in present currency, are
higher because it takes almost two
of the present day dollars to buy
the same quantity as formerly could
be purchased with the dollar that
was good for one-hundred cents in
gold. The answer to this is that most
Of us can not help regarding gold
as a commodity having a stable
value. So, we see result in this
direction.
Labor, too, is demanding more of
the fifty-nine cent dollars for its
share of production. 1t has a right
to do so. If you measure wages as
you measure commodity values,
and it seems to me there can be on
ly one yardstick, then labor is justi-
fed in asking for higher pay.
Again, a result of tinkering with
the currency becomes evident be-
cause labor is forced to pay more
for what it buys as a result of the
reduction in the dollars gold value.
Then, finally, I am quite con-
vinced that in addition to the fac
tors / have discussed as having
weight in causing fluctuation of gov
eminent bond prices, no one can
DENY the influence that is being ex-
erted by the radical labor element
throuphout the strikes that have