University of South Carolina Libraries
mm REHASHES y ; y POPULIST DREAMS Great Inventor Has Plan For Stabilizing In dustry and Finance That is Reminiscence of Sub-treasury and Other Schemes Ridiculed by Money Powers / Thirty Years Ago Thomas Edison has submitted to the staff engineers of The Babson Institute his plan for stabilizing business and breaking the back bone of the high cost of "living. He has authorized the following popu lar description of his thfeory. With characteristic audacity, he goes to the heart of economic life. He-proposes to afford the ordinary consumer cheaper commodities, to - furnish the producer with ready capital and security and to elimi nate such parasites as unnecessary middlemen and dishonest specula tors, by establishing the govern ment as the country's great mid dleman.-and by making ordinary commodities as well as gold' the basis' of currency. The Government on the Job. Sometime ago. at the suggestion ; of Henry Ford and others Edison devoted himself to study the causes of economic unrest. His solution of this momentous problem is now under the scrutiny of the ablest economists and business experts at Weilesley His plan is simple and startling. He would have the government list some forty basic commodities, stich-as cotton, c*n. copper, coal, wheat, flax, iron, and .then taking ?he prices of the last twenty-five years as a basis, establish an aver age price ?*or each. This price he *would have determined in terms or gold and called a unit or a dol ktr. 'lie would have the government take" over or establish great ware houses and storage plants. When the producer is ready to market ms., product he. brings it to the 'agent, at the government ware house, who gives him a certificate covering h's whole deposit and at the same time pays him half of the value of the deposit, as comput ed on the ? 5-year average basis, in ea.sh. The government then stores .the-product. When a dealer wants wheat, coal, cotton, or any other commodity he b'uys the producers' certificate on the market: he presents it at a warehouse, pays the government baek the money advanced, and takes the product away. The government-fixed average "price safeguards the producer from the ;ravages of dishonest specula tion. The half-value payment he re ceives from'the government affords him a ready capital. The certifi cate he receives is put on the mar ket subject to the ordinary laws of supply and demand. But the certificate does not depend on the gold in treasury vaults but on the. commodity in the warehouse. In "one sense the Edison plan is a re turn to the ancient system of bar ter as far as the complexity of modern life will allow. How the Farmers Would Find* It. Unit money in the Edison plan is not money in the popular con ception?that is, metal money or money with a metal basis. The dJlTy when metal furnished the most e*"Jfcjtejyely practical basis for a Mwdfum of exchange as well as a measure of value has. according to Edison, gone by. His money would still be determined in terms of gold. But instead of gold in treasury vaults being its only basis, you would have wheat in the gov e$7iment bins, coal in the govern ment >pits. rice in storage, cotton in *the* Warehouses, etc. , "All;articles deposited in the warehouse." said -Edison, "bear the same ratio when loan of unit money is made, only one kind of unit money is issued together with the deposit certificate. "Suppose a farmer . puts in the warehouse 1,000 bushels of wheat graded by the government as No. 1. Red. The average price for 23 years of this grade, including high war prices is. say $1.00 per bush el. The farmer is given $300 in unit money?he then can hold his wheat by means of his certificate until he thinks the price is satis factory and thus be independent of, speculators who now set the price! ahead months before the crop is reaped. This certificate is bought i on the exchange, at market price now. say $1.15 for No. 1 Red. The j farmer- would get ^$650?as the! wheat is higher than the 25 year i average. If, on the other hand, it was selling at 96 ^cents he would i only get $400. "But the unit money would not vary. It would always be the ; same, because wheat would not be j Ukely to be sold over a period of j one 3-ear for 5'? cents, in other1 words, the certificate or equity! would have to be valueless to im- j pair the value oil the unit money, j "The averages are changed every j year, a new year being added and < the earliest year of the 25 :s drop-i ped. I Backing up Gold. "In 4 or 5 years the 25 year av- j erage would be less and the three j year high war prices will bring the i average -down so if wheat sold at { even 59 cents it would not im- I pair the value of the unit money. "If a person wants