WHAT EVERYBODY CAN DO

One thing that makes business slow to recover after a shock like a panic or a war is that everybody gets scared and clutches his money as though he were in a crowd and somebody had yelled "Look out for pickpockets!"

Caution and conservatism are wise at such a time - are wise at all times, for the matter of that.

But there is such a thing as a stupid conservatism that is nothing else but stagnation.

Suppose there was a fire in your house.

Suppose the house was surrounded by five hundred men, each with a bucket of water.

If the five hundred got to work with their buckets, they could put out the fire in a minute.

But suppose everybody in the crowd got afraid of a drouth.

And suppose everybody sat down and hugged his bucket of water as though it was the last bucket of water on earth.

The fire would get headway, and your house would burn down.

Something very like that happens always after a shock like that of panic or war.

Business gets bad right away, because everybody gets timid.

Even after the worst has passed, and there is no longer reason for alarm, the scare continues, and many people still sit down hugging their buckets of money as though they were the last buckets of money on earth.

If they would just let loose, and start buying and building and doing business at the old stand, the trouble would be over in a minute.

In case of the fire, some leader would presently say "Come on, boys," and would empty his bucket of water on the blaze. The rest would follow suit, and pretty soon the fire would be out.

That leader would make himself thus a good deal of a hero in your sight.

In the case of business depression following a shock, wise leaders develop, too.

They see that capital lying idle is of no more value than water going stale in idle buckets at a fire. They see that prices are low, that it is a good time to buy, so they begin buying. Presently others follow suit. The money spent gives employment to labor; employed labor spends its wages. Prices rise because of greater demand and a better circulation of money. The money thus spent going into industry, business presently hums. Then everybody is buying and selling and doing business. Behold, times are good, and prosperity abounds.

In this country - and this city - we are in the middle of this process. And the process is well under way and gaining momentum every minute.

Good times and abundant prosperity are just ahead. Already you can see the gleam and feel the glow of them.

The time for hanging back and hugging your useless pail of money is over. Better put it at work while it will still do more good than it will a little later when everybody is in the game.