I. A. A. RECORD— May, 1933 



15 



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usiness 



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en 



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Advocate 75 Per Cent 



Inflation 



Movement To Revalue Gold Gains Momentum, Industry 

 , J^^^^ ^ . Supplies New Recruits 



SEVENTY-FIVE per cent infla- 

 tion — to be accomplished by rais- 

 ing the price of gold from $20.67 

 to $36.17 an ounce is being urged by 

 a group of 300 industrial leaders or- 

 ganized as the "Committee for the 

 Nation to Rebuild Prices and Purchas- 

 ing Power." 



. Chairman of the directing commit- 

 tee is Frederic H. Frazier, chairman 

 of the General Baking Company. Other 

 members are Vincent Bendix, presi- 

 dent, Bendix Aviation Corporation; 

 Lessing Rosenwald, chairman, Sears, 

 Roebuck & Co.; F. H. Sexauer, presi- 

 dent, Dairymen's League Co-operative 

 Association; and J. H. Rand, Jr., presi- 

 dent. Remington Rand, Inc.. •,:., 



. Five Next Steps '■' '^i.''; v-': 



The committee now proposes what 

 it calls the "Five Next Steps" to in- 

 flate prices, as follows: 



1. Reopen the maximum number of 

 banks as rapidly as possible. 



2. Continue an embargo on gold ex- 

 ports and suspension of specie 

 payment. Confer with Great Brit- 

 ain with the idea of both coun- 

 tries returning to gold basis simul- 

 taneously. 



3. Remove restrictions upon foreign 

 exchange dealings which do not 

 involve export of gold. Discon- 

 tinue efforts to keep the dollar at 

 its former gold parity. 



4. Announce at once that prior to 

 lifting the embargo on gold at a 

 future date it will be the policy of 

 the United States to revalue gold. 

 It is the opinion of the committee 

 that the U. S. treasury should 

 raise the price of gold from $20.67 

 per ounce to a new price of $36.17 

 per ounce. This 75 per cent in- 

 crease it is estimated will bring 

 the commodity level to a 1926 

 base. 



5. Create a federal non-partisan 

 board to stabilize the United 

 States price level of wholesale 



/"commodity prices at 100. This is 

 the average of the U. S. Bureau of 

 Labor price levels from 1921 to 

 1930. 



These Men Signed 



Among the prominent business men 

 signing the report were Philip K. 

 Wrigley, president, William Wrigley, 

 Jr. Company; E. L, Cord, president. 

 Cord Corporation; Gen. R. E. Wood, 

 president. Sears, Roebuck Co.; Carl 

 W. UUman, executive vice-president. 

 Dollar Savings and Trust Company, 

 Youngstown, Ohio; F. L. Innes, presi- 

 dent, Speigel May Stern Company; 

 Prof. Irving Fisher, Yale University; 

 G. R* Meyercord, president, the Meyer- 

 record Company; E, M. Allen, president, 

 > National Surety Company; Edwin L. 

 Lobdell, vice-chairman, Chicago City 

 and Connecting railways; M. B. Nel- 

 son, president. Long Bell Lumber 

 Company; George W. Borg, chairman, 

 Borg Warner Corporation; and Fred 

 G. Wacker, president, Automatic 

 Maintenance Machinery Company. 



The committee quoted at length 

 from the recent report of the Na- 

 tional Industrial Conference Board to 

 the effect that between 1929 and 1932 

 the price the farmer received for 

 goods he sold fell from 100 to 41, 

 while the cost of his purchases de- 

 creased only to 75. 



All Groups Injured 



"Debts and interest payments con- 

 tinued unchanged. Taxes increased, 

 the report states. The farmers' income 

 was almost wiped out. The disparity in 

 prices makes it unable for him to buy 

 as formerly from industry in the city. 



"This cuts down the volume of 

 freight shipments, closes factories, 

 throws city workers out of employ- 

 ment, and reduces their ability to buy 

 from other industries. The drop in 

 price level thus makes it difficult for 

 one group to carry on business with 

 another." 



All economic groups, the committee 



says, have been injured by the drop 

 in the price level, which has already 

 wiped out approximately $175,000,-, 

 000,000 of value. 



"Until we deal with this monetary 

 cause of the depression, there can be 

 little hope of recovery. Measures to 

 reduce the debt structure or to re- 

 lieve distress or give employment out 

 of public funds are only palliative. 



"The best place where 12,000,000 

 of unemployed can find work is in 

 their formerly accustomed positions 

 in factory, commerce, and agriculture. 

 Our efforts must be directed to re- 

 moving the causes which brought this 

 organization to a standstill. 



"Our economic system has proved 

 itself the most efficient for produc- 

 tion that the world has ever seen. Like 

 a high-powered automobile, it is 

 stalled because the distributor on its 

 magneto has broken down. 



"Instead of tinkering with the body 

 of the car we must direct our efforts 

 at the source of the trouble." 



Auditing Ass'n To 



Refund $2020 Cash 



The Illinois Agricultural Auditing 

 Association announces that it is ready 

 to issue $3,345 of preferred stock cov- 

 ering 1932 contributions to capital re- 

 serve. It will also redeem $2,020 of 

 preferred stock issued on 1927 capital 

 reserve contributions. 



From January 1, to April 19, 1933 

 the Association had completed 115 

 audits and prepared 20 income tax ex- 

 emptions, states Fred E. Ringham, 

 manager. 



Nine new contracts to audit ac- 

 counts of co-operatives were secured 

 since January 1, 1933 as follows: 



Chadwick Co-operative Produce 

 Assn., Chadwick, 111. 



Illinois Grain Corporation, Chicago, 

 111. 



Jersey County Produce Assn., Jer- 

 seyville, 111. 



Bureau Service Company, Princeton, 

 111. 



Farmers Creamery Company, 

 Bloomington, 111. 



Winnebago County Farm Bureau, 

 Rockford, 111. 



Farmers Co-operative Dairy Prod- 

 ucts Co., Davenport, Iowa. 



Rees Farmers Elevator Co., Frank- 

 lin, 111. 



Burlington Co-operative Pure Milk 

 Ass'n, Burlington, Wise. (Office in 

 Chicago.) 





The German import duty on lard 

 wa? recently raised from $1.08 per 

 100 pounds to $5.40. : •,.;:;;.:,': 



