Andrew Mellon

Of course, Elbridge Preston may only have been joking when he advised President Reagan (Letters, Oct. 30) to learn from Andrew Mellon how to improve the national economy. But just in case he was serious, his letter should not go unanswered.

Mellon, advertised as the greatest secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton, considered the disastrous depression that President Herbert Hoover and everybody else was valiantly trying to stem was not all that bad a condition, and was widely quoted as believing that a depression is a period when wealth returns to its rightful owners.

No wonder that early in 1932 Hoover “promoted” Mellon to be ambassador to Great Britain. Check it out with Margaret Heckler!

HAROLD A. ZIMMER

Anaheim