Imperial Valley press., 1942-01-28
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

! WASHINGTON. Jan. IS - You
too. can be Washington expert
/ Self instruction. One easy lesson
/ Satisfaction guaranteed.
/ Newcomers TO Washington are
+ always impressed by how mucl'
everybody IN the government knows
A knowledge Of law, economy
banking. strategy. sociology. care CT
the baby and how to make good
Gravy is possessed by one and all
and even college presidents COM
ing to town are left agape and as
tCunded by the wisdom of the ad-
ministratorS and department heads
in your government.
But after a short time, the tricK
shows through and you find there
CatchlineS and pet figures which
form the text for any speech Cn
conditions that YOU want to de-
liver Master and memorize these
f1W words and numbers and you're
a WASHINGTON expert quicker than
you can say G. @. P. Or, if you're
net coming this way. you can be-
come the oracle Of any business
conference. the philosopher on any
cracker barrel. the real Stmulant
Of any cocktail party more bril-
liant. eyen.than the tClldG who
reads these bCokS for IL minutes
a day. the guy who poses for the
advertising illustrations on How to
Be a Success" the gal whom peo-
pie laughted at when she sat down
at the piano.
Sec how easy ii is:
Topic Nc l. - How to win the
war:
We simply must get the com-
try'S spending capacity up to five
billion a meath. III December
1871 we were spending only one
point eight billion Well get up to
four billion by the end OF this year,
but by '43 we've got TO reach five
billion a month. That's only sixty
billion a year, and that will be onls'
half the national income -
Keep repeating these figures,
Never mind about tanks or air
planes or soldiers or battleshipS
Topic No. 2.-C0nycrsion OF
industry to all-Out productions:
The trouble is now that
there is too much concentration
of contracts. Why. do you
know that fifty-siX corporations
hold scventy-four per cent of
the war orders and six cOmpan
L..
per cent? There are one hun
dred and eighty-five thousand
manufacturers in the L. s, and
they must all be put on war
orders"
These figures are rather out of
date, but no one will dispute you.
Use tenths of a percentage
wherever possible. That aids in
giving the impression you have your
figures down to the last decimal
Don't say, "Thirty-One and three
tenths per cent That's old-faSh
icled Say. "Thirty-onc point
three It's smarter.
Topic No. 3.-The Labor Situa-
ticn:
The country's non-agricultural
employment is over forty-one mil
lien now. with the unemployment
at three point eight million. II
will probably show up at four point
three million for January BY the
BIS index, and may rise to five
point five million in Jme-an m
crease of one point five million at
the most. By the end OF '42 how
ever. conversion will begin to be
felt and unemployment will start
declining. By IA we'll have full
employment with a non-agrlcIl-
tural labor force OF say tlfty-three
point three million.
If that doesn't SpelIbmd your
audience, add this:
And don't forget the roIc Wo-
men will play in this. Remember
there were thirteen million %omfn
over fourteen years of age gam
fully employed in 1899 out Of Z
total of fifty million female. IN the
country That thirteen can 90 to
twenty-five without ang trouble at
all"
The strike situation is never,
never mentioned in polite So
ciety. so lay off yourself II
the talk does get round to this
nasty subject, switch it quickly
TO John Lewis and give your
version of what he meant by
his C.LO.-A.F of l.. peace pro-
posal. Say whatever comes to
YOUR head. Nobody knows any
more about Johns motives than
YOU do. Just be firm and as
Sured in your manner and tone
of voice. If possible, make
three points.
Topic No. 4 Finance Bcglan'"
are advised to try tins ~ front
cf mirror at first, until thc toCh-
Ilquc IS perfected.
The budget for fiscal ~ i, !iity-
nine billion. of which fift|-'%D bill
hon is Tor national detcnsc About
forty per cent or tWenty-iOur bill
lion must come from taxes. and
Sixty per cent or thirty-fiYc billion
from borrowing. International dcOt
was forty billion when the Uas be-
gan, is now at flftY-seVen and 1t
can go to one hundred and ter. but
what's one hundred and ten! That's
only what the national income
should be!
Only Doors, BY the VA. mention
the national debt
General hints: