Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-09-21
u. S. BETTER OFF THAN
ANY OTHER COUNTRY nv
THE WORLD, LANE SAYS

conditions Mr., Lane says: Eco
nomically the United States Is
shown to be better off than any
other country in the world. There
is no evidence of idloness. Our
people have the opportunity to
work, and are all at work.
Most Factories Are Busy.
There is no shortage of raw ma
teriHls sufficient to curtail produce
| ton, reported from many of the ME
geographical districts into which
the country was divided for the
purpose of the survey. only in the
district including Minnesota, the
Dakotas Iowa. Kansas, Nebraska
| and Wisconsin is there evidence of
lack of orders. New England in
dustries report a number of cam
cellations, but there, as elsewhere,
manufacturers are we'll filled with
| calls for their products.
Transportation conditions are
improving everywhere and a sub
stantial reduction in the freight car
shortage is reported in every dis
trict except in the Rocky mountain
states in the southwest, and in the
district including Kentucky, Ten
nessee, Alabama and Mississippi
although an Improvement is noted
| in the latter district.
"a shortage of coal and the fall
ure of labor to increase individ-
ual productivity appear to be the
only unfavorable aspects in the i'm
mediate Industrial situation. The
Rocky mountain and the Pacific
-, ftnta nj NJ
fuel All other sections of the
| country are feeling the shortage,
but it is apparently least felt by
the South Atlantic states.
Wages Have Advanced.
although labor is costing still.
more than 1t did last year. it APP
parently is producing no more.
Wages have advanced from 10 to
so per cent in the last twelve
months, and yet nowhere Is there
reported increase in productivity
per man. | am not expecting that
the cost of labor will fall off even
in the worst times to its pre-war
stage, for | believe that the real
differential between directing labor
and manual labor will never again
be as great as it has been.
so far as the distribution of la
Dor Is concerned. the situation ma
tionally appears to be well equal
lied. A shortage of labor is found
only in the middle Atlantic and
South Atlantic states, and this is
largely OF unskilled workers. In
the rest of the country the demand
and the supply appear balanced,
Only in some sections of the mid
die Atlantic states is any unem-
ployment reported, and this is In
certain of the allied trades, chiefly
the building and shipbuilding
trades.
Shortage of Houses.
"An important disclosure of the
survey is the seriousness of the
housing situation. In many of the
larger industrial centers where the
shortage has been most acute, the
investigation be disclosed building
operations to be decreasing Instead
of increasing.
The call for buildings comes
Ioudest from the most essential
places of manufacture rather than
from the retail Centers, and is for
! low priced dwellings. Building con
struction Is increasing in New Eng
land, but the bulk of the construc-
ton is of factories, warehouses and
stores New York, Pennsylvania,
and most of the other great indus
trial states of the east and middle
west show falling off in building
operations. There is improvement
in the housing situation in southern
and Pacific coast Industrial centers,
with special emphasis on the cree
ton of workmen's homes.
'1n no section Of the country did
the investigators find sentiment in
the railroads; and everywhere bet
ter transportation conditions are
reported.
agriculture is generally recog-
nized as the backbone of the coun-
try and the farming situation is eX
cellent; from no section has an un-
favorable report been received. Our
farmers appear everywhere to be
in too happy a mood to permit the
cyniCism the farmer is. always
grumbling.' They are we'll sup
piled with funds from the sale of
this years crop, out they are wise
in that they know that more favor
able marketing conditions can be
created.
1.-The recent drop in grain prices
is reported to have had no effect
except in the Rocky mountain
states. Farmers of Illinois, Indi-
ana, Michigan, Wisconsin and other
central states are Withholding
grain.
Money Reported Tight.
I'm the financial field, money Is |
tight. That may mean several
things: first, that the people want
money badly to get into producing
activities; second, that the banks
attempt to get whatever the traffic
will bear, shearing close to the
skin; third that there is an ade-
quate supply of money, or fourth,
that those who have money lack
confidence. There are other rea-
sons, no doubt, and among them
that the dollar now buys less than
heretofore. People with money
wish to charge more for the service
than money gives. No one can ac-
cufately say winch or these causes
is the most important factors, bur
probably all contributed to the pre-
sent situation.
THE Geographic reports from
every section Of the country state
that the banks are well loaned
up, although money is available in
the east and central districts at
from six to eight per cent interest.
The southwest, Rocky mountain
and Pacific states report the high
est interest rates, averaging from
eight to ten per cent. and in the
mountain district as high as II per
cent.
Spending Orgy Is Over.
There is great encouragement,
however, to be drawn from the
fact that in only one of the nine
geographical divisions, the Rocky