Automatic Age

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as readily as for gigantic stock promo­
tional ventures.
The Automatic Calendar in July gave ex­
pression to some of our opinions on this
matter. The plan announced by a large
Chicago bank last year was mentioned..
Briefly, the plan was that the. bank would
undertake to market three and five year
term paper for customer firms, observing
proper precaution of course as to business
safeguards. Mention is made later in this
article of plans made by the Scranton, Pa.,
Chamber of Commerce to come to the res­
cue of firms needing financial aid. Happily,
there is a growing sentiment in many cities
and towns to consider every business enter­
prise within the city as of special import­
ance and value to the general welfare of
all its citizens. Growing sentiment like this
Inaccurate Scales
may mean the salvation of small and medi­
— From Collier’s.
um sized business enterprises. At least
two suggestions then, are being made that
may mean a better day for small business man who wants to see business conditions
on the upward trend all the time.
firms of all kinds.
3.
Practically every nation on the globe
is feeling business depression just as we
“ T r e a t in g ” a P a n ic
are, and once more we are made to face the
Early during the current year it was
kinship of the whole world. The immense
amount of productive machinery in Amer­ quite customary to say that the panic of
ica indicates that either much of the ma­ 1929 has been so scientifically “ treated”
chinery wfll have to lie idle, or else we will that it would not really amount to very
be faced with problems arising from over­ much. Careful control by Government and
production for years to come. And while business authorities, “ psychological” handl­
we are faced with too much at home, mil­ ing of the frayed nerves of the business
lions are even starving in other sections of
community, and the adoption of a “ scien­
the world. But before the rest of the world tific” method, were features that were said
can begin to buy our goods, something will to differentiate public policy during this
have to be done to raise the standard of business recession from that adopted dur­
living in other countries— in other words ing any other.
the wages of the masses of people in the
At part of the “ policy” that was hatched
lower classes in most of the nations of the out at Washington in conferences between
world will have to be raised to something politicians and “ business leaders” was the
like ours, before they can begin to buy our issuance o f reassuring “ surveys.”
The
goods on a large scale. All this simply earlier of the surveys contained unques­
means that if business is going to continue tionably misleading statements about un­
good in America, there will have to be a employment, rates of interest and the like.
lot of co-operation among the civilized, na­ These misleading assertions were so
tions of the world. After all the best extreme as to compel public criticism and
policy is to try to conduct business on a comment. They were succeeded by re­
“ live and let live” basis. Easy to say it, views that were rather carefully statistical
but won’t there be some terribly painful in nature.
rubs before we get to anything like half
A wholly extraordinary optimism per­
the ideal arrangement?
meated the “ publicity” thus given out, and
From all that is being said about busi­ a good deal of clever statistical work was
ness conditions, and what ought to be done, done in eliminating “ seasonal fluctuations”
certain opinions have been carefully se­ and otherwise making the worse appear
lected from various publications and busi­ the better season. Finally, there came a
(Continued on page 17)
ness journals for the information of every
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