peanuts he j buys peanut certificates or if he j wants rice he buys rice certificates, or anything else which the govern- i nient accepts for storage; hands in the certificate and the amount of unit money loaned, and the com- j modity is at his order for ship ment. The unit money you no tice is common to all articles. "The unit money cannot fluctu- j ate. The capacity or possibility of i fluctuation is eitirelv transferred I j to the certificate which is subject ': to the prices due to supply and ; demand. j "it is not necessary for the gqv j ernmenFto pass any laws legal ten j der or otherwise with unit money. : "This unit money together with ?gold for paying foreign balances ] might well be the basis of our cur : rency. The business of the world 'is rapidly increasing: in . a few j years a single commodity like gold , [will not be sufficient. ! "If it were not for the war we j ; should not have probably more jthan 40 per cent of our currency | backed by gold and even that sub ject to being partly taken away i f rom us. We should have behind, [every paper dollar commodities of; [the warehouses type, including j ?gold worth more than one dollar; j on forced sales. j "As most of our business, is done with credit money which is also ! , based on credit and commodities,, there seems to be no reason why j the present Reserve Bank arid sys tem should be disturbed. The com modity or unit money could be; made the legal reserve instead of gold alone. Taxes to Build Warehouses. "You note that unit money is re : deemed and again paid out prob- i ^ably every fifteen months. When; ! wheat and cotton comes into ware i houses unit money is issued in huge j ! amounts, just when needed by the ifarmers. This automatically solves, j the banking problems which nowj i arise at peak demand, for cur-; i rency expansion and contraction of [ unit money can never do harm.' j There is not any illusion in it. It I can't stay out because they must (have the unit money to get,their ] cotton or wheat out. ?'Again, these commodities are j quick liquidators. The certificates lean be sold on the Exchange by { telephone. [ "In books on the history * of j banking. I find for eight centuries" j it's the same old story?'Suspension ! of Specie Payments.' T*his need f never take place in an agricultural [country. There are a number of [administrative details, such as, if ithe stored material is not reraoxv t ed within the time allotted the ] same will be sold at public auction. 'The equity after storage charges is j placed to the credit of the own let as shown on the duplicate cer-: jtificate. ! "The warehouses are**to be built gradually over a period of years i by monev received from taxation. f ; The warehousing charges include! ^depreciation and 5 per (rent intcr ! est on the cost of warehouse and ! handling machinery." J Knocking the Bottom Out of Coal Prices / j In the light of current events. : the working of Edison's plan in re ! gard to coal is interesting, i A coal producer would mine a j ton of coal. This he hauls to the j nearest government coal resrvoir. I The government gives him a cer ; tificate for one ton of coal and j pays him half of its value, on the j 25-year-average ; basis, in cash. ! This enables the producer to mine | ! coal every day the year round, j ; practically financing his operation j on the money^ the government : turns over to'tiim every day. ! Now, a buyer wants 100 tons of hard coal. He purchases certifi cates for 100 tons on, the open market at the prevailing price j which has been determined by sup i ply and demand, turns these cer tificates into the government with i the amount of unit money that has : been advanced on them and the 'government delivers 100 tons of I hard coal to him from the nearest ! reservoir. He in turn, delivers this \ to your house, adding a reasonable j charge to his cost for shipping and i handling. The Speculator Squelched. The result, in general, would be j this: A ton of hard coal today I costs about $0.60 at the mine?a j cost which would l>e reduced by I the steady operation allowed un | der the Edison plan. The average freight charge is about $2.50 a ton. j The actual net cost of coal should jbe about $10.00?which it would be j under the Edison plan. But today j it actually costs about $14?a ton, the difference, being created by in j '"rest, storage charges and spec | ulative profit. j "Coal should be stored," says i Edison, "in concrete reservoirs I sunk in the ground, 1.000 feet long, ! s<? feet wide. 17 feet deep and kept under water. (Bituminous coal j deteriorates in air). The mine owners could then give their men I steady employment and produce cheaply. Supplies to all would be i certain and price variations less. The storage charges