Evening Star Newspaper, September 20, 1935, Page 27

" ROPER SAYS GAINS during that period, he wa: eager to compare on a purely factual basis the picture of conditions existing upon his return in contrast to what they had been at the time of his departure. skyscrapers gradually lifting higher As he stood on the deck of the steamer moving in from the sea | toward New York City. with the and higher above the horizon, he recalled the day two and one-half Forum Speaker SCOfiS at | years before when he had stocd on Theory That Reforms Handicapped Trade. Citing statistics to support the con- the deck of an outgoing ship watching the skyline drop lower and lower as his ship disappeared over the horizon and put out to sea. He recalled now how the picture of the disappearing | skyline had struck him as being tention that business is showing &g, neely symbolic of the descending pick-up generally, Secretary of Com- economic and social life of the merce Roper last night replied %0 Nayion which had continued steadily administration critics. Speaking in the National Radio Forum, arranged by The Star, and | carried over a Nation-wide network | of the National Broadcasting Co., Roper said: | “No amount of generalized criti- | cism from any source can challenge | » successfully the actual and factual | picture of recovery in terms of the recorded statistical measurements.” | The argument of those who, as he | said, “take the peculiarly incons islenh‘ stand that business has shown these | striking improvements in spite of what the administration has done rather than because of what it has done,” was characterized by Roper 85 “ridiculous.” “As a matter of unbiased and con- crete appraisal,” he continued, “the various steps of economic and social recovery have been so precisely coin- cident with the specific actions taken by the administration that no other conclusion is possible, but that busi- ness recovery has resulted dxrec(ly‘ from such effort.” Text of Secretary’s Address. The text of Secretary Roper's ad- dress follows: I am grateful to Mr. Kuhn for his invitation which makes it possible for me to join again in a program sponsored by the National Radio Forum. On several occasions since * March, 1933, Mr. Kuhn has asked me to bring to this forum family my appraisal of various aspects of the Roosevelt administration's program. He has requested me to present to- night the business picture as it is today, its comparison with the pic- ture of 1933, with a discussion of the factors responsible for the changes which have taken place in the past 80 months. At the outset, I wish to point out that I realize the difficulty which the average citizen faces in keeping pace with the major economic trends of these rapidly changing times and in properly interpreting these trends as . Trelated to legislative measures and administrative procedures initiated to attain recovery objectives. I fur- ther realize the difficulty that many naturally encounter in interpreting the vital importance of eliminating the evils and abuses largely responsible for depression conditions. Many, also, may not readily se the wisdom of initiating and main- taining stabilizing factors to assure the necessary continuity of the re- covery that we have thus far gained and to provide protection against an- other economic catastrophe. Recently & business man visiting my office told me that notwithstanding the fact that he subscribed to three statistical and analytical services, he found it ex- ceedingly difficult to comprehend the full economic picture of the country Wwith proper interpretative accuracy. In view of this illustrative case, it f5 not surprising that the average person, largely restricted in his read- ing to the daily newspaper, a maga- Zine or two each month and an oc- | casional book, encounters difficulty in striking off & balance sheet of the national assets and liabilities in our economic situation so as to arrive at the true net worth of existing con- ditions. Accountants and bankers are eonstantly stressing the necessity of “getting behind the balance sheet” to discern the important fundamental conditions not revealed by the figures of the balance sheet. If we could secure a true and cor- | Tect evaluation of the changes which bave taken place in the United States since March 4, 1933, we must not become entangled in the meshes of one narrow field of interpretation. Rather, we need to realize that sta- tistics, however indicative, do not fully measure the aggregate collection of factors to be considered in a com- prehensive assessment of human needs. | Yes, my friends. there are funda- mental values that figures do not and €annot express. | Intangible Factors Stressed. | TRe great majority of people, busily | engaged in the daily necessity of mak- | ing a living, immersed in the prob- | lems and activities within the cir-| cumference of their lives, frequently | miss the changes in relationships gradually taking place. The extensive | improvements recorded by the yard- sticks of progress, particularly the | o Values of intangible factors behind | the figures on the national balance | sheet, are too likely to be overlooked. | I shall be gratified if in the brief | time available tonight I can be of | some assistance to my listeners in | presenting for them a broader and | clearer picture of what has happened | in business and industry since March, 1933. | We have all observed that as we | lve in daily contact with growing youngsters we do not readily discern the changes that are taking place in the youngsters’ physical and mental characteristics, even over a period of | several months. But whenever