The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1940-11-06

long he'll be able 10 keep the soIl
pedal on as orders pile in for our
own defensive equipment and to
meet Britain's requirements, is
problematlc
Leon is an exceptionally capable
economist He had the hard luck
to be appointed 10 a key post in
the NRA organization in early
New Deal days and it was bad ad-
vertising for him considering the
fashion in which the NRA tizzled.
However il wasn't his fault That
boom already had busted II was
too late for HIM to do much about
il This time he's trying to prevent
a boom If he succeeds in doing II
therell be nothing TO bust subse-
quently
Henderson acutely realizes that
a boom isn't genuine prosperity
He also realizes that war goods
haven't any inherent value An in
dividual for instance may have to
tote a gun If he's IN tough
neighborhood but it doesn't salts
~ his hunger like food that he
eats or keep HIM warm like the
clothes he wears The money he's
spent on that gun ls Just dead
waste as soon as ne gets int safer
surroundings His food on the 9TH
er hand is comfortably assimilated
into his system and his suits as
serv1ceable as ever
Guns Are Not Wealth
so. II an epidemic of gun-toting's
unavoidable all right says Leon.
let's tote EN- but don't let's as
sumo that guns are wealth In an
economic sense
Leon classes a war with con-
iagrauon
Nov ] can remember the San
Francisco earthquake and FIRE Di-
rectly after that calamity. ! recall
that LOT of people said Well it's
too bad Nevertheless San Fran's
due for a wonderful period Of pros.
Pc ~. Tor H. ".-4 --.- % oe re-
built and ttll make work for
everybody
It did have such a period, too,
for a while. while reconstruction
was in progress.
But I lived in San Fran a few
years later and everything was
fatter than a pancake. The recon-
strucuon era was past and the
town was beginning to feel the eff
fects OF its previous destruction.
II stands to reason that a man
cant save up his money for half
lifetime. then throw it in the cook
stove and burn it UP. and figure
that then he'll be wonderfully pros
porous because he's got to start
over again
Leon Henderson $ position is that
we'll be burning our money up
that Is TO say. wasting our labor)
on our armament program. 1t
won't be as bad as actual war. but
we may get into that likewise.
And then we have a boom. while
re-supplying ourselves with the
real necessities Of life For a spell.
doubtless. as during and after the
last war But It will be snide pros
perity Such Is Icons cerebration.
What he's trying to do Is TO head
of boom-being sure that booms
inevitably pop ultimately.
have a deal of respect for aca-
demlc economists. like Leon Hen
derson. IN comparison with some
OF our big businessmen.
II Puzzled En-
During our last postwar boom
couldn't understand why we we're
not having a depression instead. It
seemed to me that it ought to have
been certainty as a sequel to the
I9l4-l8 conflict. But finally the
boom did blow up. Thereupon the
senates banking and currency
committee conducted an investiga-
ton to'determine. If possible. what
vas the matter with us. All our
outstanding fnanciers were sub
penaed as w1tnesses-including j.
P Morgan and all his satellites.
One after another these birds
tesuhed. The depression puzzles
us We thought there might be a
depression. but we didn't know 1t
was going 20 be as bad as it is
Why heck I knew it, What had
stumped me was that It hadn't
come sooner And any time I know
more about boons and slumps than
J p Morgan processes to know.
either he ISN'T speaking quite can
didly or else he isn't as wise as I'd
supposed him to be
THAT was the time ]. p was
photographed with a circus mid
get in his lapJ