Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-12-11

That he would not be surprised 20
see cotton so back to 80 cents in the
not distant future, was one of the
encouraging statements made Tues
day night by J. H. Tregoe, secretary
of the National Association of Credit
Men, in the course of an address to
the Atlanta Association of Credit
Men at their December meeting held
in the Piedmont hotel grill.
Mr.. Tregoe is one of the recog-
nized authorities on economic queS-,
tions in the United States. He is
thoroughly informed as to business
conditions in every section of the
country, as well as abroad. His ad-
dress consisted of a searching an
alysis of the causes and conditions
underlying American business for
the last five years, which culminat-
ed in the sudden defiation commence
ing a few months ago, and of re-
view of the prospect in the future.
The latter. portion of his address
was optimistic in a high degree.
There is nothing ahead to cause un..
easiness or disbursement, declared
Mr.. Tregoe. but on the contrary the
country will soon be in the midst
of a great era of prosperity and ev-
erybody will be looking back over
the present conditions and wonder
ing why they caused alarm.
With particular reference to cot
ton, Mr.. Tregoe said:
your cotton of the south-dont
be worried about it. The world must
have it. Europe is crying for it..
There are men with vision and power
who will establish the means Of
financing exports to those markets
temporarily unable to buy. I should
be glad to see it go back to 80 cents
pound, and it would not be at all
surprising to me If 1T reached that
ton, I repeat. do not be alarmed.
Be strong, cheerful and smiling"
Conditions Analysed
Analysing conditions from the out
set of the war down to date, MT
Tregoe showed that munition profits
reached their peak in 1915; iron,
steel and coal profits reached their
| mobile profits reached their peak
! in 1919; profits as a whole, taking a
general average, reached their peak
| in 1917
He showed that the corporations
of the country, Of all kinds, in the
gregate profits of 80 billion dollars. a
Staggering sum. and of this amount
| they set aside nine billions in capital
| investments. The mistake that was
made, he said was IN putting too
much Of the nine billions into fixed
assets and too little into liquid as
sets, with the result that credit was
used for capital, and consequently
there ensued an enormous imitation
of credit and currency
The armistice, Mr.. Tregoe showed
caused manufacturers. wholesalers
continuance of orders. and they
cleaned their shelves and made no
replacementS but instead of slack
ening Of orders they received an
overwhelming flood of orders and
went into the markets and bought,
find the goods, at whatever prices
they had to pay, and everything went
skyward.
Then followed, he said, terrific
orgy of extravagant spending" with
everybody obsessed by the dollar;
buying among the wholesalers and
jobbers; the latter creating a panic
Of buying among the retailers; the
latter urging the consumers on and
en- to buy at high prices,
1.-THE process of dcfation had to
to have come gradually. If inter
est rates had been advanced a year
earlier by the federal reserve board,
it might have come gradually But
the American people have a peculiar
temperament, They plunge into !ev-
They do nothing by slow degrees.
So when a New York department
store announced huge cut rate sale,
the house of cards began to tumble"
The Country Is Sound
Then followed what Mr.. Tregoe
described as " a perfect nightmare
of cancellations, in which the bust
ness conscience seemed to be gone
by the board" and the business
of the country is emerging now from
that fever and coming back to nor
NAL. In this connection he said it
was the duty of credit men to exert