Evening star., 1933-12-17
GRADUAL RECOVERY
IS NOTED ON COAST.
Hope for Early Sterilization
of Dollar Expressed by
Business Men. (
BY JOHN N. WHEELER.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


ward. For a long time they thought
they were depression proof there.
However there are significant signs OF
recovery, and a mirror held up to the
lips of the patient would indicate signs
Of life. San Francisco seems the bright
est spot, with very general expression
that business is better and unemploy-
ment less acute.
Nevertheless, business men of San
Francisco with whom this writer talked
- appear to be thinking more along the
same lines as those on the Eastern
seabord. as compared to Middle West
ern opinion. They are frankly skeptical
about the administrations monetary
policy and feel that the sooner the dol
lar is stabilized somewhere. the more
promptly will confidence be restored and
business improve definitely There is a
great deal of anxiety about the huge
debt being piled up, and uncertainty
how these obligations will be met.
French Parallel Cited.
Business is better here" said one
of the most prominent newspaper pub
Ishers and business men of Tan Fran
cisco. "but the whole course resembles
too much that followed by France dur
ing the inhationary period to please
me. I am convinced we are IN Tor
trouble finally if the Government keeps
accumulating debt. How will 1t be
paid?
1T is true people are spending more
now, for two reasons, I believe. The
first is that the money the Government
is pouring out has begun to take effect.
The second is that there has been so
much talk and so much printed ABOUT
initiation that people are becoming edu-
Gated and believe they may as well
q
The next six months will tell the story. -
All the surface symptoms are better
Hotels and theaterS are doing more
business, railroads are transporting
more passengers most airlines are car
rying to capacity and people generally
seem happier.
Presidents Popularity Great.
The President appears to be regain
ing much of the popularity he had lost
q month or six weeks ago.
Will Rogers. q political cage. in the
writer's opinion, said this about it:
If you plotted one of them curves
like these Wall Street fellers do to show
how things are goin' you would find
big dip in Roosevelts popularity about
five weeks ago Then, when all those
fellerS back there in the East took after
- him about money and one thing and
another, the old curve started on the
upgrade. and he's been comm up ever
since. Folks thought it was Wall Street
hollerin' again, end 1t helped the Presl-
dent"
In a general way I get the impress
sion that business people are marking
time on the Coast and awaiting de-
VelOpmentS before making long-term
commitments There is uncertainty
about what Congress Will do. and a
man who owns several newspapers and
is an important figure in the public
utility field said he thought business
would have 70 wait for Spring, al
though he believed the forces of re-
covery had definitely set in and would
have made better progress if so many
panaceaS hadn't been tried.
Los Angeles Less Cheerful. s..
Los Angeles is not as cheerful as San
Francisco. There was a Summer squirt
and then a dull period. During the
first few days in December store buSi-
ness improved very rapidly. after slow
November. Many picture companies are
still doing badly, although the players
appear to have money to gamble. 1
saw a good many of them doing it one
night in a speakeasy with roulette
appendix And of ell things, Los An
geles is still worrying about a lack OF
rain. The drought has been persistent.
ployment situation materially.
/ have friend in Los Angeles who
As a newspaper publisher, but owns vast
branches as well, and is interested in
nearly all the important business &C
tivities of the town. He is a Repub-
sican.
Worried About Congress
This country was getting better until
they started dosing it," he said. IF a
man has typhoid it must run its course,
and you can't force it with lot OF
medicine. What I'm worried about is
this next Congress. We had a fellow
1elected around here and when We came
to check up on him We found he lived
sgon the poor farm. He'd been NOM
S5nated because nobody thought he had
Ia chance, and he got the votes be-
TEcause he was on the Democratic ticket.
Arherell be a lot like him who don't
KNOW anything about government.
+ --One thing all must watch and pre-
laeerve, and that's the Constitution. We
lican't let them get monkeying with that,
E1And we don't want any dictator in this
ifcountry. I don't like the censorship
Fthe Treasury Department has put in
slately-one of the early symptoms.
! Freedom OF the press is one thing all
publishers must fight for"
Another publisher who lives in Cali
fornia and controls many papers in all
parts of the country, did not appear
unduly concerned.
Finds RadicaIism Salutary.
Business is better" he said, "and
should continue to improve. We are on
the way up. I have no fears about the
Constitution or its violation. A good
sdose of radicalism may be fine thing
for this country once in while.
think the President has done well so far,
but hope he fixes value for the dollar
soon. l believe that would be great
Stimulant to business"
1t seems that the farther South one
goes in California the less cheer he
finds. Since the Summer squirt business
has Jagged in San Diego and they are
not getting the tourists and Winter
visitors who are big factor ordinarily
in the towns prosperity. The Pullman
going out Of San Diego for Ell Paso car
ried three passengers. 1t picked up q
few more later. Again my friend, the
utility man and publisher who owns
some papers in the Middle West as we'll
is speaking:
MY Middle Western papers are doing
we'll" he said, referring to a sheet of fig
ures and quoting from the data. But
out here we haven't felt it yet. I have
been through lot of depresSions, and
it seemed to me that in the past an ex-
perienced prophet could always read the
signs of clearing weather. But I must
say I am at loss in this one. There
is nothing to depend on.
"I don't think the N. R. A. has
helped. 1t has really slowed things up
in my opinion. Many of the smaller
business houses could not stand the in
creased costs. One Of the largest de.
Il l. -.
into trouble because of it, and had tc
assign about a week ago. We are not