Edgefield advertiser. (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, January 05, 1921, Page SEVEN, Image 7
"-:
Cotton Will Advance C
. Man Predicts.
New York Letter
Returning from a trip throuj
eral states in the South, J. E
goe, secretary-treasurer of "?
al Association of Credit Men,"
is composed of 33,000, manui
ers, wholesalers and banker
night issued the following ii
sions of business conditions in t
rious cities visited:
"Various complex causes mi
considered in order to interpre
perly the economic conditions
South. Collections and merehan
have been badly affected, proc
distress and uncertainty to
whose credits are in a large me
or entirely, confined to the ?
glowing section of the South,
damentally, the staple must be
oned with as one of the chie
. ports of the nation. Our own
dies cannot absorb more than
half of the normal product, and
kets for the balance must ther
be found abroad. Whenever ex
are affected by industrial or pol
conditions, ' there is usually a
. tion on the prices o'f staples.
1920 Result Shocked G rowe
"High prices, together with ai
cellent crop in 1919, brought
perity to the planter, the lando
and the merchant. We are inclini
believe that a good portion o?
large profits realized was applie
the payment of mortgages, to th
stalling of improvements and s
set aside as savings. With the
of thrift, which has been too ?i
a.failing of the cotton growei
good part of the profits of the i
perous years was expended in
urie.s. It was but natural to ex
a bumper crop in 1920. Expectat
were realized.But the, crop came
on the market when prices were
dining, when exchanges were i
> disordered condition, and there
a swift decline in its immediate n
ket value. This decline was a si
to the grower and a very diffei
experience from what he had exp
ed. And, there entered into his s
generally speaking, a sense of i
which was later intensified i
fright. We firmly believe that
growers are more badly frightei
than hurt.
"The cotton-growing section i
much better prepared to meet t
debacle in price than it would hi
been in 1919 or 1918, but the c
S tress is very great. One might be
to think that the whole section v
hurt beyond recovery. Possil
one-third of the unsold portion v
be needed for domestic spindles. }
. are inclined to believe that pri<
are more apt to advance than to (
.cline further.
Tenant Farmer Big Evil.
"One of the chief evils of the ci
ton-growing sections is the tena
farmer. Very much more can'be e
pected of land when it is tilled by :
owner, because of his direct 'inte
est. The tenants are too largely wit
out financial backing and have litt
to fall back upon in the event of tl
failure in crops or prices. Nothh
is more needed than the developme:
of homesteads owned and controlh
by the people attached to the lar
and not subject to outside influence
"In accord with the economic la
that no commodity can be sold for
very long period at less than i
, cost of production, there will t
much'less planting next year unies
the prices rise considerably. Such
shortening of th? crop would natui
ally tend to raise its prices about noi
mal. The shortening of the ero
might have been beneficial economi
effects on that section of the countr
through a diversification of crops.
Merchants Feel Situation.
"The merchants in the South ar
feeling the situation very tensely be
cause of slowed sales and slower clo
lections. In essentials sales have de
dined very heavily and there ar<
many appeals for accomodations. Ai
a consequence of this condition, i
number of liquidations can be ex
pected and this is the situation where
in. the good sense of creditors can bi
expressed. There never should be ar
undue haste or ill-considered action
where disastrous signals are display
ed by the retailer. His affairs should
be carefully analyzed and further co
operation given him, if necessary,
and where insolvence has happened,
then co-operation should be exercis
ed in every case. It would be well for
creditors to know that accomodations
based upon the desirability of hold
ing cotton for higher prices must be
carefully scrutinized.
"There should be a firm but con
structive policy, even in the midst
of this distress. We are firmly con
vinced that the profits and savings of
the prosperous years have made us
fundamentally sound and that we
are merely passing through a period
of recuperation
Put Your Shoulder to the
Wheel.
Washington, Jan. 1.-The com
manding position the United States
occupies in the financial world is ap
parently shown in figures just pub
lished in the congressional record by
Chairman Good of the house appro
priations committee. ,
"As compared with other govern
ments in the world," says Mr. Good,
'the United States stands first in
credit, first in national wealth and,
so far as the present indebtedness is
concerned, it stands the lowest j
among the great nations of the world |
in its indebtedness as compared with
the wealth of its people.
"When the world war began, Great
Britain proper, that is, the British
Island, had a national wealth of
about $69,000,000,000. That was
the value of all the banks and all the
factories and farms and* everything |
owned by the people of Great Brit-1
ian.
"At the close of the -war, Great
I Britain had a Rational debt of more
than $38,000,000,000, a debt equal,
to 60 per cent of the wealth of all
the people of the British isles before
the war.
"France had a national wealth be
fore the war of $56,000,000,000.
France closed the war with a national
debt of more than $44,000,000,000.
The interest on the debt of France
will require every year more than
$2,300,000,000.
"Italy entered the, war with a na
tional wealth of less than $23,000
000,000. She closed the war with a
national debt of more than $17,000,
000,000.
'The United States today has a na- j
tional wealth estimated at $240,
000,000,000, and she has a national
debt of $24,000,000,000. In other j
words, the national debt is equal to
about 10 per cent of her national
wealth.
French Population Shows
Decrease.
Paris, Jan. 1.-From statistics
just made public it is learned that the
population of France has decreased
half a million, and that there .is a de
cided trend toward the cities for the
year 1920.
Infantile mortality has increased
30 per cent since 1914 rising in No
vember of this year to 49 per cent of
the births in Paris. This is slightly
lower than the figures from other
cities. The infant mortality rate is l
22 per cent in the rural districts, the
higher Paris death rate being at
tributed to the scarcity and poor
quality of milk as well as to the high
cost of living.
