BUOYANT OPTIMISM

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1934, Page 6

BUOYANT OPTIMISM

OPENING OF NEW YEAR CONDITIONS IN AMERICA, FAITH IN ROOSEVELT. Writing to a friend in New Plymouth, the head of an important business firm in Naw York has something interesting to say regarding conditions and prospacts in America. Inter alia, he remarks: We are opening the New. Year with a spirit of buoyant optimism that is more strongly marked than for several years past. Candor and honesty compel me to tell you that for the most part, the wish is father to the thought. Some of the people who did a lot of loud shouting about the N.R.A., in its early stages, are now equally vociferous m their denunciation. . Those who are supposed to have their finger on the pulse of the situation ana who profess to be thoroughly posted and informed as to what is taking place or will transpire, say that there has been little or no increase in purchasing power. Nevertheless, my own observation tells me in unmistakable tones that there has been a decided pick-up in the actual amount of business transacted, in the number of dollars that have changed hands, and a marked improvement in the mental attitude of the rank and file of the people with regard to the future. ’ Of course, a good Republican would not see any merit in an administration that was conducted from Washington by the Saints on High, providing they were labelled “Democrats”; and the Democrats are equally reluctant to give any credit whatsoever to anything which savours of the Republican party. Personally, it seems to me that. Franklin D. Roosevelt has possibly the firmest grasp on the situation and a keener understanding of what is required than any other man in the country. Either that or he is sitting in the lap of the gods and liable at any moment to be dumped on the floor with scant ceremony and to the inconvenience and discomfiture of the entire nation as well, as himself. If anything, I hold to the former opinion, although it must be admitted that he disclosed little or no evidence of his ability to handle large problems while he was seated in the chair of the Governor of the State of New York. Of course, during that time, he never appealed to the popular imagination like the former Governor, Alfred E. Smith; nor do I think his record of achievement begins to equal that of Smith. On the other hand, there is no gainsaying the fact that the rank and file of the people are with him to-day and if we were to have another election to-morrow his popular vote would be far greater than it was a year agoI am glad to learn that confidence j® reappearing in New Zealand because I quite agree with your thought that the age of miracles is over and it is only by hard and up-hill work that recovery will come. On the other hand, a full measure of prosperity is almost impossible for one alone. It must, to some extent at least, be shared by the rest of the nations of the world. Travellers returning from England bear out in that country what you find in New Zealand and what seems to be true here, and as it become? increasingly world-wide, I think we shall find that we are slowly but surely leaving the depression behind. Locally, the defeat of Tammany Hall was not entirely unexpected, but the people are notorious for their short memories and it is very, very seldom in our political history, at least as far as our cities are concerned, that- a reform administration succeeds itself. Probably the most efficient mayor New York has had in my time was John Purroy Mitchell. Taxes were reduced and so was the city debt. The town was run on an efficient basis and no cry of graft or scandal was heard through the land; and yet, when it cam* to renominating the man for a second term, he was hopelessly beaten. As the son of an erstwhile leader in Tammany Hall once remarked in my hearing, “Reform may come and reform may go, but like the brook, Tammany Hall goes on forever.