Imperial Valley press., 1925-04-14
BABSON PREDICTS THAT LARGEST
AMERICAN CITIES WILL BE- ON
PACIFIC COAST IN FEW YEARS

Situation is also aniotcr although
statistics show very liulc nnemploy
mrut People 20 to California for
the climate hoping to = employ
mcn,, bat few 20 10 Oregon and
Washington without having posi-
lion before they leave thrir home
IN the east or central west. There
fore. conditions are +calfhr even
though quiet.
" Washington: Recent duImcss
gives war ty modygair Improvement.
Washington, like Oregon, is Sti!l
prospcring from large building nc
tiyiiy Moreover. thiS includes in
duStrial and residential mlildiag,
with not 50 much speculative build
ing rs has been true in other sec
lions. Unsettled weather conditions.
however, :a&r rcccntly caused i,
Shutdown in certain projects, and
slowing ap Of worh on others. There
seems % hc more lWcmpiuy ymyri
in Washington 81 Tho moment than
in either California or Oregon. The
lumber districts, however, are still
busy. Of the principal cities of
Tacoma is showing up
best St"ii>tiraliv compared with Il
year ago. although Seattle shows
almost rs great 4 gain. Al of the
cities Of the state from which !
lave reports show an average of
about per cent below normal
This means that Washington is run-
hing iJSt about the same Is Cali
fornia with Oregon somewhat less.
In compiling these statistics
take the following factors into
consideration: Building, postal re-
ceiptS. bank clearingS, newspaper
advertising, gasoline consumption,
new car sales. retail sales. Whole
Saio sales. electric power consump-
ton and help wanted. also con
slider the general increase ii popu-
Iatiou. This is exceptionally good
in the ease Of these three Pacific
states, which show an increase in
of 70 per cent over ten
wears ago compared With an ave
rage increase for The entire United
States during the same period of
only - per cent Roughly. ! oSti-
mate that today California Las .
little over three million; Washing
ton one million four hundred thoU-
sand. and Oregon eigh, hundred
thousand people. II addition to the
gricultural and other IroJucts,
5 industrial annual ont,
,ut equals aboa; $200agoo Gao:
: about @>9e. 100000
md Oregon 5 S316.0o0. 900.
Agricultural Situation
California was not Is fur,un@tc
T. it> crops the past season as Il
sear ago Although % faflr gaa}
.rop W., harvested in most ins;an-
=. prices in nanv ease, were not
factory. Unfortunately, the
wheat IRON showed Il decline in
value Of about 60 ucr cent, while
barley showed . decline III value Of
- PEE cent. and rice . decline i'll
-aluc of II per cent. These declines
we're counter-balauccd to certain
.Xtent hv good crops and good
lrices III a few Other instances, hut
he wear IS n whole was rather
disappointment agr;cuitura!lv. O-e-
ron :, wheat crop brought the state
6 per cent less than wear ago,
md Washington wAeat croH
brought tAe state - per cent less
han q wear ago. On the other
taad. the rotato crop i'm Washing
on brought IN increase Of - pcr
.eHt over wear ago.
When national ha-inass was
lropping into a depression, the Pc
.ific Coast was among the las !o-
.alities 10 snow The effects Of 'Ee
!cclinc. WLi'c ether states Were
from unemployment, fail
lrcs. and general hard t.nc7. Cali
'ornia and the Pacific Coast con-
inuel 10 boom. Therefore, III
hough the Pacific Coa,t las not
.afferel anything ik" the east, yrt
Il is only natural that L should
ave some slowing up in nus.ncea 81
his time. Moreover. according 10
he law Of action and reaction, the
Pacific Coast may be equally deli
leratc in Joining the business re-
;iyal which is now getting under
Wy IN the acst and ccntra! west.
In concluding tals section Of Lis
.eport. Nj Babson made the fol
owing comment as to American
conditions rs - whole:
:" Considering all line, Of indesttt,
md all section, Of the country, con-
jitioms certainly average ZIP bct'er
.oda~ than tAcy did q year ago.
This is shown s'ati,ticaliy Ir th"
which today stands g.
per cent above normal, compared
with ! per cent on January !, and
) per cent below normal q wear ago.
II, however, IS true that the Stoe..
Harkct IS one Of the factors maxim,
lp this chart, and is doubtless res
,oH.iDlc fer its recent high point.
Slow Reaction Is Best
Were il rot for the high stock
market prices fho N.baonchaft
would probably be just about nor
mai At the present time, and pos