would be trill ing, and. best of all. the mine com ! panics would get one-half of the value of tlie coal in unit money ; without interest, to help carry, the coal." The Edison plan would be of gn at assistance to ?he farmer. At present the farmer sells his wheat because he must have money to live on. If he tries to hold it and borrow money for operation he has to pay an exorbitant rate of inter est. Nine times out of ten he must sell his product when it is in mar ketable torni. It is ordinarily bought by a speculator held in warehouses for higher prices, and may be sold back and forth a dozen times at a profit each time before it finally reaches the hand of the manufacturer who must use it. Edison's plan would enable the farmer to hold hi? crop by payiru a small warehouse or storage charge and without paying any in terest whatever. He could live on the 50 ? per cent money that t h?' government advances him and could sell the crop whenever he thought the market was right, but must sell a percentage each month. There would necessarily be a certain amount >f speculation, but it would be in the hands of the farmer, the actual producer of the material, and not in the hands of a norf-productivc trader who is watching the board in some brok erage office. Price fluctuations would be gradually reduced as forced sales by the producer would be practically eliminated. As a net result, the farmer would get more money for his crop and the miller would pay les"s for his wheat than they do today. Gold Standard an "Absurdity.*' It is of interest to note that when Edison first began to work out this problem, he said: "It seems absurd to me that all our values should be based on boxes of metal in the treasury. They are put into vaults, the vaults are locked, and imme diately everyone believes that all is well. They are taken out and their contents distributed and everyone believes that all is wrong. "Sometimes a ton or so of the gold which has been locked up in the treasury vaults is put on a steamer and sent to Europe, im mediately re-shipped back to New York and business stability isj brought to pass, this shuttle-cock business being kept up because no one comes out with a plan to stop such childish actions. "It is an absurdity, but every body has been educated to believe that this absurdity is common sense j ?serious and not to be controvert-j ed. Everybody believes because j everybody has "been educated to be-; licve that values can be establish- ] ed and held stable only by the ere- j ation and maintenance of a stand- j ard based on the so-called precious j metals. In reality, civilization hasj become too complicated for the: continuance of such a sy stem. ? "What is gold's rea! usefulness? It makes pretty jewelry and picture frames, and is used effectively for filling teeth. Otherwise it is al- j most a wholly' useless substance, j Yet, we hold it the standard of all; .values!" All that is necessary to put the Edison plan into operation is a gov ernment ruling which would name the standard prices over the 25 year period, for all basic commodi ties and set up the necessary ma chinery Uvreceive and store the commodities. Whatever its defects,! it would greatly simplify and sta-l bilize the operation of all basic in-, dustries. It would mean all-year j .employment -for the majority of our j workers who now suffer from sea sonal trends. And it would in large measure reduce the high cost of living. While the Babson experts ?rej still studying its ultimate effects, the plan offers much for the aver age citizen to think about. SEEKS $100,000 DAMAGES Anti-Saloon Leader Charged With Slander Cornau;. N. Y., Nov. 'Jl?Papers asking $100,000 damages and charging Wiliiam H. Anderson, su perintendent of the New York State Anti-Saloon League, with making slanderous statements, were filed this afternoon by attorneys for Frances E. Cprtright. of this city, defeated candidate for assembly on the Farmer-Labor, Prohibition and Socialist ticketa. - The papers set -forth that state ments concerning Mr. Cortright were published in the American Is sue, official paper of the Anti-Sa loon League and on campaign doc uments and that the propaganda caurtd Mr. Cortright's defeat. RUSSIAN REFUGEES ARE IN PITIABLR STATE IN KOREA Seoul, Korea, Nov. 20 (By the Associated Press).?With extreme cold approaching in Northern Ko rea, the condition of the 7.000 Russian refugees at Gensan is pit iable, j according to arrivals from there.' Those ashore sleep on the bare ground or under clapboard sheds while the crowding aboard the ships in the harbor is reminiscent of . the floating hells of the old gallery slave days and the Australian con-j vict hulks. Aboard the El Dorado, an old 1,200 ton vessel, more than 1.000 men