The Nenana news., 1921-11-01
FAIRBANKS SURGEON SAYS
 CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING


 of several months in the States. says that conditions Outside are not nearly so bad as Alaskans have been led to believe. As nearly as he could ascertain. and he made ] carely inquiry, there Is work for practically everyone who really is looking for it; food prices are reasonably low if one will exercise ordinary prudence in buying; and the cost of wearing apparel Is low or high, according 10 the demands of the buyer About he only item entering into the cost of living that pr. de Ia Vergne found at all un- reasonable, was rent, and he be- heves that will come down because of the increasing tendency to move from the larger cities Q the smaller communities This movement was fairly under way when the doctor started North.
 The great trouble with the Out siders. the doctor says. is their un- willingness to readjust themselves to | peaee-tme conditions. 4 large pro- portion of those who received big wages during the war. still regard their services worth wartime pay. and they prefer to burden themselves on communities rather than accept reduction in pay. Many of them rightfully belong in the hobo class. Dr. de Ia Vergne visited the public markets in Seattle and San Fran cisco and was not a little surprised at the low prices quoted there. The markets sell practically every 1hingneede d for the table and al prices that are easily within reach of a modest income. It Is merely a matter of going 10 the markets and taking advantage of the offerings there.
 Much the same condition, he dis covered, prevails regarding the pur- chase of wearing apparel. Most of the larger stores, which pay high rents and labor under a big over head expense in other ways, still charge wartime prices and they do a tremendous business. Stores of less pretentious appearance, with less rent to pay and lower expenses otherwise, sell the same goods at much lower prices, but many people appear to prefer to do their buying at the higher price stores. and then complain about hard times. The merchants who charge the higher prices are, in 8 sense, merely meet ing the demand for high prices. al- though the buying public will not admit that such Is the case.
 Dr. de Ia Vergne talked with merchants, large and small and, while they admitted that business now is less volume than during war days. they all declared it to be on healthy basis, al least as good as it was before the war and in many instances better.
 He talked with bankers and learn ed from them that money was never more plentiful in the history of the country, with plenty available for any legitimate transaction. The meE who tell you the banks have ceased making loans on account of abnor- malIy bad conditions, are the men who have been unable to talk the bankers into loaning money on propositions lacking in merit. IT,
 Evidence of good times is 10 be found in every city and town on the l Pacific coast. The streets and high ways are crowded with automobiles as never before, and the higher priced amusement places are crowd ed to their capacity most of the time The people dress stylishly' patronize expensive cafes and live in costly homes and apartments
 After studying conditions on the cast for several months, and talk ng with men from other parts of he country, Dr. de Ia Vergne con .luded that the nation is not fac
 ng disaster and that conditions among the people are good or bad according to their manner of living He found these conditions good, for the most part, with diseontent and unemployment confined chiefly to that class which is always discon- tented and nearly always unem- ployed.
 Dr. de Ia Vergne spent much of his time in San Francisco, where he devoted considerable study to public health work. in the municipal