Unemployment in cities increased
700 per cent in the last three months
but the rural sections and the devas
tated regions report a scarcity of
labor.
The fuel situation is improved but
the average increase in the cost of
living as registered throughout
France is 180 per cent over 1919
and 140 per cent over 1914.
F rear Bill Cheaper , Meats and
Protection ' of Cattle.
Washington, Jan. 1".-Cheaper
meats and protection of American
cattle and livestock growers are the
combined objects of a bill introduced
in the house yesterday by Represen
tative Frear, Republican of Wiscon
sin, a member of the ways and means
committee.
The bill proposes to tax out of
cold storage 64,000,000 pounds of
imported mutton and lamb which Mr.
Frear asserts is now being held there
as a club over American producers
and also to keep up the price. A tax
of 10 cents per pound is impsoed on
all imported meats held in cold stor
age in this country 60 days and 5
cents per pound for every additional
30 days. Heavy fines and jail sen
tences are provided for owners of
the meats and warehouses for con
cealing information about their
stocks.
The 64,000,000 pounds of mutton
and lamb, Mr. Frear said, were im
ported within four months. <
, "These goods," he continued, "are
said to have been brought in largely
by American packers who also have
South American interests.
The destruction of the sheep busi
ness in this country, due to present
prices offered stock men by packers,
gives an incentive to hold this meat
for 'an indefinite period. The .meas
ure is proposed to afford relief until
a specific law affecting cold storage
products is enacted."
Not Is As Rich As Croesus.
I
If you were as rich as Croesus j
you could not buy a better remedy |
for constipation than Chamberlain's
Tablets. They are easy and pleasant |
to take and when the proper dose is
taken produce a mild and gentle ef
fect. They also strengthen the diges-j
tion.
i IMPROVED
j ROADS
ARMY MATERIAL FOR ROADS
Millions of Dollars' Worth of Machin
. ery Available for Construc
tion of Highways.
. The signing by the president of a
bill directing the secretary of war to
transfer certain surplus anny equip
ment to the United States department
of agriculture, as well as allotting cer
tain material to other branches of the
government, makes available for dis
tribution to.vthe states millions of dol
lars' worth of machinery for use In
highway construction.
Since there is now available from all
sources-federal,- state, county, etc
more than $1,000,000,000 for road build
ing, the states are anxious to secure
Carrying Forward Nation's Great Road
Building Program, Support of Which
Is Urged by Secretary Meredith.,
their allotments of these army supplies
because of the great assistance they
will be in expediting road building.
This material Is In addition to approx
imately 22,000 army motor vehicles
which already have been allotted to
the states through the federal depart
ment of agriculture in accord with pre
vious legislation. , .
As yet no djeflnite estimate can be
made as to the number of machines of
different kinds which the secretary of
war will designate to be "surplus and
not required for military purposes," as
? provided In the act Among the scores
of items listed in the law are:. Road
rollers, sprinkling wagons, concrete
mixers, derricks, <. oplete pile-driver
outfits, clam-shell buckets, caterpillar
and drag-line excavators, plows,
cranes, dump wagons, hoisting engines,
stump pullers, wheelbarrows, blasting
machines, corrugated metal culverts,
surveying Instruments, drafting ma
chines, fabricated bridge materials,
gravity- and power conveyors, and
wagons.
The distribution of this material
will be made by the United States de
partment of agriculture, the work be
ing in the immediate charge of the bu
reau of public roads. It will be al- j
lotted In the same ratio as funds
granted to the states for federal aid
roads.
The bill also, empowers the secre
tary of war In his discretion to trans
fer to the United States department
of agriculture for use by the forestry
service in the work of supervising the
national forests, any telephone sup
plies no longer required for military
purposes.
The federal government is to b? re
imbursed by the states, a sum equal to
20 per cent of the value of the mate
rial less all freight charges Incurred In
delivering the property to them. The
title to all vehicles and other equip
ment remains vested In the state for
use In improving highways. No ve
hicles and equipment, In serviceable
condition, c?n be sold or the title
transferred to any one else. A provi
sion Inserted In the bill shortly before
Its final passage provided that any
state highway department may ar
range for the use of this material by
any state agency or municipal corpora
tion at a fair rental, if It ls to be used
in constructing and maintaining public
highways. The rental must not be
less than the cost of maintenance and
repair of the vehicles and equipment,
DRIVERS CAN PREVENT WEAR
One Thing That ls Most Destructive la
Driving in Tracks-Distribute ..
Traffic Evenly.
Drivers can prevent wear to the sur
faces of the roads and even improve
their conditions, If instead of driving
In one track or on 'the edge of the
road, they will drive, over the middle
and oth?r less-used parts of the road
when traffic permits. The one thing
that Is fatal above all things to, road
surfaces, whether dirt or paved, is
driving In tracks, which subjects one
small part of the road surface to all
the traffic and damage that the whole
road accommodates. Traffic should be
evenly distributed over the entire sur
face of the road, and a little thought
fulness and care in this respect on the
part of drivers will do much to add
to the permanence and excellence of
our roadways.
Benefits of Good'Roads.
Good roads will enable the produc
ers, to hohl their yield for a longer
time, thus insuring higher prices for
them and lower and more uniform
prices for the consumer, and will
serve to distribute railway traffic
more evently over the entire yeur.
Useful as a Weapon.
A system of good roads, built on a
uniform plan of excellence by the
states ard the nation, could be util
ized as a powerful weapon In the
consumers' struggle with high prices.
Your
Year Office
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