are herded. They sleep seven men to the berth, taking two hour turns at lying down. At Gensan the severely wounded j among the Vladivostok exiles are segregated, but the convalescent and ailing are crowded with the rest. The sanitary arrangements are so inadequate that an epidemic j seems certain. The provisions ofj the ships are about exhausted. Men are offering to work for =i j pound of black bread and a cup of j tea, but no work is available. Chang Tso-Lin. the military di<-- ! tator of Manchuria,' still refuses ! the refugees passage through Man- ! churia.? Local authorities at Gensan j are unable to fix a time for the! refuge and departure. Meanwhile the destitute Russians are selling j their paltry effects to obtain food, j One of their officers committed I suicide. DISPUTE OVER _THRACE Lausanne. Nov. 20'.-?The ques I tion of Thrace was again before) the commission on military and I territorial matters at the Lausanne conference today. Bonar Law's complaint seems to be that there is too little under standing on the Continent, and too much standing from under. Writer Weds [ ?* Mrs. Frances W Elijah, fiction 'worker, has left for a honeymoon ? rtage at New York to A. N. Diehl. GERMAN CABINET SELECTED _ . 5 ? ? German Chancellor Announces His Co-Workers Berlin, Nov. 21.?The new Ger man cabinet has been constituted as follows: Chancellor. Wilhelm Cuno. Vice chancellor and minister of justice. Dr. Carl Heinze. Ministers: Foreign affairs: Herr Von'Rosen berg; the interior; "Rudolph Oeser; finance, Andrews Hermes; eco nomics, Johannes Becker; the treasury. Dr. Heinrich Albert; transportation. Gen. Wilhelm Groe ner: posts and telegraphs. Herr Stinol: food, Herman Mueller; -de fense. Dr.tO. Gcssler; labor. Dr. Heinrich Brauns. ? ? ? RAILROADING . SUBSIDY JOB Special Rule to Force a Final Vote November 29th Washington. Nov. 22?The house rules committee wis expected to report a special resolution giving the administration shipping bill the rieht of way before today's session ended. Should the resolution be adopted the measure will be taken up tomorrow and the final vote will com*' November President Hard ing yesterday urged the early pass age of the bill. Senate interest today centered on .Mrs. W. H. Felton. of Georgia, seat ed yesterday for one day, as the first woman senator. She was expected to answer on the ?roll call and then W. F. George, elected on November 7th, would claim the seat. Mrs.-Felton made a brief address to the senate declaring she felt like the happiest woman in America. Senator George was then sworn in. The house rules committee report ed a rule giving the shipping bill right of way by a straight party vote. The debate then started. More for Booze Than Brains According to the "Australian Prohibition Year Book for 1922. the commonwealth drink bill for the year ended June 30. 1921. the I.jst figure available, was ?29.407. nearly $100.000.000 in Ameri can money. The total amount of Friendly So ciety contributions (representing thrift) was ?1.487.105: Thus, the drink bill (representing waste) was nearly twenty times the thrift amount. Invalid and old a^e pensions amounted to ?4,411,629. Australia spent more than six and one-half times ;js much for liquor. War pensions tor the year ended June 30. 1020 totaled E5.S72.770. This was about one-fifth the amount spent for liquor. The stales of the commonwealth spent more money for booze than for brains. The.niohey spent on ed ucation (all forms) and for science and the arts was ?6^608,442, a little more than one-fifth 'of the amount spent for liquor. All the several state chnrities spent ?2.855,999. The business which helps tu ;.:;.ke these chari ties necessary took out of the pockets of Australians more than i"n times that amount. The value of g< Id produced in 1920 w;is ?5:494.083. It took neasiy six times all the gold value to pay| for the year's liquor indulgence. ' The income <>t" the municipali ties, excluding loans, was ?10.233. (129. Tlx- income of the liquor trade was almost three times as much.! The gross revenue of the pes*;,I de-| partment \\;?s EG,744,972. The re-j eeipts of the liquor shops was near- J Iy four and one-half times as mud;. The gross revenue of all tho rail roads in tin- commonwealth, in cluding Ho- federal lines, uas ?32. 109.511?. The revenue of the liquor business, which often interferes; with the railroad business comes! within ?2.701.083 of this. Xo wonder Australia wants pro hibition. Newspaper Proprietor: "What great useful thing are we turning our forests into ever\ day. Gerald?" Gerald: "Baseball bats."