Chivas Kern writes:

I was on the web researching a company for my work (sales), and needed to convert yen to dollars. I hopped on Google to do the conversion and one of the searches returned a periodical from the 1920s titled Economic World, edited by Arthur Richmond Marsh.

I just randomly found page 616 with a transcription of a speech given by James S. Alexander (president of National Bank of Commerce in NY at the time) to the 110th meeting of the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers.

This was such a brilliant find I had to share with you:

“Retailers must come to see that it is better to have a large turnover at lower prices than to have to low a turnover at prices based on the cost of their goods on hand. Labor must also come to see that it is better to work for lower wages than to insist on high wages and be out of work. Adoption of these principles will bring prices into coordination with the present purchasing power of the general public. Thus would a wholesome stimulus to business be provided. The remedy is not to be found in easier credits or cheaper money, which might serve as an artificial but temporary stimulant, creating a situation worse than the present one.”

Further in the speech it gets better:

“The fundamental principle of enlightened labor leadership to-day to be to inculcate a return the doctrine of an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Inflated wages and non-competitive conditions of the war and later boom period produced inefficiency and irresponsibility.”

Even better:

“Any Government that countenances privileges to any class as against another class on the ground of social justice undermines the stability of society.”