The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-05-16
BY THEODORE III. PRICE,
Editor Commerce and Finance,
New York

New York
Copyright, Theodore III. Price Publish-
ing Corp, is Exchange Place.
New York
New York, May Especially -This
is written at San Antonio Tex, where
/ have been the guest of the Texas
uF8ankers association at its annual meet
ting On my way here 1 stopped for a
yday or more. in Chicago, Cincinnati,
, Memphis and Dallas. In each of these
cities I talked with number of prom
inent business men and l have thought
that what learned from them, plus the
information gained from the 1900
bankers gathered at San Antonio, would
be of more value to the readers of this
letter than the summary of the weeks
news that I usually send from New
York, where, however observant one
may be- he is necessarily isolated and
out of touch with the real feeling of
the country except as it'll may be vicari-
ously sensed through the newspapers.
First of all, am glad to report de-
cided revival Of hope and |confidence in
the sections l have traversed. Both the
business men and the farmers talk less
about the past and more about the flu
ture. Losses have been accepted,
charged off and forgotten, and as they
fade from memory constructive effort
is being directed toward new projects.
Among the bankers there is still
more or less concern expressed over
the frozen loans" that they have had
to carry, but it is admitted that some
Of these loans are being thawed out by
the warmth of the easier money market
and even in the cotton producing re-
gion, where the distress has been most
acute, the situation is now regarded
with tho philosophy that begets cheer
I fulness. AS an amusing Illustration of
.tne psychological effect that the ability
20 borrow has upon the public mind, !
may mention that in the dining car of
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas rail-
road. on my way to San Antonio, re-
marked to the steward that travel
seemed to be very light. Yes" he
answered, 1T has been, but ! expect
that it will soon pick, up, for under
stand that the federal reserve bank is
now loaning money again
DEUS Elk MACHINAs
The federal reserve bank is, in fact.
rapidly coming to be regarded as the
deus ex machina of business in this
part of the world, and its power for
good or evil il dangerously exagger-
ated.
In Chicago the larger merchants are
very thoroughly liquidated. Many OF
them are carrying big bank balances
and owe little or nothing They are,
therefore, in good shape to meet any
strain that may be incidental to the
harvest season and the men in the grain
trade say that this years crop will have
been produced at a very low cost. In
Cincinanti. which is now a very i'm
portant industrial center, manufactur-
ers admit that there is still some unem-
ployment. but they report that they are
daily putting more hands at work as
the demand for their product improves,
n Akron, Dayton and Youngstown
6ere are, however, we'll defined areas
Of depression still to be discerned. This
lis due to the slackness of the rubber
and steel industries and to the higher
freight rates. which are a serious handi-
cap to manufacturers in shipping to
the eastern markets. The high freight
rates are, in fact, generally complained
of, and in the valley OF the Rio Grande,
in Texas near Brownsville, where
truck farming on irrigated lands has
become highly developed industry,
many farmers have abandoned their,
crops because the cost of shipping them
to st. Louis and the larger cities OF the
central west is now prohibitive
In Memphis a large stock of cotton.
much of it low grade, is being carried
over in the hope that an advance in the
market will give the owners an oppor-
tunity 20 sell 1T at better prices than
are now obtainable. Elsewhere. the
qauntity of low grade cotton held is
much smaller than it was and better
demand for it is generally reported. 1t
is undoubtedly cheap at the discounts
ON middling. at which 1t can be bought.
EXPERT DEMAND
Germany's acceptance of the repara-
tions demands has aroused expectations
of q decided revival in the export de-
mand for cotton. The power Of the war
finance corporation, however, to aid in
: fnancing cotton exports has probably
been exaggerated. The reduction in
acreage II variously estimated at from
10 to 9S per cent. One large farmer
cautioned me not to expect more than
IL per cent reduction. but added that the