-?Life i One thing to feel thankful for: ^ on don't owe as much money as Germany. SteelvMan and scenario writer and famous war l South America," following her mar Pittsburg steel man. Woman Saved By Negro Worker jCar Plunges Into Pool With j. Mrs. Jamison, of Greenwood ? ? [ Greenwood. S. C. Nov. 21.? Plunging over, a fit'teen-foot em ! bank men t into. a. pool, where her j head was submerged, Mrs. A. T. \ Jamison, wife of Dr. A. T. Jamison, ? superintendent o.f Connie Maxwell ; Orphanage, narrowly escaped death j shortly after 3 o'clock this after i noon, when she lost control of a j coupe she was driving. A negro, j digging sand in Hardlabor creek, near the orphanage, where the ac cident occurred, rescued Mrs. Jami json. She was uninjured, not even j being cut by the shattered glass of [the car. Two little girls, Billy and : Emmie Lee Morgan, who were with \ Mrs. Jamison, were also unhurt, ex I cept for a slight cut suffered by ! Emmie Lee.'.. ' ?.-? ? ? - National Education Week?Wliat It Is. . National Education Week, De cember 3rd to- 9th inclusive, is the week .set aside by the president of i the United States during which ! the citizens of each city. tOwn, and community are urged to acquaint themselves with the conditions sur rounding the schools. Parents arc invited to'visit the schools that i their children ' attend, inspect the I buildings, meet the teachers, and see tilings for themselves. Trus tees, and those'to whom the actual work of manning the schools is left, are asked to point out to the citizens the needs of the schools? all looking towards, better educa tional advantages. I? Sumter Count.v Having been appointed general .'chairman for Sumter county by tbe j General Committee of the Citizens' Educational Association at' their 'recent meeting in Columbia, I ask that the persons whose names ap I pear below, representing the re spective organization set opposite j their names, meet in the Girls' High school building Monday aftcr j noon at 6:10 for the purpose of j conferring relative to the celebra tion of educational week in Sumter county: Dr. S. H. Edmunds. City Schools. Dr. J, H. Haynsworth, County 'Schools. ! Miss Armida Moses, Women's f Clubs. ! Dr. J. A. Mood. School Trustees. Mr. Geo. D. Levy. American Le gion. Mr. S. L. Roddey. Rotary Club. Mr. H. L. Scarborough, Kiwanis Club. ^ Mrs. Horace Harby, Civic League. Mr. P. M. Parrott, Young Men's Business League. i Dr. E. S. Booth. Chamber of ?Commerce. Mr. Hubert Osteen. County Board of Education. Hon. L. D. Jennings, City of j Sumter. Dr. J. P. Marion, Ministerial j Union. , |. Hon. D. D. Moise. County Dele gation. j Mr. J. G. Rowland, County Board of Commissioners. Mrs. Louise M. Brogdon. Teach ers* Asscciation. Miss Irene Bryan. Winthrop Daughters. . Mr. H. D. Tindal. Trustee's As sociation. This conference is not expected to last longer than 30 minutes. It is an important meeting, however, and each person is urged to be present and on time. R. B. Waters, General Chairman Sumter Coun ty. RAILROAD INSPECTIONS Columbia, Nov. 22,? Members of the South Carolina Railroad Com mission will this week begin inspec tion ol the Southern Railway lines between Cayce. near Columbia, and Harleyvilie, the Savannah branch. Following this they will make in spection of the Seaboard line from Monroe. N. ('., to the Savannah river, near Calhoun Kails, the en tire extent of one branch of the Seit hoard in the state. Several roads have already been in-ported this year, the .Southern from Kingville to the North Caro- ''\ lina line: the Charleston <fc Wei^arn Carolina for its entire length: the Piedmont and Northern, and one; or two smaller roads. When a girl who takes dictation marries her boss she becomes boss and lie lakes dictation. The Ship Subsidy Grab Scheme of Shipping Combine to Raid the Treasury With Assistance of President Harding Washington. Nov. 18.? By gag ging the present Republican house of representatives, which ."..was in eluded in the anathema of Novem ber 7. President Harding plans to press .his ship sub bonus bill to passage in the special session of this congress, thai the sale of the people's. mcr<*b;?nt marine at a loss of $2.800.000.000 compared with its original cost and the granting of $750.000.000 of the public funds to its purchasers may be sanctioned before the next house and senate shall have a chance to delcat it. The ship bonus bill, along with the Fordney-McCumber Profiteers' tariff, the tax-shifting law and Ncwborryism, was among the Re publican proposals - and policies condemned at- the polls three weeks ago. The people knew that it was a part of the president's legislative program, they under stood its provisions, and they vot ed their disapproval of the meas ure when they turned out of office nearly a hundred Republican sena tors and Representatives and oust ed Republican governors in thir teen states. Now the president is in effect cocrcin.? a repudiated