after | such daily contacts one does not see the children for a period of several months these changes are then re- markably noticeable. Precisely this same thing is true with respect to economic and social conditions and their relationship to the vaster scale of human affairs. Oftentimes it has taken the perspective of history to delineate clearly the underlying changes that were taking place throughout an entire era of human affairs, changes unnoticed, for the most part, by those who were living in that era and which, if discerned at all, Wwere seen but dimly and in vague and indefinité outline. In the light of this accepted experi- ence, perhaps the best way to get some semblance of reasonable perspective upon what has transpired in business and industry since the inauguration of President Roosevelt is to approach 2 l‘hs!'tu'cmgh a method of objective con- | To secure this contrast and provide & proper objective measurement and analysis, let us take the case of Dr. John Barton, a scientist-explorer who sailed from New York City on March 1, 1933, for an extended trip into the interfor of South America. On Sep- tember 1, 1935, after a two-and-one- half-year absence, during which time he was entirely out of contact with the outside world, Dr. Barton returned to the United States. At the time of his sailing, a few days before the in- auguration of President Roosevelt, he had in his typical, scientific method set down for himself the statistical highlights of economic conditions. Upon his return, without any fa- miliarity with what had transpired ] | almost | downward from the Fall of 1929 until | the date of his sailing. For over three and one-half years the lines on business graphs and charts had been going downward in the same way. He took from his belongings his notebook in which he had set down the latest business figures available at the time of his departure. With that picture clearly revived in his mind, as he gazed at the picture of the rising skyline gradually unfolding before him he wondered if it was symbolic of what had taken place in the United States during his absence. Because of his objective interest in measuring the recorded results be- tween March 1, 1933, and September 1, 1935, he brought all the figures in | his notebook up to date as of March 1, 1933, and then in another column | he set down the latest comparable figures he could secure. Figures Show Progress. This is the story told by the figures: Industrial production was 46 per | cent higher in June, 1935, than in | March, 1933; factory employment, 36 per cent higher; factory pay rolls, 79 | | per cent higher; electric power pro- duction, 18 per cent more; rural general store sales, 104 per cent greater; passenger automobile sales, 157 per cent more; freight car load- ings rose 16 per cent; steel ingot pro- duction advanced 153 per cent; con- struction contracts awarded rose 157 per cent; automobile production rose 213 per cent; while in the field of foreign trade our imports for con- sumption advanced 69 per cent and our exports rose 58 per cent ‘The comparative improvements that have taken place in these 12 important | business indices are in themselves irrefutable proof that in this period of two and a half years economic recovery has been phe- nomenally successful. But Dr. Bar- 74 THIS WA THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1935. Hits Back | which would give a still more accurate statistical picture of what had taken place: National income for 1933 was esti- mated at $44,431,000,000 as compared with $49,440,000.000 in 1934, a gain of 11 per cent. With Federal work relief payments excluded from this grand total, there are still a gain of 10 per , cent. Income to labor in the form of salaries and wages accounted for a larger proportion of the total national income in 1934 than in 1929. | | those industries and types of income payment groups which had the great- ton, as many others have done, sought | |even further statistical confirmation | of the story told by these 12 measure- | in our national income and the char- | tained and stable cconomic recovery | ments. He had set down other salient | acteristics of that improvement reflect | could not be secured. Therefore, it | economic facts in his notebook and |the fundamental soundness of eco-|is significant that these basic indus- he now secured comparative figures | nomic conditions and the strong basis | | which is now established for still | greater recovery. at Critics SECRETARY ROPER, ~—Star Staff Photo est relative declines from 1929 to 1932. This brief picture of the improvement Financial Gains Recorded. In the field of banking and finance, salutary gains have been recorded es follows: Net demand deposits increased from $9,745,000,000 in March, 1933, to over 1515 billions in July, 1935, a gain of 59 per cent. Excess reserves in member banks of the Federal reserve system totaled over $2,800,000,000 in September, 1935, which is a new high record. Stock prices of 421 leading | 250 and 300 million dollars, as com- | Another significant fact to note is |issues advanced 84 per cent and bond ' pared with 116 millions in 1932, Steel | that the 1934 gains were largest in | prices of 60 issues rose 36 per cent from | operations, which have shown alter- | March, 1933, to July, 1935. New corporate security issues for | past two years, are now holding former | Black or brown grained _* “leather, Monk pattern. ‘4109, AAtoC______ Ruff -bucky Kiltie, brown green. Y FOR SCHOOL SHOES Long-wearing leathers, good chrome-tanned soles, well- balanced, healthful construction—AND LOW PRICES! Hahn has specialized in shoes for growing feet—for 59 vears—and knows the business! bones correctly to providing more than 150 appealing styles—THIS WAY FOR GOOD SCHOOL SHOES—to HAHN'S. Mocecasin Tread brown elk calf. In- fants’ to Juniors’_ . Habn Specials, black or brown ealf, 1215 to AU ca ool ‘School and dress shoes. to :..