The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1920-10-07


READJUSTMENT IN BUSINESS
CAUSE FOR CONCENTRATION
II Corrective Processes in Trade Had
Not Set In, Upshot Could Only
Have Been Disaster. Says Writer In
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
A young woman began to grow abb
normally fat. She didn't have to ex-
ert herself to earn her living, and
the fatter she grew the lazier she be-
came. She began to have trouble with
her health. The symptoms became
alarming. The doctors told her that
il she kept on gorging herself with
rich foods and sweets and didn't
buckle down to rigid exercise sh,
must expect to suffer grave col
lapse. At first she thought doctors
were needlessly alarmed and she re
fused to mend her ways. Finally,
however, she realized that If she went
on her gluttonous, lazy way the trou-
bles she was then experiencing would
doubtless lead to disaster.
So she began to consume less rich
food and candy and put forth some
effort to get back toward normal
form. Having become accustomed to
luxury and ease, the dieting and ex-
ercising processes were distinctly un-
pleasant to her. She complained
much, but the doctors assured her
that her self-denial and painful sweat
ing were improving her condition
most encouragingly.
That young woman typines busi-
ness.
Business was gorging itself with
rich profits and consuming inordinate
quantities of credit. 1t did not have
to exert itself strenuously because
things came its way easily. The only
competition was the competition OF
buyers to get goods.
Unnatural conditions were thus
brought about. The financial doctors
clearly foresaw that disaster lay
ahead unless business stopped gorg-
ing itself with excessive profits and
experienced the healthful exercise
bred of real competition. They CO.
cordingly reduced the amount OF
food-credit-supplied business, and
1t became little more necessary to
put forth exertion to earn a living.
Corrective Processes Cause OF Con-
graduation.
The corrective processes are now
i'll full force. Instead of causing
alarm, they are cause for congratula-
tion, because if they had not set in
the ups could only have been dis
aster.
What is happening now OUGHT to
happen.
Almost every recent development
makes for strength.
There was grave cause for alarm
BEFORE prices began to move down.
ward.
There Is no grave cause for alarm
now.
OF course, it isn't pleasant to be
put on a diet and to have to reduce.
Medicine rarely tastes sweet. Indus
try is beginning to feel somewhat
hungry and financial doctors have
been and are prescribing rather bitter
doses of medicine. Instead OF
chase on the part of buyers for goods
there is now chase for business.
What, specifically, has been hap
pening and what is the outlook for
further developments?
Broadly, finished products are fail
ing, in most cases, very substantlal
declines in raw materials. Obviously,
this is as it should be-even although
1t may be difficult for those directly
affected by tumbliIg prices to recog-
nize that this is desirable. Certainly
no reader of these business surveys
will have been surprised at what Is
now occurring, for both the necessity
and the inevitably Of falling prices
have been emphasized over and over
again.
1t took no prescience to foresee,
first, that credit expansion would have
to be severely checked, and that this,
in turn. would check the rampant spec
ulation and force goods on the market.
Moreover, it became clearly evident
months ago that the public was in
ccnsed over extortionate prices and
that reckless buying was diminishing.
Wide Variety of Commododities in
Downward Swing.
Raw materials were the first to
break. Wool tumbled headlong. Silk
dropped even further. Rubber fell to
one-third Of its previous price. Leath-
Ell became unstable. Cotton persist
ed IN bucking the general trend and
in July rose we'll above forty cents
pound, but it also has since been
declining sharply and December de-
liveries are now quoted under twenty
four cents pound. A wide variety
of miscellaneous materials and COM
moditles have for months been grav-
itating away from their wartime
levels, including, for illustration,
cottonseed oil, lard, meats, many
chemicals, coffee, sugar, lumber,
coke and even coal in bulk. Wheat
is down to $225 bushel. Decem-
ber corn has fallen below 81 a