Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1920-12-15
PANHANDLE BUSINESS MEN VERY
OPTIMISTIC; CONDITIONS ARE TO
BE BETTER IN MONTHS TO COME
Q,y JOHN PAGE.)

Vornhle an could he wished. are better
than In most other sections ~ the INIT.
al States, and the outlook In by no
means depressing. This IN the conscn.
sus II opinion held by various bankers.
retailers and grain dealers interviewed
during the past week The country wide
depression In Rll lines ~ industry has
not left the Panhandle untouched. by
ANY means: retailers report slackcn.
ing ~ demand for goods and diapusl.
ton ON IN" part ~ the public To- await
still further reductions In prices before
purchasing more than the needs of the
moment nocessitatc and 10 await also.
the drastic drop In the price ~ raw ma.
terials Ia reflect itself in the finished
products This waiting attitude on the
part Of the buying public In country
wide, and seems to be- less pronounced
IN Amarillo territory than In other sec.
lions
Business men and bankers IN this ter.
ritory. however. while they admit q
temporary depression In the Panhandle
are optimistic In their forecasts for the
future. Amarillo. In particular" ~ a
prominent merchant pointed out ycstcr.
day has little 10 fear In the way ~ an
industrial depression. The Fort Worth
and Denver ~ about to commence work
on mn expansion ~ ita trackagc and
shop facilities which viii involve an IN.
penditure ~ two hundred thousand dil.
lars and the employment ~ many men
during IN" process and aftcrward There
In an excellent prospect too ~ securing
the 'meli"r regarding which there has
been ~ much talk during the last few
weeks This smcltcr. II secured. viii
employ In the ncighhorhood II "a thou.
sand men, and that will mean an In.
crease In the hLving power ~ the rcH'.
dents ~ the city and viii mean that The
retail trade must II necessity SHOW
about a thirty.thrcc per cent increase
within the next eighteen months. In
addition Ia the improvements ALREADY
mentioned" he continued. I'VE have ~,
cry hope of commencing work un u co
liscum In the early spring IN cost $3.50
900. This will mean the employment oi
another large force ~ workmen fol
some Months, So I do not think that
Amarillo need fear nm industrial dcpres
sion, on the contrary | think tina, thing.
are going 10 loom here as they have moi
done for several years"
J, \. Beaslcy. the grain dealer. when
interviewed regarding the pnnhandl,
outlook stated times were apparently
going to be- u bi, hard here as clsewhcr,
Ter while because 81 the fact that
farmers were being forced a. sell then
produce at less than the cost IL pro
duc'ior. and that" he continued ~
an unhealthy condition. Grains of al
sorts are In a depressed state not De-
cause they should be ~. but because nj
the unsettled conditions cverywhcr,
prevalent Capitalists and investors az,
laying low And waiting for condition.
to become stabilized and there IL d
marked tendency 10 refrain from pur
chasing grains at the present time even
though the available supply IN ih'
country II very much less than was tn
case one year ago. Take Chicago. To-
instance one year ago there was more
than sixteen million bushels II wheat In
storage while today there In less than
ono million. $50. 900 bushels. To be- exact
In Kansas city. year ago there were
i4l99.oo0 bushels and today only
2.6000O0 Similar proportions obtain In
other wheat ccntcrs of the country AMI
were the financial conditions normal
the wheat market would of necessity De-
strong. The prices have recovered
somewhat from their drop oi last week
on saturday the price Tor export whon,
delivered nj Galveston was sl.Nj -,
Monday II rose tn siSS, and to-day IN"
liali.BaFer hid II si.9i Tuesdays clos
ingl
After the inventories at the new year
have been taken | look Tor mills and
warehouses Ia resume purchasing ~
heavy quantities and consequent price
revival In the meantime q still further
depression would not surprise m,.
There IL one thing that cannot un'
derriand." Mr. Bcasley remarked. with
emphasis. ard that Is. why doesn't the
price ~ brad f,ll In proportion with
he fall IN the price ~ flour During
h. war we were paying twenty cents a
leaf for bread. We are still paying
twenty cents FOR the same kind ~
bread and the same size laf. while flour
n more than five dollars a barrel cheap.
cr row than during the war Flour IL
nov quoted a; from $3.50 o. 100 per
hill for the hest grade. and should 81.
at s?7i fnr = forty.cight pound slcl
II Is selling az s3.6i. The farmer ~
getting hut little more than half what
he used to get Tor his wheat, the whole.
sller II getting about two-thirds what
h. used to get for his flour and the con.
sumner II paving the same nd twcnt"
cents loaf for his bread The hil,
Ward and the schultz bakeries In Nov
York City recently reduced the price ~
bread to the retailer To- min" and hall
cents cannot see why. here IN Anna
rillo right next door to one of the his
gcst wheat raising regions In the world
We shnld continue having to l0y wal
time prices Ter our bread ] would not
object Ia II II the farmer was g~,ting
his share. hut all the world knows that
the farmer II getting less for the wheat
that goes into that high priced hica,
than u costs him to raise q. There u
no eouity In such conditions and the,