‘.“-L_z.a."\ i From fitting tender little . suede Brown or green, calf e nnr295 Boys’ brown e;i;'}.‘ai,;a.,i G zzé;';'fi &;.f‘.' . 2 .65 the first seven months of 1935 totaled t over one billion dollars as compared | with only slightly over 300 millions | for the same period in 1933. Probably one of the most significant changes in the business and industrial world in the past three years has been the increase in profits. According to a report of the Standard Statistics Co., net profits of 413 leading industrial corporations, representing an im- portant cross section of business, for 1934 totaled $1,108,000,000, or more than any year since 1930. The peak of profits for these cor- receded from that time until 1933 when the upward swing started. According to the report, indications 80 far this year are toward a con- tinuation of the upward trend. The great benefits to the people generally in this gain are evidenced in the fact that these corporations paid out $824,- 000,000 in dividends in 1934, or $154,- 000,000 more than in 1933. From still another standpoint, progress is reflected in the figures of net profit earned on invested capital. ‘This reached the peak of 11.2 per cent in 1929, dropped to 1 per cent by 1932 and rose to 3.1 per cent in 1933 and 4.05 per cent in 1935. Heavy Goods Increase. During the depression period, in- dustry in general would not replace obsolete equipment and add new ma- chinery. Indisputable evidence that the basic forces of recovery were under way was demanded, for such capital expenditures require a much longer period of returns on invest- ment as economic justification. The heavy goods industries and machine tool groups reflected the deferred de- mand in industry as a whole. Industrial and business leaders | pointed out that until these heavy in- | dustry groups improved greatly sus- tries have shown the following im- | provements: Using the 1926 level of shipments as equal to 100, the index of orders in the machine tool | March, 1933, was at 7.4, while in July, 1935, it had advanced to a level |of 119.8. With the 1922-24 average | as 100, the foundry equipment in- dustry advanced from 9.8 in March, | 1933, to a level of 94 in July, 1935. | It is estimated that the sales of farm equipment in 1935 will total between | nating advances and recessions in the grey, Burgundy, 4109,AAA 0B 3.95 industries in | gains and leaders in this 1ndueryT predict steady and continued im- provement due to the widespread de- mands in all fields of industrial ac- tivity. The significance of these improve- ments is not primarily in what the figures themselves show, but in the larger meaning of these processes, revealing as they do the extent to which renewed activity is now perme- ating the basic capital investment segment, as well as the front-line consumer division of industry. One of the most challenging prob- porations was reached in 1929 and had \ lems which faced the new administra- tion in March, 1933, was the loss of farm markets and the decrease in farm income. By 1932 the income of the farmers had dropped to the point where they could no longer purchase any substantial part of the producis of business and industry. An increase in the purchasing power of our agri- cultural population was certain, theré- fore, to benefit the busiress man as well as the farmer. { Let us measure briefly’ the results achieved in President Ropsevelt's ob- Jective effort to bring about a better balance between agriculture and in- dustry. Cash farm income rose from $4,328,000,000 in 1932, to over $6,300,- 000,000 in 1934. It is estimated that cash income to farmers for 1935 will exceed $6,500,000,000, the largest in five years. Exchange Favors Farmers. Prices of farm products advanced | more rapidly in 1934 than the prices of articles which the farmer pur- chased, resulting in the exchange value | per unit of the former improving ma- terially during the year. This in- crease is the prices of farm products | and raw materials and in agricultural income thus contributed to a more | favorable and better balanced re- lationship and has facilitated and stimulated the exchange of goods and services between the agricultural and industrial segments of our economic life. The improvement of purchasing power in the rural areas has been such | that the farmer has now assumed a more normal position as a consumer. This improvement is now being sub- stantially reflected in accelerated in- dustrial and business activity. | No amount of generalized criticism | from any source can challenge suc- | cessfully the actual and factual pic- | ture_of recovery in terms of the re- " (Continued on Sixteenth Page) | ~ABOUT THIS BUDGET PLAN Friend husbhand won’t mind taking this business “tip” from you—espe- cially because it's such a good one! You charge all the family shoes to one account—your BUDGET AC- COUNT at HAHN'S. The beauty of it you get vour shoes whenever vou want them— four pairs at once, or one pair at a time. And you're sure of getting good shoes and good values—be- cause they're Hahns. Shoes will never again be a strain on the family budget—because you pay in small sums, over a period of months, 1207 14th Tth . *3212 *Open Evenings 95 1—the flat- hat mount the Hahn's all- Alligator- calf, at with a ' strap® wide amber, h-riding a high. 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