The Good Time Coming
86 THE COMMONWEAL May 29, 1929 out hesitation, it goes on to summarize frankly the extant dangers. If credits are withdrawn from the general economic stream and diverted into channels which...
...Chief among these is, we think, a willing- ness to reduce all human life to a series of figures-- to be content with a civilization which shows a profit, regardless of the grossness of its outlook and the absence of generosity from its heart...
...It is interesting to note that the Raskob plan discussion elsewhere in this issue is one of the first attempts at solution to come from inside the realm of private enterprise...
...and so the opportunity for genuine advance lies in concentrating attention upon them rather than upon the savings accounts of the successful...
...Everybody realized that the United States could not sit tight for all it had coming with- out incurring storms of abuse and even risking the loss of its present diplomatic evidence...
...Probably Mr...
...If the poor were no longer with us, in the money sense, we should still be obliged to deal charitably with the pauperism of mind and spirit which everywhere crops out from under the veneer of comfort...
...The Zero Hour repeal of the British reservations to the in Britain Kellogg pact, the conclusion of an agreement with the United States regarding the freedom of the seas, the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Rhineland, and principally "the reduction of armaments by inter- national agreement to the minimum required for police purposes," promise a co6peration with this country of a more whole-hearted nature than the record of the Conservatives in the past five years have led us to expect...
...Lloyd George's Liberals have made statements in a similar spirit, but in much less detail and with less vigor while their criticisms of the govern...
...Certainly two reasons why this is so are: the farmer's inability to achieve the same control of markets as financial centralization, tariff legislation and labor turnover have attained in manufacturing...
...Yet there was no way toward progress excepting through the President...
...IN THESE last days preceding the elections, each of the leaders is claiming victory, but by victory they understand diffferent things...
...In the first place, it may well be that our prosperity is contingent upon "accelerated production" in a world where eventual limits cannot be transgressed...
...Secondly, industrial develop- ment has left agriculture pretty well in the shade...
...Even now the reign of speculation is probably due in a measure to inability to find a profitable outlet for surplus funds...
...and the fact that transportation costs are determined by industry...
...and we know of no economics which starts with the "personal liberty" argument that is also a workable science of distribu- tion...
...Finally, such problems as unemployment and financial equality on a relatively more equitable basis remain to be solved...
...Waste of natural re-sources, incompetent leadership, greed and dishonesty are all hostile to economic welfare...
...Oddly enough, the significance of foreign markets is not emphasized, nor does the published summary of the report (which will be issued, we are told, in two full volumes) make any definite pronouncement anent the tariff...
...We believe that on the whole its facts and inferences are, indeed, formidable chal- lenges to dissenting opinion...
...As for the Conservatives, who are standing on their record while in office, it must in fairness to them be mentioned that following Mr...
...But they are still here...
...and the plight of several industrial dis- tricts--notably textile-making New England can safely be attributed to the difficulty involved in realign- ing outmoded factories...
...To have suggested this subtraction in Congress would have meant debate in which filibusters, committee meetings, party alignments and other things would immeasurably delay decision...
...Hoover expenses incurred by the army of occu- pation...
...It does not take much more than a million dol- lars from Reich annuities, but it may profoundly affect what are termed "international imponderables...
...ON ONE count at least, a victory for Labor in the British General Elections this week will remove some uneasiness in the United States...
...We consider thls a most corn- Is Right mendable and salutary action...
...WEEK BY WEEK H AVING summoned leading congressmen and Cabinet members to a conference, the President gained approval for an offer to deduct Io percent from the total charge against Germany for Mr...
...We do not believe that these objections constitute an indictment of the "American system...
...Gibson's speech at Geneva Sir Austen Chamberlain hastily avowed: "We had indeed ourselves made proposals for such reduction...
...Never-theless the whole document is undoubtedly intended to form a statement and defense of the "American sys- tem," which has not been without its bitter critics both at home and abroad...
...Still a number of objections are quite obvious...
...One is reason-ably certain that Mr...
...Surely much stronger arguments can be advanced against all social- istic doctrines or experiments...
...ment's attitude at Geneva in 1927, and of the Anglo- French accord, have been comparatively mild...
...On the other hand, it is futile to hurrah the status quo in a mood of bland indifference to dangers and evils...
...Hoover's decision will not be nullified later on under the Capitol dome...
...It is so modest a proposal, and it serves so well the best inter- ests of the country, that hardly anyone is likely to view it with "grave concern...
...If credits are withdrawn from the general economic stream and diverted into channels which irrigate speculation, the normal ebb and flow of business capital will cease...
...For weeks a conference summoned to arbitrate the reparations problem, and virtually presided over by Americans, has been working hard to scale down Allied claims...
...Meanwhile American repre- sentatives sitting in Paris must be drawing a deep and invigorating breath...
...86 THE COMMONWEAL May 29, 1929 out hesitation, it goes on to summarize frankly the extant dangers...
...Lloyd George will not be too downcast if there are winning...
Vol. 10 • May 1929 • No. 4
