The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-15
BENEFIT

nd that ms " others will soon have to do likewise.
 PUaGlC WA : BENEFIT Ii, this policy f. -+'o-tad +ta nr,h- Nc and ah4 BuStn ogpnpnity generally Aill lbeueft 6or chisf ohstacie te tlle Tree eistr.batiul goods has beeR [ nw4il % gress Of rtaiier 70 ~ si t Hle tafitS of s f5ssgt wholsSs ase. &he ccusIgm3s a aeen .sadiFsg the ay E1e, or rather she, for the worIell ie west of tha buying. knows that the rj jAry markets are lower and has pio- aIin&tea ia her shopping until thdre sf snrae evidence that the widely ad- s3 sadaction in the cost of living bliea e she articles that she required. Il ( l4rt potential demand has been thus sa{ea nd there is every indication that he m um will be filled by eager bay Ing men retail prices approximate those |hs regarded as normal. All Amer cans 4ge not thriftleSs and eNtrava2ant co1s There are many who have worn lold cicthes and refrained from buylng esg house linen and other necessaries |foW he last three, or four years. They |sre able to buy and will buy largely just |ss SO sn sls reasonable prices reward their |5atiay4 cs sai self-restraint, and while the |iuxuIy eraGes may suffer by deflation |here ia every reason to expect that those A adities at reasonable profits will soon b. as oasy as ever.
 NET .E.C'r NON ESSENTIALS
 IT. the tr9ce IS of getting down to earth ncn~esseE tiais may be neglected, ana thcse syise ba.. profited by the wartime extvsxa gaAcs ay suffer, but they had 8 good tir1c 4shpe, it lasted, and must now take their a,ar cine philosophically and tur1, lheir atta jon to things more worth
 nyr <,f .av. OCT fr,- mobile dealer, formerly a house builder who had wound up his recent business and resumed his old vocation. Ills yer satility is to be commended and Is men tioned in the hope that others may, fol- low his example.
 If would be easy to paint a picture Of acute demoralization against the back ground supplied by the news of the week, hut if would be misleading, for despite the shutting down of some factories anu short time in others. the fact is that the American people are making the neces- ssarv establishments with littleN discom- fort. and that not single buslness faii- ire of magnitude has been reported, ue- spite a decline that has averaged neariy RI ner cent in the price of many impor- tant commodities such as cotton, corn, wheat and sugar. ,,xr,
 There is not much to encourage pes si,,,isrn in this record. The picture IS not however, entirely symmetricai as ye- Coal must come down, so must shoes, narer and many other staples, including bread. which is not appreciably lower de- cn;te +he decline in wheat and the lesser fsll in the price of flour. And when the canvas is completed it should De var r,ished with easier money and framed py inc lower wages that will have to pc ac- cepted if the readjustment is to pc equitable.
 Bank clearings reported 10 'a . eeSs ''Ss week showed decrease of l2.S per fent from last year, though outside or New York the loss is only 5.S per cent.
 The best authorities agree that the low ~ interest rates are not far orr, anu this view appears to be supported Dy tne raaf,iness with which high-grade bonds continue to be absorbed
 As to the necessary and inevitapie reduction in wages there IS not the same unanimity of opinion. It is' now ever. reassurirg to note that the car ,s,ters in Baltimore have waived the advance of 10 cents an hour to wnlch ;t IS said they were entitled under an srreement with the bosses and have an nounced that they preferred steaay work at 90 cents an hour to irregular cmployrnen at $1. In other cases where wages have been cut the reductions have been accepted without protest and the Ford factory at Detroit reports that if is turning out more machines wlth . reduced force working five days week than 1t produced when a larger rnmber of men were employed six days.
 LABOR PLANS FIGHT
 On the other hand the American Fed sration of Labor is reported to be rais- ing fund of $2o. 100000 with which to right the "open shop" spectre that some of it's officers think they see emerging