con gress into passing his repudiated "pet project." President Plarding and the. Re publican managers themselves made ! it plain that they regarded the j election as a test of Republican ? legislation, past and prospective; I They had as much opportunity to pass the ship bonus bill in the ses Ision which, closed in September as they have in the special session. But they feared the consequences to their congressional and other candidates at the- recent election 'and purposely withheld the meas i ure from consideration at that time. It was announced by semi-offi cial organs of the administration ?two months ago. that President ? Harding preferred to await the \ verdict of the voters on November j 7 before urging congress 16 act on j the ship bonus bill. j The Washington Post gives an (outline of the tactics*upon which the president depends to force the iship boni^s bill through congress ' and not only stifle opposition among representatives and senators but also defy the popular antag onism expressed by the voters at the recent election, j '.'It is confidently, expected by jthe administration that the house I will pass the ship subsidy bill .un ! der special rule by the end of next j week (November 23) and'that it iwiil become a law* before the ad | journnient of corigress March 4," Isays the Post. , j "Under such a rule," continues ;the.Post's article, "no amendments j could be proposed on the floor and ! no motion except that to recom mit would be in order. * * * Vigor ous pressure will be brought to bear in the senate, it is said, to have that body pass the bill within a reasonable time." All the defeated and discredited Republican representatives are ex pected to support the bill and thereby give token of their quali fication for the federal appoint ments for, which they arc hoping and hustling! Those who were re elected, it is fielt by the Republican bosses, will be kept in line by threats judiciously mingled with promises: If President Harding is success ful in this attempt to exercise his i official and political supremacy in behalf of the ship bonus bill's en actment during the special session he will thereby override the peo | pie's veto of this legislation but at I the same time favor the interests which have thus far kept the Re publican administration steadfast to its promise to' make a practical gift of the government's fleet .to ! private corporations and superadd ! $75.000.000 a year by way of re j wards for taking the vessels, j Opponents of the bill, in the i senate are confident it can not pass (in the special session, or at any J other session, in its present form, t They regard most of its provisions ias so "raw" that they feel sure ! of winning to the side of the op } position even some of the stand j pat Republicans. It begins to ap j pear that President Harding is I about to suffer a defcat^stf far as his attempt to push this "pet pro ' ject" to passage in the special ses ! sion is concerned. IDE VALERA LIEUTENANT HELD IN PRISON Court Refuses Writ of Habeas Corpus to Erskinc Childers Dublin, Nov. 23.?A writ of ha beas corpus today, was refused Erskine Childers, lieutenant to Eamon De Valera, who recently was tried on the charge of illegal possession of a pistol. Considering Withdrawal. An upstate town prospered so much during the war that one af-! ter another five new banks appear-! ed upon its streets. When business declined, compc- j tition grew very active. In the! scramble, t he only rules were those i imposed by expected visits of the j l>ank examiner. One day the town's leading man- j ufacturcr met a friend on the: street. "Jim." the friend asked, "are! you doing much business these j days with the Merchants' De- | posit ?" "Well, they're after me hard." j Jim replied, "and I've got an over- j draft there now, but I'm thinking' of taking it out." m Op In Bcauvoir, Miss., a couple have been married 64 years without shooting each other one single New Ministry For Germany j Wilhelm Cuno Succeeds inj Forming a New Cabinet Berlin. Nov. 20 i By the Associat ed Press).?Wilhelm Cuno is Ger many's 13th chancellor and the first uon -pa rtisa n n o h- parliamentary holder of that post in the new re public. He has succeeded in form ng his new cabinet but announce nent of its members will not be made officially until tomorrow. It was indicated tonight, how ever, that among the holdovers will :>e Andreas Hermes, minister of finance; Dr. Heinrich Brauns, la bor; O. Gessler. defense, and Gen. Wilhelm Groener. transportation. Chancellor Cuno's ministry will be chiefly recruited from among the three middle parties who.have agreed to support him while three or four of the members will receive heir appointments on non-politi :al grounds. The first pronounced bourgeoisie .