Evening star., 1921-05-01
LIBERTY BONDS AT A GLANCE.
realignment Of international COM
merce."

lOucneO On 10xeS.
The speaker did not recommend any
plan of taxation. admitting he had
none to suggest. but he did recall the
loss of some part of every deposit
withdrawn for tax payment and the
steady decrease in deposits follow
ing Treasury certificate issues. He
urged against taking as our standard
of guidance. the trade experiences of
the war, when our government was
providing credit facilities for our
foreign customers and every question
was subordinate to that of saving
civilization"
Near the close of his address. Mr.
said:
'1t is to you and your administra-
tion gentlemen of the administra-
ton. it is to you) that we look for
guidance, for sympathy and for the
assistance that the government can
and should render. l am happy to
be able to state to you that in our
business. with connections reaching
into every state in the Union.
and enjoying relations with many
institutions. we are daily receiving
expressions of satisfaction in the
manner in which you have set about
to solve the nations problems.
1--WE look to you with confidence
and assurance that you will lead us
high road Of new prosperity.
prosperity more solid and enduring.
To maintain the high standards OF
living to which the American people
have been raised requires the whole
hearted cooperation of the govern
ment and the people and frank
recognition of employer and worker
of each others rights and duties.
General business Conditions.
THE general situation as to trade
and industry has shown some further
Improvement during the past month,
although the fundamental difficulty,
which is the disruption Of the price
level between raw products and man
ufactured goods. is yet far from over
come" says the May circular OF the
National City Bank of New York.
According to government reports,
the level Of the principal farm prod
ucts declined Sc per cent in March.
whereas the normal movement in
March is upward. and over the last
ten years has averaged 3.4 per cent.
"On April the index figure of farm
products was 5S.3 per cent lower than
a year ago 1876 per cent lower than
two years ago and 27.6 per cent lower
than the average on April 1 Of the
past ten years. Other primary prod
ucts. such as lumber and the metals.
as yet have made no recovery. while.
on the other hand. manufactured
products. especially at retail, freight
charges and personal services gen.
orally have made no corresponding
decline.
Naturally the sale of manufac-
lures has fallen off, railway traffic
has declined and there is large
amount of unemployment A descrip-
tion of the situation is enough TO eX-
plain it. for agricultural products and
raw materials represent the purchas-
ing power of about one-half the pop
ulation.
Nevertheless. there is bound to be
more doing in the spring than in mid
winter, and the industries are going
much better than they were three
months ago. The automobile industry
naturally is stimulated by spring and
good weather. and has come back
strong. The tire industry has revived,
and one of the biggest tire com mpanies.
the Goodyear, which was in financial
as result of the sudden
falling of business in the face of big
has been successfully re-
financed and started on its way. The
tire industry is an important factor
i'm the cotton spinning industry. and
the mills that are getting busy again
on tire materials are no longer COM
netting upon other cotton fabrics.
Other outdoor activities are having
similar Stlmulat1nS eiIectS.
THE building industry is the one
that should show the greatest i'm
provement. as there is an undoubted
shortage of houses everywhere. but
building operations are held in check !
by the excessive costs. Wages are |
high in the building trades, and ma !
terials are high because of the wage |
costs in them and the high cost of
which in turn is due |
to the wage advances to railway en-
ployes. Bradstreet's report of build |
ing permits issued in 155 cities in I
March showed an aggregate of $11S,-
439. .947. as against S145.923.79 in March.
1920. Even this does not signify that all
Of the work is going forward at once
Pfggly WiEEIy Corporation.
At a dinner of parties largely in
terested in the Piggly Wiggly Corpo-
ration, held at Franklin Square Hotel
on Friday evening, plans were out
lined for the expansion of the bust
ness of the corporation through the
opening of new stores in various
sections of the country.
The sale of stock. common and pre-
ferred, was intrusted to Charles r..
Ilasser & Co.. investment bankers OF
New York and Washington. J.