Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-11

during the past Winter and. no doubt,
will have one during the coming season,
yet it is largely not the result of con-
ditions in Washington, but, on the
other hand, it is the result of hun
dredS Of men and women out of en-
ployment In other communities who
have learned that Washington is a
bright spot. These people have flocked
to Washington only to find the jobs
already filled.
If I may be permitted to defer gen.
eralizing and refer for a moment or
so to cold-blooded statistics, dull and
uninspiring as they may be, I urge
your indulgence in order to prove a
point. Naturally, when discussing the
prosperity OF community we look to
the banks. No one knows here what
bank failure is and, what is more.
we are not likely to. In fact, one
could harry conceive of it here Ac-
cording to the report of the once Of
the Controller of the Currency of the
Treasury Department in June, 1929,
the total resources of local banks were
1891, 1877, 900; for the same period in
June of last year they were 1924 ,684 900
and for the same period this year they
are $340 10000. Resources of our local
banks. therefore, are greater than they
were last year and greater than they
were in 1929 before depression was
heard of.
According to the same reports of
the same dates, the savings accounts
including time deposits, which. to a
great extent, indicate the reserve of the
private individual, have jumped from
sos, 032, 900 in 1929 to 500, 10000 in
1890. to Sl10,003. 900 in 1881. Here
again We are better off than before the
depression.
Real Estate Healthy,
Next to banking institutions there
is, perhaps, no business which acts to
a greater degree as a fair weather and
storm warning or general economic
conditions than that Of the real estate
business. Real estate business in the
District Of Columbia today Is In a
healthier, more sound condition than 1t
has been for years, and its outlook l.
by far brighter than it was four or five
years ago. Whatever slump the real
estate market was in, 1t Is rapidly COM
ing out OF, and, as matter OF fact, the
slump was brought about not by depres-
sion, but by overoptimism in boom
time conditions. Statistics will show
that gone is the oversupply of houses.
There are fewer apartment vacancies
than there have been for some time.
AS far as the general business is con-
cerned, it Is certainly q buyers market.
Generally, investors in real estate have
found their price values maintained
largely because of the stability and
splendid economic conditions of the
National Capital. Many real estate men
have personally told me, in the last
several weeks, that they have never had
so many people come to purchase
IaO oif RI
or large sums of cash down. 1t Is a
healthy indication.
The last apartment house survey
shows vacancy percentage OF per
cent on all types of apartments. An
analysis of these figures indicate of
the Z per cent of vacancies from l to 3
per cent is of the smaller type apart
ment and from IS to II per cent Of the
large type apartment. indicating, as a
matter of fact, shortage in the num-
Der of small apartments.
THE mortgage finance business is
stable, with plenty Of money available
here from reliable sources for legitimate
development. There are comparatively
few houses for rent in Washington.
Increase in Tourists.
"The Board of Trade in its activities
through its Greater National Capital
COmmlLLee mas dIldlyzeQ LIlC oICudL1OIA
in respect to conventions, visitors, and
tourists. Tourist travel in some Of the
larger cities has fallen OF as much as
IS to 40 per cent. While in Washington
there has been q considerable increase.
For instance, the total number Of tour
lists during the last month, September,
for 1880 at several buildings in Wash
ington was 1884, 22; for the same period
of this year it was 139,947, an increase
of II per cent. Bear in mind that these
reflect only check-up of some of the
more interesting sightseeing points in
Washington, and by no means represent
all the tourists. On the day of the
Firemen's parade, an increase over the
same three-day period last year, over 9
per cent was shown. On Memorial day
an increase of 20 per cent over last
year; on the 4th of July an increase of
Is per cent over the previous year.
Perhaps this is an answer to some of
the long faces that we meet once in a
while.
THE board, through It's bureau formed
this year, has publicized in over 5000
newspapers, and put in all out-of-town
communities over 100000 words of
publicity. In other words, the need was
felt for redoubled energy, the spending |