*abinct of tepublican Germany en ters upon its functions knowing that it will be confronted by the un compromising opposition of the L'hited. Socialists and Communists but hopeful of winning the benevo lent neutral tolerance of the ; strong Nationalistic party in the reichstag. The Conservatives tonight an nounced they did not intend to em barass the new ministry; even de claring they would welcome the opportunity to promote the revival of the bourgeoisie movement. The' Cnited Socialists this afternoon definitely eliminated themselves froni the further consideration 'of Herr Cuno, to whom President jEbert thereupon gave a renewed j commission to proceed with the j formation of the cabinet, j The government enters office with j a pronounced strategic advantage ! because the recent German note j on reparations will aiso constitute ja platform for internal reforms i sanctioned by the middle parties and the Socialists, while its dis tinctive features concerning rep-j arations have the approval of the Nationalists. . ] The reichstag has adjourned un til Thursday to give the new min istry an opportunity for organiza-! j tion. ? ? j BUSINESS CONDITIONS j D?ring the last thirty days, com, jmercial and industrial activity has I [reflected the usual stimulation of I fall and wmter demand. Retail] i trade in the larger cities is more j active than at the . corresponding period of last Tear, amL seasonal acceleration is evident throughout the country. Uncertainty as to the volume'of purchases by the farm ers of the grain and livestock, states has not been dispelled, how-over. Wholesale tra.de has been good throughout the current period. Stocks of many kinds of goods in the hands both, of wholesale and i retail dealers are light, but neither l this fact nor threats of higher [prices have been sufficient to in duce buyers -to make substantial forward purchases. The- conser vatism shown justifies the belief that the catastrophe of 1920 has not beeji forgotten. Total car loadings and loadings of merchandise aftd of less than carload lots are practically at the record levels established in 1920. Despite car shortage, especially for coal and for the movement of farm products, the railroads are handl ing freight remarkably well. Coal has been rapidly moved to the lake [ports for shipment to the north-! J west before the close of navigation, j j Receipts of wheat at primary raar j kets to date, while somewhat less I than for the corresponding period' I of 1921. ai;e well above receipts forj (1920. The livestock movement is ! Satisfactory. Cotton is moving jmore rapidly than in 1921. Some I industrial consumers are beginning to accumulate coal reserves, and the disappearance of premiums for immediate delivery is evidence of improved transportation for steel. The manufacturing, industries as a whole .are operating at not far below normal. Steel output is at 75 p^er cent of capacity. There has been a notable expansion W pig iron production which for October j exceeded any month since Decem ! ber 1920. Railroad orders con tinue heavy. Demand from the automobile and buildiztg industries is good, due account being taken of seasonal declines. Buying by agricultural implement makers is still light. The indications seem] to be that demand for steel may! slacken somewaat during the re mainder of the year, but that re covery will be made early in 1923. Demand for machine tools is fair. The woolen and worsted indus try is at between 80 and 85 per cent of capacity. Boot and shoe manufactures range from 80 per f cent, in New England to capacity at St. Louis. Cotton consumption in October was 533.950 bales, compared with 494,745 and 401. 325 bales in October 1921 and 1920 respectively.' October output of automobiles made a new high rec ord for that month. Building is ex ceptionally active for the season this condition being reflected in the various industries producing build ing jnatcrials. * National Bank of Commerce in New York Something of a Tight Wad. A man who had just opened a' store in a strange town was inter rogating one of his early customers on the purchasing power of the ?itizens. "Now, there's Deacon Brown." he said. "He has the rep utation of being wealthy. Would he be likely to spend much money in here?" 'Wa-al." drawled the, native reflectively, "I wouldn't ex- j aetly say that he'd go to hell for ! a nickel, but he'd fish around for one till he fell in."