The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1920-10-04
GREAT STRIDES
MADE BY NATION
Survey of United States by
Franklin K. Lane Shows Prog
ress in Many Branches.
RAIL CONDITIONS IMPROVED
lisre Unemployment or Labor Short.
age-Fsrmers Are Generally
Prosperous

ment making lsnniic summary o
what he ss,'is -ihc hrsi colnprrhen
sive. care.ulit uiasle mud approximate
ly accurate p.eiurs ~ Industrial. agrl
cultural. hnaaeial and pnlilical cun
dltlons throughout The rulied states.
IL discovers in fn. foreground hs
says, that hnih major rellilcai rar'ie,
have oseriuuksgl the srsaies' issue ia
the public mind Witch J. 'ilc cost ui
living. II also sl.aWs. hr states lha,
the country Is on q smnd economic
basis. with the naee az pxifayaeanct
subsidlng. saving incraSin.. whole
salers and retailers opiinistic over The
winter outlook and & growing dis.
position for harh work although the
individual productivity of labor Is not
showing much evidence of Increase
Mr.. Lanes statement summarizes a
survey made through 900 field repre-
sentatIves Of the Fidelity and Deposit
company OF Maryland and covers every
section Of the country. Manufacture
ers. merchants, chambers Of commerce,
bankers, lawyers. business men and
farmers were questioned In the effort
10 mirror the immediate economic and
political situation and obtain a CON
sensis OF representative opinion as 10
tie future. The replies from all To-
caN''es weEeA made simultaneously by
Tel, rqph.
Ia analysis of The survey. Mr.. Lane
says: with the presidential election
hut six weeks away and the winter
rapidly approaching many thoughtful
people stand hesiatlng and undecided.
having difficulty because of the gen
eral lack Of knowledge Of business
conditions outside their own locality
or interests. The general tendency
has been to see what he next man
thinks. with the uncomfortable feeling
that his guess IA no hetter than an
other. | believe. for this reason. the
picture presented In the tabuafed
analysis made by the Fidelity and ne
poslt company Is Of interest to every
business man and voter. While II IS
not. of course. perfect In detail and
exact In prophecy. II Is MS clear and
valuable n conspectus Of present In
dlcations as can be gathered
Under the heading of industrial ron-
ditions Mr.. Lane says ECONOMICALLY
the United States IS shown 10 be bet.
ter OF than any other country In the
world. There Is no evidence of idle
ness Our people have the opportunity
10 work aud are all AT work.
There Is no shortage Of raw mate
rials sufficient 10 curtall production
reported from any OF the nine geo
graphical districts into which the coun-
try was divided for the purpose of the
survey. Only In the district including
Minnesota. the Dakotas. Iowa. Kansas,
Nebraska and Wisconsin Is there evil
dence OF lack OF orders New England
Industries report n number OF cancel
lations. but there. as elsewhere. manu-
facturers are we'll tilled with calls for
their products
Transportation conditions are I'm
proving everywhere and substantial.
reductinnjn the freight car shortage is
reported In every district except IN
the Rocky Mountain states. IN the
Southwest and In the district Including
Kentucky. Tennessee. Alabama and
Mississippi although an Improvement
is noted In the latter district.
"A shortage OF coal and the fallnre
OF labor 10 increase individual pro-
ductivity appear 10 be the only two
unfavorahle aspects in the immediate
Industrial situation. The Rocky Nom
tain and Pacific states report Suffi-
cient supply OF fuei. All other sec-
tions OF the country are feeling the
shortage. bnt It is apparently least
felt by the South Atlantic states
Although labor IS costing still more
than last year, It apparently Is pro-
ducing no more. Wages have advanced
from 10 to so per cen, IN the last
IL months and yet nowhere is there
reported increased productivity per
man. am not expecting that tie
cost OF labor viii fall off even in
the worst times 10 It's pre-war stage.
for ! believe that the real diferen-
tial between directing labor and man.
uai labor viii never again be as great /
as II has been.
$50 far as the distribution OF la |
hor Is concerned. the situation ma /
tionslly appears 10 be well equallzed. |
A shortage of labor IS found only In l
the Middle Atlantic and South Attain
tic states. and this Is largely Of IN
skilled workers. In the rest OF the /
eountry the demand and supply APP
pear balanced. Only 10 some sections
Of the Middle Atlantic states is unern- |
ployment reported. and this Is in GER.
tain Of the skilled trades. chiefly the |
building and shipbuildIng trades.
"An important disclosure OF the sur
vey Is the seriousness OF the housing
situation. In many of the larger In
dustrial centers where the shortage
has been most acute the investigation
Of the Fidelity and Deposit company
has disclosed building operations to
be decreasing instead OF increasing.
The call for buildings comes loud
est from the most essential places OF
rather than from the re-
tail centers. and II Is for low priced
Building construction is
Increasing In New England. but the