Vagabond Editoriafs

Bv JacL Dionne

Now we're going to devote this entire Vagabond department for this issue to a discussion of one single subjectPANICS.

:fi*>k

A "depression" talk? Not on your life! An optimistic tdk. For I have discovered-and I believe I can convince YOU-that in a brief review of the history of panics there is to be found comfort and hope at this moment. For history, "the long memory of the human race," answers in unmistakable and undeniable terrns many of the hypothetical questions that fear and travail bring continually to the average human mentality these days; and history bids us hoPe'

On every hand we hear the questions asked, ,,Will this depression ever end?" and "Has the world ever been through such times as these before?" I think f can easily convince you that this panic WILL end, and in all probability very soon; and that this depression we are now going through compares with some of the depressions of the past as a summer thunder storm compares with the mightiest hurricane. I want you to know that these great panics and depressions have been the lot of man since civilization began-and long before; that they occur in the past two hundred years of our national history with rhythmic regularity, apparently being part and parcel of the price that mankind pays for this thing we call civilization. We have always had panics. In my judgment, we always will have. The only difference between this present panic and the panics of the past is that we have lost more money in terms of DOLLARS than ever before, simply because we had more dollars to lose. But from a standpoint of the percentage of people affected, the seriousness of their panic-created damage, and the broken morale of the people, the long memory of man tells us that, in the words of Al Jolson-"we ain't seen nuthin' yet."

:F*'k

And not only do I propose to convince you of these two things; but I likewise hope to convince you that as far back as we can reasonably trace them, great and momentous developments of and for humanity have been the aftermaths of panics of the past; portentious forward thrusts of progress and improvement have been the step-children of these timgs of great distress. Numerous of the great- est boons that have come to mankind have been the immediate products of panics.

I yield to the ..*n.".rJn nrrl, n*" to break the chain of the story I want to tell, and furnish you facts and figures to prove the first two assertions I have made, while they are uppermost in your minds. Read the following quotation. ft was written by a very keen observer of conditions in,.the United States during a previous panic. He says: "Suspicion, fear, and misfortune have taken possession of the people. Had I not been aware of the cause I should have imagined that the plague-was raging. Not a smile on one countenance among the crowd who pass and repass; hurried steps; careworn faces; rapid exchanges of salutation, or hasty communication of ruin before the sun goes down. Here two or three are gathered together on one side, whispering or watching that they are not overheard; there a solitary, with his arms folded and his hat slouched, brooding over departed affluence. Mechanics thrown out of employment are pacing up and down with the air of famished wolves. Canals, railroads, and all public works have been discontinued." ***

Have you noticed any such conditions during this present panic? Hardly. That was written by an English author, Captain Marryat, who visited New York during the height of the panic of 1837, and wrote back to England of what he saw. And do you know that in that great panic EVERY BANK IN THE COUNTRY CLOSED ITS DOORS, WHILE SIX STATES REPUDIATED THEIR PUBLIC DEBTS, AND CONGRESS PASSED A GENERAL BANKRUPTCY LAW TO SAVE DIS. TRESSED DEBTORS? Sure! That happened in the panic of 1837. Now THERE was a panic ! But the panic of 1837-so amazingly pictured by Marryat-passed away, and a high tide of prosperity followed; and so also did the terrible panic of 1819, with the same succeeding rise of the tide. And so have all the others. And so will this one.

Yes, friends, we've n"U "r"t-" panics than this one before. Plenty of them. And we took those panics of earlier days much less philosophically than we are taking this one. The why and wherefore of THAT fact is itself fit subject for an extended discussion, and has no place here.

And right here, let's get rid of the bugaboo about talking of "panic" and "depression." We are in the middle of our fourth year of this trouble, and we have gone through many phases of it. For a long time everyone kept advising us "Don't talk depression." We tried to lull ourselves into a feeling of false security by dodging the issue. That would have been all right for scaring away shadows, but this thing we are in is a death grapple which won't be downed in any such inglorious fashion. A friend of mine tried that system of just ignoring the depression, never admitting it, never mentioning it. He said that pretty soon his checks began coming back marked, "No funds." He kept up his theory of ignoring conditions, and went on his way serenely. But when his checks began coming back marked "No bank" he saw that the time had come to change his system. Now we've come to understand that "Don't talk depression" is an absurdity. We've got to recognize it. We've got to look it squarely in the eye. An attitude of supine acquiescence and surrender is the fuel that feeds the depression. Drifting with the current only takes us over the falls. So let's get on with this depression talk, and get what comfort and hope we can from it.

**>k

So very frequently in these lean days, when men get to discussing the one and only thing you hear discussed nowadays, namely-the depression and its duration-someone cries aloud for "a Moses to lead us out of the wilderness." You've all heard it, and read it. And it really isn't a Moses we need, at all. Another Joseph is what we want. For in all this world's history we have no record of a human who knew anything about panics and depressions and what to do about them, with one exception, and he was Joseph, the son of Jacob. We have no record of any other man who could diagnose a depression even after it was over, and he had all of its attendant manifestations to go by. We have been going through panics and depressions since the earliest dawn of history, but have produced no other human wise enough to determine definitely the cause of any of them. Joseph alone saw one coming, and made the necessary preparations to receive it, not only for himself and his family, but for his entire nation.

***

Genesis tells us of the Pharaoh, or Emperor, of Egypt, who had a dream that none of his seers and wise men could explain. He dreamed that he stood on the bank of a river and saw seven fat cattle come up out of the river. They were followed by seven other cattle, horrible in their leanness and emaciation, who ate up the seven fat cattle. Joseph deciphered the dream for him, and likewise told him what to do about the situation. He said that the dream meant that Egypt would have seven fat years of prosperity and plenty, that would be followed by seven lean years

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