?Salt Lake Tele-1 gram. Influence bootleggers are gaining is astounding. California voted dry. Harding Urges the Passage of f , Marine Bill Makes Address Before Joat ; Session By the Associated Press Washington, Nov." 21? President Harding today urged Coaigress to pasts the administration marine bill. Ih his addufess before a joint ses sion. He asserted it was necessary to relieve the -government of the staggering losses in the operation of a war built merchant fleet and that vie also needed to establish a program assuring shipping in need in war and to guarantee commer cial independence. He said ah ac tual money saving wouTd result, telling congress the present opera tion losses were fifty million dollars annually, while the government-aid to shipping at present would be only twenty millions, which would be paid back when the companies began making ten per cent on cap ital invested. "If success attends as we hope, it will," he said, "gov ernment outlay will be returned." The president said the maritime na tions of the world were in complete accord with the opposition to the measure. He asserted if it is fair for government to aid in building roads it is also fair to^ aid in es tablishing market highways on seal .- , Jfa, a' ~a Ship Subsidy BiH IJp Re publicans Agree on Amend ment - * Washington, Nov. _ 20.?Republi can members of the Merchant*Ma rire committee agreed tcday oh kn amendment to the ship subsidy bill designed to offset losses to Amer ican passenger ships engaged in foreign service by reason of &e prohibition against the sale of li quor. The amendment provides ^ tljat. such ships shall b3 paid di rectly by.the government for carry ing mail, instead of turning tfce a mount due into, a revolving fund out of which all companies are to receive, compensation. Representative Bankhead,. Ala bama, Democrat membir ; of the committee, announced he would offer an amendment providing that no part of the federal subsidy should be paid to any ship - on which liquor -was sold, regardless of any future court ruling, on/.the right .to sell ph the high seas. Republicans of the committee also agreed on. -. an amendment which . would give the shipping board the same authority ?:' over coastwise steamship hne-> that; the Interstate Commerce Conmiission exercises over, railroads. It woiiTd have power to fix both maximum and minimum rates. The bill will be, taken up to morrow at ? fulf meeting of the Merchant - Marine . committee and formally reported to the house. The rules . committee Is expected to give it Yight of way. Adoption of the rule by . the* house will " start consideration Thursday ^under' ? fixed .program calling a final vote November 29. ENGINEER SHOT IN HIS CAB Harry G. Ritner Fataliy Wounded at EIrod S Florence, Nov. 22.?CbtJmio?r that he thought the men had at tempted to rob his ? store, a mer chant named Poole shot and prob ably mortally wounded Harry; G. Ritner, Atlantic Coast Line V?n gineer while he was sitting in the station at Elrod, N. C, and came near wounding Charles Brock, brsikeman, several buck shot, pass ing through the. latter's clothing. The shooting became known here this afternoon. Mr. Ritner was carried to a hos pital in FayetteviU? soon after he was wounded and it is reported here that there is little hope, held out for his recovery, the shot tak ing effect near his heart. As Brack was returning to the--loop motive after switching a car onto a side track in front of Poole's store last night, he heard several shots near by. More were fired as he sprang into the cab, One of these struck Engineer Ritner who feH to the floor, in front of the firebox of his locomotive. W?en train employes carried Mr. Ritner to the depot Poole appeared with a shotgun in his hand and stated he had. fired the ehots declaring that someone had been trying to break into his store and he thought it was the engineer and brakeman. Robbers broke into the depot at Mars Bluff last night, blew open the iron safe and cleaned out its contents, taking $5,000 in ~ mort gages, $500 in Liberty bonds and about $50 in cash. The money was the cash receipts for the day the Atlantic Coast Line's agency but the mortgages and bonds be longed to the agent. No trace of the robbers could be found by Of ficers who investigated the loot ing today. A pile o^ ashes1 "was found near the depot and it is be lieved the robbers burned the mortgages there, not being able to use them. INVESTIGATION OF STATE HOSPITAL Columbia. Nov. 22.?Governor Harvey spent all of yesterday .in vestigating conditions at the stajte hospital. The governor has receiv ed requests from patients at the in stitution lately and from former' patients, asking that certain things be authorized, and with a view to making whatever recommendations he might find advisable to the leg islature, he undertook a thorough study of the institution. While he has not as yet made an official port on the institution, he was 1 in his praises of the management. The State Hosnital is considered eise of the best institutions for me^ uviectives in the country.