davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

vision ought to envisage not only bank
executives and business men, but also
the most humble worker in the small
isolated mills. Frank A. Narderiip
flashes 10 mind as the type that gives
reality to this formula.
Bankers have not been specula..ng
much as TO who the new members OF
the Federal Reserve Board are likely
10 be. But. when questioned on the
subjec they are not loath 10 make
nominations. Among the men men,
toned informally by bankers as ros-
sibly eligible are the following:
A. Barton Hepburn. chairman OF the
advisory board OF the Chase National
Bank and New York representative
OF the Federal advisory board: Otto I.
Barnard, chairman OF the New York
Trust Company; former Senator Theo-
dore 4. Burton, who was recently
elected Representative from Ohio and
was formerly president Of the Mer
chants National Bank Of New York
which recently was merged with the
Bank OF Manhattan Company; General
Charles e. Dawes. the Chicago financ.er
and officer in the A. L. F, whom Tres-
ident Harding. Il was reported, was
on the point Of naming for the Sec
reta 'yship of the Treasury, and Henry
P. Dawson. 2 partner of j. P. Morgan
q 20 dNI GNiSI executive Ul lic
American Red Cross during the war.
The grouping Of these names will ap-
pea bizarre 10 some, but they are
the suggestions that came from the
lips Of competent bankers
Mr.. Mellon, although he has been
director in fifty banking and Industrial
concerns, Is not Intimately known hy
most of the New York bankers. HIS
friends. however, insist that he is q
man Of marked ability. and win make
the best Secretary Of the Treasury
within memory o. most living men
Since he has Stunned personal public
ity, the public knows little about his
views or IDEAS His admirers speak
Of HIM as an exceedingly modest man.
a brilliant executive, and leader who
feels most a. home when making de-
cisions involving huge sums Of money
In private life, he picked subordinate
executives Tor important places, and
left them almost completely alone
judging only by results. The men h.
appointed, 1t Is said. felt as free 10
go ahead on their own initiative as
men conducting their own businesses.
1t wlil be interesting to observe
whether he carries TINS habit into pub
lie life, which his intlmates regard as
the crowning achievement OF a busy
and, certainly from 4 material stand
point, a successful life. Only the honor
attaching TO public service, mis- friends
say actuated Mr.. Mellon IN for the
first time accepting d governmental of
flee. Many Of those who believe that
Nh Mellon Is man Of large capaci-
ties think il would be unwise FOR Rep
resentative McFadden to push his pro
posal to remove the Secretary from
the Reserve Board. Regardless of the
merits OF the present incumbent, there
seems to be good reason for keeping
link between public and private
finance, such as the presence of the
Secretary on the board makes But the
Reserve Board, consisting Of major
! ity OF men not associated with the
Treasury. ought TO be Independent in
making its decisions, and not a mere
! adjunct OF the Treasury Department
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

highest capacities to step from the
counting room, the factory or the uni
verSlty lecture rooms to the meeting
place of the Reserve board in the
Treasury Building a. Washington he
will quickly strengthen the power of
the board to draw talented men to it's
membership
The Federal reserve act was written
on the theory that every able Judge Of
financial matters does not have a New
York address. In the phras eology of
the law it is pointed out that In Sc
lecting the five appointive members of
the Federal Reserve Board, not more
than one OF whom shall be selected
from any one Federal Reserve district,
the President shall have due regard to
q fair representation Of the different
commercial, industrial and geograph-
lcal divisions o. the country"
Of course, there is much to be said
for the politics Of getting members
from various parts of the country, but
the Reserve board IS supposed to be a
non-political body. On the ether hand,
it must be recognized that to be Ell
fective the Federal keserve Board must
have a maximum degree of public con-
tidence. II all the members were Wall
Street bankers they might conceivably
register higher marks in a Binet test
Of their Intelligence, but much would
be lost because Of the prejudice in
other sections OF the country against
Wall Street control. Government su-
pervision of banking helps the banks
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

