Henderson daily dispatch., 1936-11-27

| ,ng. People have had to be fed.
clothed and transported. During that
dreary period we neither produced
nor bought enough goods to meet our
needs. For a long time consumption
ran ahead of production. Demand In
| he meanwhile has been slowly i'm
proving Gradually people have come
% real re that the nation is on the
upgrade
During the past three months there
has been great Improvement in pub
tic sentiment. The average American
| today is convinced that we are swing
ing into a real boom. Statistics ap-
pear to back up this opinion Bust
ness has reached the Ky Normal
Lane on NV Rahsonchart on the way
.nto a prosperity period for the first
nae III fourteen years. The tide Is
! Wlth US. Not only are we being aid
| ed ~ the normal growth of American
business (which averages nearly two
per cent per Year, but we also have
ta1o added impetus of big potential
| demand built UP by five years of sub
normal sat sfaction. The coming era
OF good times may even at some time.
though temporarily exceed the 1929
| peak.
Stocks Not Short Sale
This post-election boom also has in
vestors worried. The current fever Of
| OPTIMISM, Of course has ignited Wall
Street Stocks are today 30 Der cent
| n-gher than last year. Prices have
Had a sharp squirt since the election
PEOPLE who bought months ago are
wondering if they should now take
| profits; others who have been timidly
holding their cash Liquid are wond-
erlng if they have missed the boat.
! !hese investors who are in doubt
ABOUT the lcng-swing have lost their
] perspective | can not recall any re-
covery period when the market reach
CT IS peak with business only at the
| normal line. We are not vet in an
=, era OF business over-expansion and
the trend is still basically favorable.
! furthermore. those who do want to
! accept their profits hesitate to do SO
! because OF the reinvestment problem.
Money rates are still r.diculously
'oW.. Bonds yielding 3 to 3 IA per
| cent interest may turn out to be lust
rs dangerous as may stocks selling at
high pricc-earning ratio, Good
! mortgage loans are hard to get. Bank
deposits return little or no WELD
meanwhile the cost of living is stead
~ rising. Hence. / see no reason whv
investors would now want to unload
lhelr stocks Of companies whose earn
msS are progressing satisfactorily.
t~asy money rates are a strong mar
l.2t factor; so long as they prevail.
an not worried about, stocks being
| so high as to offer good short sale
yet. -No
DO Not Be Fooled BY "Unempioy-
! ment' Figures
Another question which is bother
i,2E more and more people in view of
| sharply improving business is the un-
/ employment and relief problem. The
| administration is planning to take a
/ complete and accurate census of the
unemployed. All through the de-
! preston business observers have been
troubled by the lack of reliable Job
| less figures Various estimates are
made from time to time but these are
simply guesses. Currently, they range
} around eight million. Even though
! >he forthcoming census may support
thls estimate, I will not be satisfied
IN taking this census, feel that labor
! experts are overlooking a very fund
! 2mental point. While census should
be made. it should be of the EMPLOY
ed as we'll as the unemployed
| The Department Of Labor has fair
I " accurate figures on the number Of
! employed at various periods in the
past IT we compare these totals
With our population figures we will
/ get fair per capita EMPLOYMENT
| average. If we take an unemplov-
aent census. however, there will be
70 past figures for comparative pur-
poses The fact that eight million
arc jo6ie-s today does not necessarily
mean that our percentage of unem-
ployed is greater than it was twenty
3ears ago. Hence, while it is import
+nc that we should take periodic
census of the unemployed as well as
81 the employed, nevertheless the adj
nlnlstrat-on should not base its re-
'tt and other policies entirely on the
lobless figures.
wage Issue Up Again
Furthermore the answer as 10 who
constitutes "jobless worker" has
! changed in recent years Today mil
! -ons of young people and old folks
ed by the census taker. Twenty wears
ago these people would have been
considered simply as "at home" If
sor no other reason than this. I be-
ieve that the coming unemployment
census will be of little benefit EXCEPT
20 political sh,:cpsters. What the pub
authorities really need to know Is
he total number &C people who would
n good times. be employed but who
low have no jobs. Frankly, If we
could get reliable totals on such gen-
line unemployed. would not be sur
pFi1ed TO find them running closer to
our million than to eight m lion.
sui another question which the
current boom has pulled into fine
lmeilght is the wage issue. / am in
luil agreement with the administra-
IONS aim to emphasize the total an
.lual income of the worker rather
nan hourly or daily wage rate.
| Il xryI,A Oh