Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1928-01-13
Practice OF Trying To Fool.

In statement given to the country
through the press at the opening Of the
new year. Secretary Of the Treasury Mellon
purported to review business conditions
during 1927. and forecast the business
probabilities Of 1928. Business generally
hopes that the continued progress" for
1928 which the Secretary forecasts will not
be along the same lines as during 1927,
when employment reached the lowest mark
in four years. when bankruptcies far ex-
ceeded any prior year. when commercial
and banking failures reached new and
appalling totals. and when railroad traffic
and earnings showed sharp falling of
as compared with 1925.
10 reviewing 1927 conditions, Mr.. Mel
lon implied that employment was steady
and business and industry stable" These
conclusions are not justified by all Of the
facts. and are at variance with fairly re-
cent admissions by Mr.. Mellon himself. by
President Coolidge that there has been
depression. and by such an industrial
leader as Charles N. Schwab, the steel king,
who recently said very frankly that bust
ness has not been good"
10 line with the long practice Of trying
TO fool the country into believing that the
country is prosperous only under Repub-
lican administration. G. o. P. leaders have
evaded the facts about conditions during
the last year and have tried to create the
impression that the country is enjoying
the greatest era Of prosperity it has ever
known. and that to make certain a continu-
ance Of prosperity. Republican rule must
be continued. Democrats have never said
there Is not prosperity in certain quarters,
particularly among those favored classes
which receive tariff privileges from the Re-
publican party. Bot recently. as statistics
prove beyond dispute, employment has
fallen of. railroad earnings have decreased
thousands Of farms have been sold for
taxes. unemployment has become serious
in many communities. and banking and
commercial failures have attained serious
proportions
For 1927 figures from the American
Railroad Association show loadings of
freight traffic by the railroads decreased
100000 cars under the 1925 total, while
passenger traffic fell of four per cent,
reaching the lowest level since 1915 and
~ per cent under the level OF 1920, the
last year Of the Democratic Administration.
During the first ten months Of 1927 the
gross operating income Of the Class A rail-
roads decreased rs per cent under 1925
and net operating income fell of SOS, 00O,-
600. Commenting on conditions In the
railway equipment industry, a large New
York banking house reports 1925 as zone
OF the dulest years in the history Of this
industry" while it also reported heavy
sagin the steel and iron output. All of this
habits effect in spreading unemployment,
which during the latter part Of 1927 was
approximately II per cent greater than in
a0ao.
Figures from the Department of Justice
for the fiscal year 1927 show a total of
46.75S bankruptcies, with total liabilities
Of $s85.557. 900. or $50. 900, more liabili-
ties than during 1925 and more than a
half-billion greater liabilities than ten
years earlier. in 1917. when there was a
Democratic administration.
In the light of these figures, ii is very
much to be hoped that the progress Secre-
tary Mellon forecasts for 1928 will not be
in the same direction.