No one can answer the question with
certainty, although reasonably reliable
conclusions may be arrived at from an
examination of the handicaps we labor
under and the advantages we possess
as producers, manufacturers and dis
tributors Of finished cotton products.
When the necessities Of war cut off
the usual sources of supply in Europe
the buying. non -belligerent markets Of
tie world were compelled to turn to the
United States as the only free source
Of supply. As, year by year. the yard
age of our exports grew. doleful proph
ecies were heard that though the fig
ures were going up like a rocket, they
would come down like stick as soon
as the fighting ceased. Nit force s.
mas not yet come true. Whethorit 1t Will
or not depends almost altogether upon
cur competitive efficiency. in terms Of
unit OF product, in { j capital charges,
y cost Of raw material and supp ies
(3) other overhead costs, (4) wages,
90 distribution, (6) suitability Of our
products. And in lesser 1egree to
the government attitude toward inter
national trade
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

materials ard he other supplies
needed in their manipulation.
England has an advantage over New
England and the South in her Liver
pool cotton market. There every kind
OF cotton known to the industry il
available, this enables the spinner al
ways TO get Just the kind OF mixing
needed for any desired quality Of out
put, while on the other hand he il
often able to maintain his quality ard
reduce costs by mixing growths Of two
or more countries.
In q word, Lancashire has the
worlds cotton offered to her on ono
counter. The individual spinner. with
in an hours journey of his miii. can
comb the world to find Just what he
needs. We cannot Even for American
growths we mostly depend on the cot
ton merchants who visit the mills.
carrying what are by comparison sam
pies Of peddler's stock. Vast sums
are also thrown away year after year.
particularly by Southern mill man.
ayers, by neglect of the intrinsic value
OF different grades of raw eottoa
grades FAR too good for the uses 70
which they are put, being commonly
used.
In brief, the expertness, discrimi-
mating skill and care with which the
English spinner selects his cotton is in
striking contrast to the carelessness
with which many Of their Americas
brethren make their purchases.
As 20 freight rates, England and New
England are on par n normal times.
while the widely advertised advantage
OF having the cotton mill in the cotton
fields is mostly visionary Many
Southern mills pay more freight on the
Southern grown cotton they use than
the Englishman pays for similar cot
ton delivered into the mill warehouses.
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

material such as obtained in the years
before the war. The justice of those
views was proved by what took place
at Memphis some weeks ago-but | would
here say that | hope, for the good of
the world, that such a proposal as that
to reduce cotton acreage by so per cent
Will not be carried any further.
That might result in a repetition OF
what took place in the years following
the outbreak Of war 1t must be borne
in mind that present conditions are far
, from normal and these conditions can
not continue unless the world is to
reduce it's standard of comfort SO far
as clothing is concerned In the dec
ade before the war the cotton spindles
of the world were increasing at the
rate of 100000 per annum-indeed,
this increase was altogether consider
ably in excess of the raw material
available and the labor to run the
mills-and sooner or later this condi-
tion viii obtain again.
II cannot be wondered at that with
the encouragement Of high prices and
greatly reduced consumption owing to
the stoppage of many millions of spin
dies and the reduced working hours
practically all over the world there
should be temporary oversupply
of the raw material. Just as the spin
ner who agitates for his raw material
at too cheap a price fails to see the in
terdependence of his own industry and
that OF the grower, so the planter who
holds for extreme prices or turns of
his lands <rom cotton at critical times
fails to realize the same truth from
the opposite angle.
The ideal method to be adopted now
is that which | advocated at the At
ianta Cotton Conference in 19O7-vlz..
TO put in operation the proposal
(which | subsequently made at the
outbreak of war; TO create reserve
of cotton. commodity which, if
properly packed and stored, can be
kept for years without deterioration.
reserve would thus be available in
the event of a failure Of the crop or
other contingency.
So far have dealt only with the
interdependence of the various sec
tions Of great international industry.
The same unbreakable links exist be-
tween all industries, however diverse.
Dislocate the cotton industry of Ian
cashire and you damage innumeraole
iuterests-those OF the cotton growers
in America, India and Egypt, the trans
port systems, the machine makers and
so forth, the commercial interests con-
ase.sl with the distribution Of the raw
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06
To Standardize Costs

