themselves, with the assistance of the government, to eliminate the
duplication and waste that is now resulting in railroad
receiverships and continuing operating deficits.

I am certain that the people of this country understand and approve
the broad purposes behind these new governmental policies relating
to agriculture and industry and transportation. We found ourselves
faced with more agricultural products than we could possibly
consume ourselves and surpluses which other nations did not have
the cash to buy from us except at prices ruinously low. We found
our factories able to turn out more goods than we could possibly
consume, and at the same time we were faced with a falling export
demand. We found ourselves with more facilities to transport goods
and crops than there were goods and crops to be transported. All of
this has been caused in large part by a complete lack of planning
and a complete failure to understand the danger signals that have
been flying ever since the close of the World War. The people of
this country have been erroneously encouraged to believe that they
could keep on increasing the output of farm and factory
indefinitely and that some magician would find ways and means for
that increased output to be consumed with reasonable profit to the
producer.

Today we have reason to believe that things are a little better
than they were two months ago. Industry has picked up, railroads
are carrying more freight, farm prices are better, but I am not
going to indulge in issuing proclamations of overenthusiastic
assurance. We cannot ballyhoo ourselves back to prosperity. I am
going to be honest at all times with the people of the country. I
do not want the people of this country to take the foolish course