The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-10
PROSPERITY COMES AFTER WORK, NOT BY CONF ERE NCES
Price Says Conventions Fail to Inspire Personal Ef- fortS--IdIe Confer
 ence Failure
By THEODORE II. PRICE


 Editor Commerce and Finance, New York. Copyright, Theodore II. Price Publishing
 Corroration, l6 Exchange Place, New
 York;.
 New York. October 10,--It Is possi- ble that a mistaken complacency may be induced by the prophecies of pros perity which are to be heard all the way across the continent from Los Angeles, where the American Bank CTS association is in session, to New York, where the American Manufac- turers' Export association has been holding It's annual convention. We can be prosperous if we work, but there is grave doubt whether confer ences and conventions really inspire much personal effort. and there is reason to fear that they may lead us to forget that the. Lord helps him who helps himself"
 Of the unemployment conference at Washington it Is said that 1t has ended where 1t began" It has dis covered that unemployment is local problem and has recommended that it be dealt with accordingly. Of the disarmament congress to be held next month much Is expected. Our ex- pectations wlll probably be disap- pointed, for no preliminary meeting of minds between the conferees is discoverable.
 Of the United States Congress now in session much the same statement is true, for although 1t Is described Ws almost hysterical over tn etax bill, there is no indication that 1t Is any where near agreement as to which of the many plans advocated 1t will adopt As to tho tariff bill. 1t seems Indefinitely shelved and a ratifica- tion of the peace treaty with Ger many Is also debatable in more senses than one.
 But despite human mismanage- ment and lack of coordination, there is abundant evidence that the machin- cry of American industry and com merce has readjusted itself to the re- auirements of world at peace. It is, however, possible that the ignis fatuis of high prices will lead us into the slough of under production and this Is the only danger In the present situation.
 Canned Goods Hold Up
 With the single exception of canned goods, no acute scarcity is as yet ap- parent in any important staple, but in several quarters shortage is quite possible before the winter is over. New England Is commencing to real fze that her reviving industries have an insufficient supply of bituminous coal. Copper is advancing because the off-take has exceeded the produc- tion for several months past The same thing is true of lead and tin. The steel industry Is picking up be- cause so many mills were idle during the summer that there is no unsold rxr <>f growing firmer day by day as the trade commences to realize that a coffee famine may be the result of the reduction in the coffee acreage or dered by the Brazilian government year or more ago. Petroleum is up from 25 to 50 cents barrel. Dry goods are advancing, though reluc- tantly. as the implications of the short cotton crop become better understood.
 The alternative of very high prices for all these things Is reduced con sumption. and while the producers are entitled to a living profit for their toll and risk it would he we'll for them and their employees to re- member that In the long run their prosperity and that of the country is directly dependent upon the magni- tude of both production and con- sumption.
 Grain Makes Decline
 Wheat. corn and oats are almost the only important staples that have declined during the week. They have been conspicuously weak. Just why ts not clear. A worlds wheat crop, 163,o00,000 bushels in excess of last year and Canadian competition in the export trade are among the reasons assigned for the drop in the Ameri- can markets, but neither Is entirely satisfyDg. The collapse of the far mers organization for the co-opera- tive marketing of the crop Is another of the explanations offered, but as there Is no doubt that the producers could hold if they wished to the truth, Y Xprobably is that present prices yield them a small though unadmitted profit. A reduction in the purchasing power of the west is nevertheless to be expected as result of the decline.
 Aside from the decline In grain, the most striking feature of the week is the advance in Liberty bonds. which is almost sensational when the amount outstanding Is considered. On Thursday last the Fourth 4As went l up over 75 points. The improvement 4.