Efforts Of the International Associa-
ton Of Garment Manufacturers to
standardize costs among its members
are attracting much attention, not only
inside the organization, but among out
side garment and clothing producers
and other industries. Numerous IN
quiries on the progress OF the work
and asking for details have been re-
ceived by A. F. Allison, secretary Of
the association. One group OF Con-
necticut manufacturs has signified its
willingness to cooperate with the asso-
citation, and the subject also is being
taken up by the Canadian Association
of Garment Manufacturers.
Last week another regional cost
council was established in Minneapolis
by the association. About twenty gar
rnent manufacturers in Minneapolis, ST.
Paul and vicinity joined the council as
charter members
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

One Of the great universal truths,
which l have preached III season and
out OF season in my national and in
ternstional work for the cotton indus
try, s that of the interdependence Of
nations and industries. | may best
illustrate this by taking an example
from an industry common to the
United States and Britain-the cotton
industry. My own practice has always
been to view this industry as a whole
from the growing of the plant to the
marketing Of the finished fabric. For
convenience it is split up into several
separate industries-the planting,
spinning and the manufacturing indus
sfles. Any one ought to be able to see
now absolutely interdependent these
industries are, and that if harm Is
done TO planting, or to spinning or
manufacturing harm is done to all OF
Saem. But this is precisely what peo-
pie do not see.
Only recently, when middling Ameri-
:An cotton on the American markets
,sll TO less than Sd. pound, Eng
.ish money, had to take a stand here
on the lines that such price. however
'empsing it might look to our buyers
u the raw material, was bad thing
a the long run for British as we'll as
american interests.
| have constantly pointed out in
articles which I have contributed to
me IN press Of England and the United
states that the cost of labor in the
cotton fields has been raised in much
.ae same way as labor in the cotton
mills IN America and England, and all
.ne other factors which enter into the
e0st Of production both in growing and
manufacturing cotton have been i'm
hensely increased. so that Sd. q pound
nov "a not equal to the price. 4d. to
snich cotton fell in 1914, involving
saen every one engaged in the growing
~ ~ we'll rs in the manufacturing and
.~srlbuting in enormous losses, and
ssoasend that these losses might have
osen averted by proper management
supported by the cooperation Of the
sovernments Interested
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

will be privileged to make new So.
iections, for Mr.. McFaddens measure
provides for keeping the total mem.
bership of the board at seven.
1t is not mere automatic matter in
connection with changing administra-
tions, for the complexion Of the Re-
serve Board may alter almost i'm
mediately after the new Chief Execu~
tive has been introduced to his duties.
Under the terms of the Federal Re-
serve act appointees to the Reserve
Board will hold Office longer than the
PRESIDENT. Since in theory the board
Is 10 De isolated from the influences
OF politics 1t IS designed to be CON
tlnulng body, running through the
years without regard to the incomings
and outgoings of tenants at the White
House. The reserve act provides re-
garding tenure of Office Of members Of
the board: Zone shall be designated bv
ehe president to serve for two, one
Tor tour, one for six, one for eight
and one for ten years, and thereafter
each member shall serve for tern,
OF ten years unless sooner removed
for cause by the President" When
members resign new appointments are
made TO fill the unexpired terms.
Governor Harding's term expires on
August %, 1929; that of Edmund Platt,
vice-g governor, runs until October 26
1928; that Of c. S. Hamlin, to August
9, 1925, and that of A. c. Miller, August
8, 1924. Of the present incumbents
on the board, out Of which the ma
tion's banking policy emerges. onlv
Mr.. Platt and Mr.. Hamlin have terms
which extend beyond the span of the
present Administration
In picking new men, what standards
shall guide President Handing?
OF course, he has not commissioned
US to answer this question for him,
but one Of the penalties OF the Pves-
dency Is this incessant likelihood of
being drawn into the picture when
rhetorical queries are raised.
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06
America Faces Problem of Holding
Position as Cotton Goods Exporter

molders CT the latter plant walked out,
but returned to work again Wednesday.
The blast furnaces made u 20 per
cent cut.
That the policy OF mo reduction in
wages" ia to be maintained by the
Steel Corporation is indicated by the
fact that employees themselves re-
quested that they be put on eight-hour
turns aud we're refused, in the Sharon
Farrell district. Had this course been
accepted by the corporation, it virtual
ly meant q reduction The employees
figured it was either q case Of working
part time or being laid off altogether.
Further signs Of curtailment in op
Grafton by Steel Corporation mills con-
tinue to appear. Two blast furnaces
in the Homestead battery OF the Car
negie Steel Company are now idle, as
we'll as two in the battery of the Du
quesne works, one in Youngstown, one
in New Castle and one in Sharon. OPP
erations Of the Corporation mills are
generally on q ive-day week basis, in
stead Of the customary six-day week,
and some Of the smaller units are
either closed entirely or operating on,
three day and four-day schedules.
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06
Prerentiy,g Strikes

