The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1921-01-07
JSINESS MOVES
IN ACIRCLE
OF FOUR ARCS
rity, Depression, Read
nent and RevivaI-We
ARE Near The Fourth
Arc
By P. H. WILLIAMS

eSIoenI savings Bank & trust Go.
that is your outlook for 1921? The
y must be the result of the obser-
ce of the economic laws which are
imperious in their working as the
of gravitation. A ball throwR into
air will ascend in spite of the force
gravitation to a certain height, but
Il be gradually overcome by the nat
al law and begin its descent. The
ne bali shot out of cannon will as
ld much further, but it too must in
IN obey the law of the universe, and
greater the ascent the greater must
the descent. Business during the
ur year period prior to last spring had
en- shot out of a 75 millimetre gun
,ded with the demands of war, de-
dction of commodities, Individual and
tional extrayagance, industrial and in
sidual ineffciency and blind optimism.
lese to-day have lost their ascending
'wer, and business under the effect of
e. economic laws is again descending
normal.
The lack of information as to the
.rtroIIing laws of business, the most
lie of them, both by Individual citi-
and political institutions, the at
1t to force prosperity by appear
ce and statutory regulations, may ap-
.rently thwart for a time the forces
at. eontre1 but IN tiire end these same
ices VIII exert their dominating pow
and leave wreckage in the pathway.
man, no nation can violate the nat
al laws of his or their being without
lffering the consequences of the day
dissipation. The attempt has caused
rsiness to travel in a circle of four
IS, prosperity, represson, readjust-
Mt and revival For the last four
rs we have been doing business in
arc of prosperity accentuated by ex-
agance, profligacy, Over-speculatlon,
lit initiation, high taxation, high
of high living, and in FOOLS para
sc to which We thought there was no
ID. The ball was shot high into the
:, the pendulum swung far to the left,
!iyiduaIs We'd with each other in spec
ative purchases, and income was dis
pated in reYelry, but last spring the
able and always existent economic for
= whose power had been spent, busi-
IS in obedience to which began to
END and we entered the arc of de-
Jon. This carried with it credit de-
ion. a slowing demand for cOmmodi-
:, closing factories, disappointments
/ consequent unemployment.
The peak of the depression in the
nonnnmiP writer's
Is been passed and we are now en-
ring the arc of readjustment whose
tthway is always marked with busl-
.ss wrecks being cleared away winch
;ually takes three to four months
nen comes the arc of revival. SO II
ouId seem that the forecast for 19zl
three or four months of re-adJust-
ent (it may be six, and the 1atter
. of the year we will be living IN the
wal arc and business will be going
\ ad toward normalcy. Not the sky
ending conditions of 1919 and part
1920. but a wise sanity will reign
.,,weyer. it might be added that the
oming of the revival will be commen-
urate with the wisdom in legislative
.uactment. the absence OF makesnnt
md superficial laws tax adm1nlstra-
ion and the confidence of sensitive
,ublic. Capital must be loosed to pro-
Iuction, and production allowed a legl-
mate profit with fair days wage to1
fair days work.
wa are ready for the revival. The
.tion is sound financially. The Danks
ave withstood the greatest credit STRAIN
n their history and are on souno
Workable basis. Credit was expanded
to meet the needs, and banks co-operateo
with nroducers and traders, liberal IL
the granting of credit as demonstrated
by the manner in which loans increased
The Federal Reserve System has beer
:, buIwark of strength to every nooh
and corner of the country, the saver
of industrial America. Had it not ex'
isted or functioned effectively, no doubt
we would before now be experiencing
panic that would twist our very Souls
nd in the presence of which all othe1
,anics OF our history rolled into one
would not have approached its severity
Facing the New Year, with wise an'
sane legislative enactments, a stead!
nerve. "a clear head, a consuming ta1tf
in your town, state and nation, implici
confidence in your fellow man, de
termination to cooperate and not tt
WELD the hammer Or the battle ak, to OF
the machinery of mechanical and menta
industry so as to eliminate friction a
every point instead of throwing sane
TO slow up the wheels of prosperity an'