Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-15

There are strong indications that the
turn In the economic affairs of Great
Britain has come and that she Is on
the road to regaining her world pres
tige as q manufacturing and trading
nation. This, In England, ordinarily
is a period Of great dullness. 1t Is
the end OF "the season" Even In the
leisurely times before the World War,
nearly everybody stopped work and
went on holiday. It was q period of
slack industrial activity and slack trade.
This year, for the first time in a
very long while, production and trade
not only have not slumped but in some
lines actually show improvement over
preceding months. The, earlier part
now, instead of becoming depressed,
rs has been usual, especially since the
war, the activity has Increased. There
is an air of briskness about the big
centers, and the industries have kept
busy in order to meet the demand for
goods.
This is q matter of more than pass
ing importance. When the World War
was over, England was Frustrated. I'M
employment set in 30 seriously that
the dole had to be voted by the gov
pressive. Out of every dollar o man
earned he had to give 20 cents to the
government. Those with higher In
comes had to turn over Is much as 90
cents out Of every dollar Of income.
But the working people were only too
glad to pay a NTH OF their entire
earned income IL only they could get
jobs. Men who had been captains, ma
jorS. colonies in the war and were COW
cred with decorations were glad to take
jobs as bus drivers, janitors, walters
the most mental sorts of work.
The result of such a situation was
that the world, seeing how things were,
said that although technically Eng
land was one Of the victors in the war,
actually she was defeated. What was
more important, they declared she was
defeated for all time. The passing of
all the great empires was cited. The
the worldwide empire of Spain and
than its fall, the dominance Of the
Holy Roman Empire and its collapse
were referred to as certain indica-
tions Of what was happening to Eng
land before the eyes of the world. It
was freely predicted that in 10 years,
possibly as. England would be q sec
ond or third rate nation, no longer .
power.
British StubbOrnness Shown.
There was plenty Of reason to sup
port such a theory; all the reason in
the world save. perhaps, forgetful-
ness of the indomitable stubbornness
OF the British people. They hung on
through a poverty which was the more
insupportable because of past wealth
and world domination. Great strikes
paralyzed the mills. Many great
estates we're broken up. Taxes re-
manned high and still do, for that
matter. But the people hung on. Brit
ish shipping. its great pride and source
of wealth and power, dropped to the
very depths. But the English held on
and worked as probably few people
have ever worked before, counted as
q nation.
Tow, for the first time in more than
q decade, has come to the Bureau of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce news
of the turn OF fortune and the revival
of business. What makes the news OF
special interest here Is that many an
American manufacturer. many an ex-
porter, was so sure that England was
definitely on the decline that they felt
they already had pocketed the world
trade that once was hers. Germany,
who made a much more rapid recovery.
thought the same thing. 1t was felt
by thousands Of business men that
Great Britain soon would be out Of