(a) Strikes and lockouts can only
be made impossible by a recognition
OF the workers new status.
(b) There should be in every coun-
try an industrial council along the
lines of that which the British gov
crnment adopted in 1911 on my ad-
Vocacy, consisting of an equal repre-
sentation of capital and labor. all
members of the council being n con-
trolling positions in great industries
or great trade unions. The duty of
this council should include that of
preventing disputes by prompt hand
ling Of new situations
D Unemployment should be
charge on industry. Since the
war 1t has become apparent that this
tact has to be recognized as q cardi-
nal one IN the new economic era
3-"ages and cost of living can be
coordinated by proper agree
ments. | had seen this before the
war and by the scheme for the regu-
atlon OF wages which | introduced
into the spinning section CT the cot
ton industry had anticipated by sew
eral years what the British govern
ment has now done in several Of its
departments. Since the war it has
become apparent that the thing can
NC uouc Win almost oclenllnc &C
curacy.
Wages and conditions Of work in all
countries should be so adjusted that
unfair competition. through advantage
being taken of the workers, should be
avoided. Then as regards taxation:
This should also be equalized so far
as possible, and all countries that have
adopted the Excess Profits Duty should
follow the lead of England and abolish
e tax which has been unfair in its in
cidence, great handicap on industry
generally, and has undoubtedly had
the effect Of sitting enterprise.
If these three points are borne IN
mind we shall get 8 satisfied worker
whose interests will urge him to main
tain the welfare Of mis- industry; we
shall no more have the tragic specta-
Gle Of man willing to work unable to
earn bread: and we shall have the ra-
ito between expenses and income sta
billzed on just basis. Then, if gov
ernments foster industry, help it 20
develop its resources and TO discover
and develop new ones, we shall have a
real industrial prosperity such as the
world has never known.
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

the right Of the worker to greater
say In industry, for, at the bottom of
Bolshevisrl, is the fact of tyranny bv
the people who WELD power.
But Russia's internal politics are
a Russian affair, and have never i'd
vocated military action against Rus
sla because Of Bolshevism. Nor DO
advocate a conspiracy against Rus
sla IN the matter of international
trade. If guarantees are to be had.
and # the trader can be assured Of
his payments, I believe we ought TO
trade with Russia, for Europe can
never be economically healthy while
Russia is out OF the fold.
If these things are embodied in tn
policy of world statesmanship thinl
we can leave the exchanges TO tax,
care of themselves. They would ther
lefect health. instead Of disease.
What | have said so far belongs :,
The realm of economic state smanshir
1t involves the recognition of the uni
versal truths Of which spoke in open
ing this article. I will now toucl
briefly upon the new economic princi
pies Xhich / said had come into recor
milton with the close of the war. Il
the main they belong to the domain O
.nuustrlal control. They must be bull
into the structure of industrial policy
| viii set them out in the order i!
which think they naturally arise:
The workers in our industries
have won the right TO a higher
standard Of living, shorter working
day and share in control. ! have
made known my views tina: they
should be given advances of wages
W a 10
them for the higher cost Of living, in
the form of a monetary interest in
industry, carrying with it share in
control
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06
Ban orr Egyptian Cotton

