The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-25

in some instances the phrase may be
 more. opposite than they believe, for
 silk and other curtailment has been
 going forward at such a rate that when retailers stocks start moving a tenn porary scramble for goods at rising prices will be met by those who with
 usual overcaution on falling market have missed the bottom" The latest | buying power is already in evidence in lines where price cuts have reached the consumer; for example, it is report ed that sales of Ford automobiles have increased since the reductions were an- nounced and cut price retail clothing sales in New York have been so sue cessful that they probably will extend throughout the country. The unwill- ingness of retailers to face their losses is largely responsible for the dullness of trade. and while those who persist in it may defer stating their losses, they will not avoid them. Sell and repent lis the maxim of one of the wisest mer- chants ever known, and it is maxim which the American retailers might with profit take to heart at present Bank clearings for the week report ed to BradStreet's indicate no improve ment in the business turnover, totaling about the same as last year and the credit clearing house also reports the
 
 which has been evident for a fort night. Western lumber mills are clos ing and many steel mills are reducing their output, while the Steel Corpora tion is reaping the reward of it's con servative price making, in contrast to several other industries, by finding it
 unnecessary to go through any such period of liquidation as is causing the present distress. The textile industry ;ex irtr he " rna in which reductions have appeared and these have been limited to scattered instances where the operatives urged reduc- tion to avoid threatened shutdown. 1 MORE BOND BUYERS In the financial world the process of getting both feet firmly on the ground goes on apace and bond houses are finding it considerably easier to exc cute selling than buying orders. The stock market, subjected to the bearish industrial and foreign news of the week. has nevertheless shown strong resistance and> it's persistent refusal to go below recent low levels, gives much
 support to the belief held by virtually
 all of the country's most important business leaders that the future holds no trouble more serious than the pres ent, and that, though it may be diff cult to predict when the business tide will turn, there is nevertheless an era not far in front of us when its advance
 will be steady.
 The American people last year spent s22 ?, 0O0, ,O00 900 for so-calfed luxuries. The money in circulation on October I
 totalled $5S.63 per capita, an increase of
 nearly dollar during the month. and the highest figure in our history. With
 the purchasing power so huge it is ap- parent that 1t has been unnaturally damned up by credit stringency and by the failure of sellers, whose trade was a lost art during the period of infla- ton. to meet accurately their buyers desires. These faults are man made and are certain to be overcome by nat ural forces because the needs of 107,- GOO. 900 buyers and their ability to sat- l isfy them is as unquestioned as the ca pacity of the country's resources to supply them.