The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1920-12-01
RAY OF HOPE FOR
RETIREMENT
General Tendency In Financial
and Economic Affairs To.
wards Improvement
In Conditions.

New York, Nov. 30.--It is to b.
doubted if America ate its turkey anC
celebrated its distinctive holiday in Q
very thankful spirit last week. Oul
blessings are many and our opportuni.
ties innumerable, but that TO which
We have been subjected by the recent
decline in prices has not left US in az
entirely grateful mood.
But the storm is subsiding. The
weather is clearing. II is now posi-.
BILE for us to get our bearings and es-
innate the damage that has beer
done. The ship Of business has not
foundered or gone ashore, and while
some Of her crew may have been in
jured, the fatalities have been few
and those who were hurt are being
nursed back to health again by finan-
cial specialists Of great reputation
Some surgery and amputation has
been necessary, but it is surprising
that the gale did so little harm, and
with favoring breezes we soon should
be on our course again.
The mercury in the financial barom-
eter is rising, for at AL per cent
the reserve ratio of the Federal Re-
serve Banks was higher last week
than it has been for many months,
and there is every reason to expect a
still higher figure soon.
Call money has loaned as low as
four and one-half per cent. The rul-
ing rate has been six per cent. Banks
of New York, which now exceed two
and one-half billions, show an increase
Of ten per cent in the last twelve
months; and, what is more signifi-
cant, gain Of from three to five per
cent within the the last three months.
AS the loudly proclaimed 'reduc-
tons in prices have not made much
impression on the cost of living until
very recently, these figures must be
accepted as indicating less extrava-
gance and greater thrift. The result
may be unpleasant for those who
profited while the people were
"splurging,' but in the long run the
effect will be salutarE
On the stock exchange prives have
recovered somewhat, and none OF the
failures expected have yet occurred
1t is generally understood, however,
that the holdings Of some Of our ex-
tended spectators have been taken
over en- bloc by bankers syndicates.
Some castles in the air may have been
demolished in the process, but no real
wealth has been destroyed, and while
the transfers involved may have a
personal interest for the persons con-
cerned and their followers, they are
otherwise without significance. One
of the most encouraging incidents Of
the week has been the sharp advance
in Liberty Bonds, reflecting as it does
the expectation Of the permanently
easier money market and early reduc-
ton in the federal reserve rate for
rediscounts.
or course there are some unfavor-
able items in the weeks news. Cot
ton and wheat have both made new
low records. Thirteen banks in North
Dakota have been closed in the last
ten DAYS, but whether their suspen-
sion is due to the unsound business
policy imposed upon the state by the
Nonpartisan League or to individuall-
Nv reckless management Is not clear
In the South the decline in cotton
and the difficulty of marketing the
long stock of low grades left over
from last season present problems
that still vex the bankers. A solu'
ton for them has not yet been found
and the genius that can devise plan
by which cotton can be exchanged
for European products that we car
use will perform a very great service
to all concerned. The textile manu-.
facturers of New England are report
ed to be considering general reduc'
ton of 20 per cent n wages, which
may, il agreed to, result in the stop
page Of some machinery, but William
NJ. Wood, president Of the American
/ Company, asserts that "it is only {
uestion of time when there will be
famine in cloth, and some people vii
have to pay much higher prices fol
immediate delivery" Mr.. Wood add
that 1t cannot be expected that eithel
the cost Of commodities or the wages
of textile operatives will ever return
to pre-war levels.