Somewhere about 90 TO 25 per cent
OF the cotton used by English mills is
Egyptian. This costs them apprecia-
My less than our spinners have to pay.
since much Of this growth of fiber used
in our lis is first shipped TO England
and reexported. As we propose to put
heavy import duty on Egyptian raw
cotton, we may as we'll say goodby TO
" whateve~ tr de we hav" hni up abroad
in fabrics made from this growth
And that the recital of these small
advantages may not be brushed aside
with American impatience at trivialt-
ties, we may remember that Manches
ter has spent over 500 600 900 IN build
ing snip canal 30 the sea Just be-
cause Liverpool and the railroads per-
sisted in imposing restrictions on the
trade. which were small enough wasr
tcsntinusd page t~ssvs,
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

group which sounds the keynote of the
nations banking policy. Seven men,
drawn to Washington from various
parts Of the country, are called upon
not only to supervise the twelve Fed
eral Reserve Banks, which are central
reservoirs of credit, but also the great
democracy of member banks, which rep
resent more than three-quarters of the
banking resources of the forty-cight
states. The personality, the power Of
decision, the economic training and
prejudices-if you wilI--of these seven
individuals have q very definite rela-
tion to the dividends paid by faraway
industrial corporations and to the full
ness Of the dinner nails Of workers in
the giant plants of industry and Of
farm hands in the field.
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

the wisdom Of knitting the credit ele-
ments of the nation into one co0rd-
mated system. Particularism and an
archy in banking, in which each in
stltution goes its own way and the
devil takes the hindmost, are unlikely
again to appeal TO the people, who have
since 1914 found freshness and vitality
III the bromide ''In unity there is
strength" when applied to the field Of
banking.
Though the idea behind centralized
banking system has commended itself
TO competent judges, the details Of the
policy OF the Reserve board up to the
present and the technique of operation
are not beyond the real Of criticism. 1t
Is likely that the next Congress will
suggest amendments to the law.
In making his appointments to the
board Mr.. Harding will have as prece-
dents only the choices Of Woodrow
Wilson. Mr.. Wilson's appointments to
the Federal Reserve Board were of
unequal merit. Not simply because
they came from New York, but because
Of their recognized ability in banking
IN its broadest sense, Paul NJ Warburg,
who sat on the first board, and Albert
Strauss, who succeeded him, took ofice
with more appreciation in the financial
''SAAN A4AoS VIC OtIcl dppOlUlccS. IN
der the act only two Of the five regu-
lar members of the Reserve board need
be experienced in banking or finance.
OF the present five members, includ-
ing Mr.. Wills, Mr., Harding was q
banker in Birmingham, Mr.. Platt
newspaper editor and Congressman,
Mr.. Hamlin an attorney, DR.. Miller a
professor of economics and commerce
at the University Of California, and
Mr.. Wills was Federal Reserve agent
and chairman OF the Reserve Bank at
Cleveland and was formerly engaged
in national banking at Pittsburgh.
In view of President Hardngs ex-
pressed prediction for best minds"
observers expect the selection of men
OF first rate ability for the Federal Re
serve Board. If $4,000 man is re-
quired to preside over single metro
politan bank man of no fewer gifts
is needed for membership in the small
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06
Need to Heighten Prestige

Unfortunately the Reserve board
has not yet attained quite the prestige
it deserves. Bankers who might make
good members assert that they would
turn down an offer. because neither
money nor glory attaches to the job"
When Mr.. Strauss resigned it was re-
ported that the place was offered in
vain to several New York tinanciers.
The salary is only $4,000 a year, but
the honor associated with the place
should be beyond the boundaries meas
ured in the coin Of the realm. If Presi
dent Harding can induce men of fhe
New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

The whole question OF whether four
.-or O majority OF the members OF the
rev Reserve board-will be Harding
appointees IN the near future turn on
.he success Of private financial ven
,ure The Foreign Trade Financing
Corporation, which is the product of
bankers associated with the American
Bankers Association, is now in the
process of formation, and has offered
the presidency to ". P. G.. Harding.
governor ot the Federal Reserve Board.
The conditions OF the offer and the ten
ts.ive acceptance were somewhat un-
usual. It is understood that Mr.. Har-
ding expressed his willingness to head
this nav enterprise when and if it is
organized At present the committee
on organization is seeking to induce
banks and individuals TO subscribe TO
sl00,oo0,000 of capital stock of the cor
porstion, which was called into being
under the terms Of the Edge act for
the purpose OF more effectively fnanc-
ing the export of American goods TO
all parts Of the world. The public has
not yet been teld how much stock has
been taken, but the enthusiasm, as
measured by subscriptions, was not
as moving as the sponsors Of the or
gsnization had anticipated Yet there
is no thought Of abandoning the project.