THE STORY WITH TWO ENDINGS

men coming home when victory is won above all else the end of war means a return to loved ones families united again husbands and sons back once more to stay safe is this the end of a story some might think so but it's only the beginning of this one and like most stories there are two possible conclusions one happy one tragic we have written no ending you the audience must decide how the story will end the scene is our own USA and it begins in November 1980 there was an end to that war to remember nothing to worry about anymore the boys of 1918 were coming home sure people went wild wasn't it wonderful men marching back to jobs to prosperity yes indeed nothing to worry about anymore the war was over but in 1920 as farms and factories turned from water peace merchants with poorly stocked shelves bid against each other for shares of the new peacetime goods customers too were eager to buy they were careless of cash they were tired of shortages eager to get the things they had denied themselves during the war they've been against themselves prices were bid upward in the farms and factories worked overtime to make quick profits out of the new orders as prices rose merchants rush to reorder to beat the next price rise as the prices food dealers paid for their stocks went up so did the prices they charge their customers orders came faster than could be filled merchants ordered more than they needed to make sure of getting enough factory stepped up production and the wild bidding for scarce supply shot prices up still higher sugar head 26 cents a pound two years earlier that cost only ten cents a pound meanwhile wages couldn't keep up with prices people had to use up savings Shawn merchants had start more Goods than could be sold at high prices by 1920 their warehouses were packed why buy more orders stopped factories closed by 1921 unemployment increased by five and a half million people out of work can't buy the rapid fall of prices from sky high levels hurt everyone grosses for instance lost heavily as sugar fell to eight cents in 1921 businesses failed by the tens of thousands in a period of just five years one hundred five thousand nine hundred and ninety six of them but the farmers were hit hardest many had bought land at boom prices thinking that farm prices would remain high instead they crashed in 1929 xed two decades one farmer out of every four lost his farm the income of the average farmer dropped from one thousand three hundred and sixty dollars in 1919 to just four hundred and sixty dollars in 1921 big companies to the same story profits turn two losses cuts and dividends further reduced buying power and added to unemployment all of this happened because prices had gone so high that we could not buy what we produce that is the tragic ending that is what happened after World War one closed plants ruined farmers unemployment no statistics were kept on the broken hopes the personal sufferings and all we need to do to bring our story up to date is change the uniform not only the sons but the daughters two of these marches of 26 years ago will be coming back will you help write the tragic ending a world war one for our story or will you help us to choose this full employment flourishing business factories going full blast the farmers busy and successful in short a happy prosperous nation in the years to come these then other choices before us a decision you will help make for the nation and the critical months to come and here is mr. Charles Trowbridge who is one of the many thoughtful Americans who are concerned about this problem I've been doing a little thinking about this problem of keeping America busy and prosperous and there's one thing in that lesson of the last war we've just seen that stands out in my mind that's the danger of runaway prices if we are going to have jobs and prosperity after this war one of the things we've got to have is stable prices last time we let prices get out of hand with tragic results you and I remember how living costs shot up during the last war the official records show that they rose sixty-two percent in four years from July 1914 to the Armistice November 1918 more than one percent the month but just see what happened after the war from the Armistice to July 1920 in two years the cost of living jumped forty six percent more or more than 2% a month twice as fast as during the war the men who studied this tell me that the situation we've got here today is possibly far more dangerous than it was then all the more reason for our being on guard but picture isn't a black one and millions of other Americans feel that we can succeed now where we failed in 1920 why because compared to the last war we're already far ahead of the game for instance look at the last war in fifty nine months our cost of living went up sixty-eight percent in the same length of time in this war we've had an increase of only twenty-eight percent or less than half now no one group can take all the credit for this our business men in our government in you and I are all cooperating rationing and price control are working and most of us are watching the ceiling prices but friends we can't relax even a minute since war production began we've had more money than there were things to spend it on by the end of the war they tell me that we Americans will have billions of dollars saved up our job is to see that those dollars don't turn into a hidden weapon against our country but rather a powerful force for a busy happy prosperous post-war America if we spend that money properly gradually wisely I'm confident that that's what we'll have and to help make sure the story ends this way in addition to the many important problems government and business must solve there are four things we as individuals can do right now first continue to save our money to buy and hold all the war bonds we can afford second don't take advantage of wartime conditions to ask more for the goods and services we sell or the wages we are in this only pushes prices up further for everyone third buy only what we really need and for when we buy pay our asian points in full and pay no more than ceiling prices especially on food and so when our men and women come home how you continue to save and how you continue to observe ceiling prices will help determine which ending you write to our story will it be this and this and this and ending of tragedy or will it be this and this and this the happy story of a prosperous post-war America will