Evening star., 1919-04-10
TRADE IS BOOMING
IN NORTHERN OHIO
Lawrence Finds Business
Men Cheered Despite Sit
uation in France.
DEMOCRATS DlSGRUNTLED
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

>A<i- A<iS<AA>lI, <tpi II w. ~'SA -
Ohio--and it is probably typica! OF
| other sections of the country-ls
simply perplexed and bewildered by
the contradictory dispatches from the
Paris peace conference. and thought
full men tell me they shall give Gre
dence to nothing now until it is Of
ffcially announced.
/ They look askance at the reports
that President Wilson is threatening
to withdraw the American delesa- =
! ton, and wonder what would happen
if he really did. Yet one would hard
! ly say they are panicky or excited
| there's a self-contained calmness
about the people here which may or
markable demonstration during the
| war of Americas independence. eco
nomicalfy and physically.
| Not Worried, But Wondering.
| Anyway, folks here are not ~or-
ried-but wondering. They can't be-
lieve that Mr. Wilson would abrupt
ly come away from the Paris con-
| ference and confess to the American
people that all the talk OF agreement
| on fundamentals and harmony is un-
| founded.
The most that any one who has given
any thought to the subject will be-
lieve is that Mr.. Wilson may have
agreements back to the United states.
give them full publicity. and ask the
American people whether they care to
guarantee such settlements or that
he might give the American mission
! instructions to sign a treaty only
along the lines of his previous an
Rouncements and start for home.
Dispatches Injuring Prestige.
But the mix-up as reflected in the
Paris dispatches which are given SEN
sational headlines in most Of the
newspapers is not helping Mr.. Wilson
with public opinion. but injuring his
prestige. People. here, to tell the
truth, didn't want the President to go
abroad. but were willing to abide by
! his judgment that it was necessary
! to make peace. But five months have
gone by and there is no peace.
They place responsibility for domes-
tic tangles largely upon Mr.. Wilson on
the theory that judging by what has
been accomplished in Paris he might
have chosen ambassadors to expound
the views he wished to see adopted.
They are generally unfamiliar with the
intricacies Of the Paris conference and
With the reaaona which NJ, Wtlsen's ,
friends' usually asseFt made 1t nSces-
sary for him to go to Europe to Sx-
plain the fourteen points.
! More interested In Peace.
All they know ii that to date' there
! is neither peace nor an 4greefn ent
! on the league Of nations, and while
| they are almost unanimous here
abouts in believing Ia a. league, they
| are much more interested in a proc
j a ms tim of n AaY1v AAtA
Among the men who have carefully
read and analysed the European
| viewpoints find an almost universal
| tendency to look upon the French as
the chief obstacle. to peace. and 1t
causes one to wonder whether, the
prestige of France is not diminishing
to such an extent, indeed that when
the United States government ceases
| to make public loans to Europe and
private bankers take up the question
Of French loans 1t will not be difiicult
to overcome the many prejudices
against France which are just now
accumulating.
Trade Outlook Cheers.
/ But while ] find an intense interest
in the doings of the peace con-
ference in its relationship to trade
some of my close friends here who are
in a position to know what the vol
II
talk in the most glowing terms Of the
outlook. The retail houses are doing
an almost unprecedented trade. Money
seems plentiful, and there's not as
much of that hesitation in buying
which one hears about farther east
Indeed. people are beginning to build
homes and buy real estate and to
make purchases in seeming indiffer-
ence to the caution Of those who be-
lieve prices must drop.
On ha athAr hand fharA jS al
a fear Of rising prices than de-
cline And business men insist it is
not necessary to reduce wages.
/ The answer to the very evident
ton is to be found in the psycholog-
ical factors-the state Of mind of the
public. One man expressed 1t thus:
i Il practiced thrift during the war
II economixed rigidly. Now the war
is over. need many things that
I have the money-why shouldn't
buy these thingsT
Reaction Is Noted.
So there is a sort of reaction agains,
the self imposed restrictions in war
times which may or may not be re-
sponsible for the tremendous bust
ness being done by the retail mer'
well as in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Ad
vertising is greater than it has beer
in many months-poster and stree
car space, crowded newspapers anc
maxazines-why, the advertising mer
tell me they never saw such an up
ward turn.
OF pessimism one hears PRACTICAL,
nothing. There seems to be an under
living feeling that economically speak
ing America is absolutely sound ant
getting ready for a boom. While on,
likes to think those things and mus
he careful not to let the wish becom,
father to the thought, / have beer
nlea sanity surprised by the plain un
dercurrent of confidence which rum
through Ohio and western Pennsyl
vania.
much like the central part of tn,
state-much displeased with tn,
democratic management Of things
The best analysis of the situation
!. here which I obtained from all tn,
democrats and republicans with whom
taiked came from q man who i,
a personal friend OF the President, ,
stanch democrat. and a liberal one
To-. man who in my previou
travels in this section has alway
Seemed to make prophesieS that sub
seouently proved true.
View of a Democrat.
/ ..I must admit" he said. that M,
= wilson's prestige has declined, part
: ~ because of the situation Of hi
9 narty and partly because OF the fail
~ r. get peace. The latter fact ma
J: ohanoe with Developments, but I ha ",