Evening star., 1932-09-08
The Fall Recovery.

The Fall Recovery.
Uncle Sam might compare his posi-
ton today with that of mountain
climber who lost his footing ant
started to roll, slide and plunge rap
idly down a steep decline toward thi
edge of a precipice. The height from
which he hcs fallen is of secondary
Importance. The big thing is that ht
seems to have stopped. A lot of loose
stones, set in motion when lie lost
his grip ere still tumbling down TIL;
mountainside. His own clutch Is sc
precarious that he is little uncertain
whether to loosen it in order to try
climbing again. but he is already con-
fident enough to begin digging in his
toes for a firmer grip and to look
around He is convinced that the
danger Of sliding over the precipice
is not nearly so great now as 1t was
q short while ago.
There are at least two Of severa
factors that make him bit skeptical
One is that he thought he had stopped
his descent In the Fall of 1880 and
the other is that he. thought he hac
stopped it in the Fall of 1881, and both
times he was wrong. He has stopped
a third time But now the foothold
seems more secure, grounded in firmer
stuff.
The recovery in the stock market and
the bond market has been nothing
short of amazing. The Stock Exchange
balance sheet for August shows a
Theoretical" gain in the value of shares
of s7,287 ,742,S4 for that month, which
was piled on top of gain of s4.S61,-
27I, 1888 for July. These gains have
brought the value Of stocks listed on
the Exchange back to the approximate
level of December /. 1881. Losses for
the first six months of this year have
been wiped out. The level of even
q year ago is yet to be regained. But,
as mentioned above, the height of the
fall is not so important now as the
fact that the fall seems to have been
stopped.
So it is with the rise of commodity
prices. Bradstreet's index for August
shows an average advance of Sc per
cent. and notes that this is the third
consecutive rise ''in this sensitive in
dex and is the greatest single in
I,oc ciy1ao TJriv
1925" Here, again, it is shown that
the index numbers for last month COM
pared with those Of year ago are,
with enc exception, below September
/, 1881. But instead of falling they
are turning once more in the right di-
rection. Freight car loadings, another
delicate index, are still some 30.7 per
cent under last year. They were bad
enough last year, but for the third
successive week the figure has been
rising, where, heretofore. it has been
falling
Charles Merz assembled for last Sun
days New York Times an interesting
group of other important indices. He
points out that If the rise in commodity
prices since July is 100 recent to repre-
sent certain gain, comfort can be taken
from a comparison of the rap:dity Of
the declines during the six siZ-month
intervals since July, 1929, when the
recession began. In the first siX-month
period the decline was points, in the
second 1t reached the maximum of
rapid descent with 81 points. in the
third and fourth 1t dropped at the rate
of 62 points each and in the fifth 1t
approximated the speed Of the first. At.
In the period from January to July OF
this year the decline has been 2.3
points the slowest since the beginning.
Now, instead of decline the movement
Is in the ether direction. g.
All these are fundamental indica-
tions that the decline has been halted
There are others. Since 1929 producers
have been in mad race to cut theiI
costs in proportion to the fall Of prices
Vie process has been cruel and ruth
less. marked by layoffs and wage
slashing and those that could not meet
the pace failed. But the readjustment
is now far advanced and more pro-
ducers are able to make money ct new
low levels. In addition, replacement OF
equipment is beginning. when stocks in
the hands Of manufacturers are lower
than they have been since 1925. This
necessity for replacement comedies with
the anticipated seasonal advance in
Fall business. Only twice since 1921
last year end the year before-has this
seasonal advance failed to supply a
business stimuiant. These encouraging
signs are noted at a time when Uncle
Sam is patting himself cn the chest fol-
having weathered the two greatest runs
on his gold in history; when bank
failures have practically been stopped
and when the Feteral Government has
smassed an unprecedented amount o.
credit tor industry. Unless some unfore.
seen boulder comes rolling along. the
fall has been stopped and the climt
begun.
Jesuit Properties in Spain.
The National Assembly at Madrid ha,