quarter of the city. Practically all of 

 this section was built early in the 19th 

 century. Covering several square miles, 

 it is rich in art and historical lore. 

 Only a half-dozen or so buildings in 

 the quarter were erected after 1848. 

 The buildings are of permanent brick 

 and stone construction, French and 

 Spanish design, ^any have ornamental 

 wrought iron fences and porch railings 

 imported from Europe. Residences as 

 well as stores are built up to the side- 

 walk and often there are passageways 

 leading to a patio or court in the center 

 or rear where upstairs porches look out 

 on beautiful southern gardens. 



Many visited the old Spanish and 

 French government building, where 

 the Louisiana Purchase was signed in 

 1803, also St. Louis cathedral, said to 

 be the second oldest church in Amer- 

 ica. 



New Orleans is the second largest 

 seaport in the country and the docks 

 where cotton, grains, bananas and 

 countless other goods are loaded and 

 unloaded daily was a never-ending 

 source of interest. The city abounds 

 in Creole (humans of Spanish and 

 French breeding) and sea food eating 

 houses. Antiones, Arneauds, the Lou- 

 isian and others have national reputa- 

 tions. Illinois delegates feasted on 

 oysters, crab, shrimp, fish, turtle soup, 

 hot Creole sauce, French bread and 

 thick, strong coffee, but were looking 

 for some good old corn-fed beefsteaks 

 before the week was out. 



Most of the open canals which once 

 traversed the city are now covered over 

 by streets, but they are still used for 

 drainage. At one time the water table 

 in the main part of the city was only 

 a few feet below the surface. Much 

 of the city is still below the level of 

 the Mississippi River and is protected 

 by levees. More than 80 per cent of 

 all burials, according to the guides, 

 are in vaults above ground although 

 the water table has been substantially 

 lowered by drainage projects. 



Temperature during the convention 

 ranged from slightly below freezing 

 to 75°. The sun shone every day but 

 one when a cold rain broke the warm 

 spell. 



"What this country needs is a sub- 

 stantial and general reduction in the 

 rates of duty imposed on goods which 

 western European countries produce 

 and an intelligent program of foreign 

 loans to countries which have the ca- 

 pacity to pay," says L. J. Norton, chief 

 in agricultural marketing at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois. 



Is Money Manipulation 



the Key to IVational Recovery? 



Chester C. Davis and Senator Elmer Thomas 

 Exchange Views on a Vital Question 



yf^ HIS talk on "Credit and 



{/a Currency Management and 

 \^ Price Level," at New Orleans 

 Chester C. Davis, member of the Federal 

 Reserve Board threw a lot of cold water 

 on the warm, soothing theories advanced 

 by Senator Elmer Thomas of Oklahoma 

 and others that you can restore peace, 

 prosperity, and plenty for everyone over 

 night by manipulating the currency. 



Even if Congress established a cen- 

 tral monetary authority, which we do 

 not now have in the United States. 

 Davis said, "I doubt that it could 

 establish and maintain a certain desired 

 price level, say the price level of 1926." 



To illustrate, he pointed to 1926 

 when farmers were getting 94 per cent 

 of parity. That year the daily average 

 of money in circulation was $4,645,- 



Eighteen thousand tons of limestone and 



179 tons of rock phosphate were spread in 

 Bond county's nine townships in 1938. 

 About 4000 tons of limestone were used in 

 pasture improvement. 



CHESTER C. DAVIS 

 "We have the deposits — but they re- 

 fuse to work." 



000,000. In November 1938 when 

 farmers were getting only 78 per cent 

 of parity (grain farmers only 50 per 

 cent) money in circulation was $6,750,- 

 000,000 or 451/^ per cent greater than 

 in 1926. 



So he concludes, "it is a mistake to 

 assume that the mere issue of currency 

 has any monetary effect on the eco- 

 nomic structure .... If it did, March 

 1933 should have been a period of 

 prosperity and high prices, for then 

 the quantity of currency in circulation 



reached an ail-time high. That didn't 

 mean people were prosperous ; it meant 

 they were afraid of the banks." 



Money is cheaper, and more plenti- 

 ful today than at almost any time in 

 history. The New York discount rate 

 is 1 per cent which compares with 4 

 per cent in 1926, yet commodity prices 

 are comparatively low, the national in- 

 come is only 64 billion dollars com- 

 pared with 73 billion dollars in 1926 

 and about 79 billion dollars in 1929- 



"In other words, we have fashioned 

 for ourselves the longest piece of string 

 we ever had. The trouble is that while 

 you can cut a string to any length you 

 want, you can't push it where you 

 want it to go. Someone at the other 

 end has to pull. We have the deposits 

 — but they refuse to work." 



Here Davis put his finger on the vi- 

 tal point which no monetary system or 

 expert manipulation of currency ap- 

 parently can overcome. That intangible 

 thing called confidence or whatever it 

 is that makes owners of capital launch 

 out and utilize their funds or credit 

 seems to have more to do with prices 

 and prosperity than the supply of cur- 

 rency. 



In his address. Senator Thomas went 

 back into the history of money, quoted 

 at length from Alexander Hamilton 

 and other authorities, and wound up 

 with a criticism of the President's fail- 

 ure to 00 the limit in revaluing gold. 



"It's my contention," he said, "that 

 since 1933, the expansion of the cur- 

 rency and full and wider use of silver 

 has been more beneficial to farmers, 

 the producers and the people generally 

 than any or even all other enactments 

 or policies combined ... In March, 

 1937, the money managers decided that 

 the dollar was becoming too cheap and 

 that prices were getting too high so 

 that steps were taken to check the 

 cheapening of the dollar and stop ris- 

 ing prices. The action taken was ef- 

 fective and the new depression was the 

 result. ■ 



Thomas' contention is that "scarce 

 money means high valued dollars, and 

 (Continued on page 29) 



JANUARY, a939 



19 



