Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-03-07
IMPROVEMENT IN GENERAL
CONDITIONS VERY SLOW
Moro Noticeable in New England,
. Where Textile Industries Show
Signs OF Revival.
AUToMoTIvE FIELD HOPEFUL
These Were First to Feel Effect Of
Drhntion and, Naturally, Arc In
pectcd to he the First To Re-
cover.
ny WALTER Il. nitOwN.
I:ditnr New York Commercial.

NEW YORK. March 6.-lmprovc-
ment in general business conditions
IS slow 1t seems 10 bc more notice
:,hle in New England. whore the tex
st.ie industries are showing more
signs Of revival and in the automo-
tive field, whore there is some on
ness. These were the first 10 feel
The effect OF denat;on and should
,aturally be the frs: to recover.
Il is not for lack Of money thai.
the people arc not buying. because
savings bank dcpnsi;s have not been
seriously dcpletcd. on the contrary
'jn many localities they have in
creased |; IS because the public Is
rot ms yet satisfied with the stabN-
ity OF prices There IS however. an
immcnsc potential demand that is
bound 10 break through soon for all
manufactured goods.
Stocks on hard have been greatly
reduced and III very many cases 70 a
point where repl.Hishmcnt is .hso-
luteiy necessary. The problem OF
Industrial depression is coming to
toe moro clearly understood from a
WI lN stsilf'I''-ai-' h'lh 'NA '4i'.''A'N -
TO solve +, Independently is quite
manifest. None OF the artificial RENE
dies thus far produced have had any
effect. and it will no; be unit! We
treat i; from a world standpoint that
constructive efforts on our part Will
hc effective
Conditions In tho South arc GER
ta!nly discouraEing. There is prac-
ideally no market for cotton ana in
many localities there is an unofficial
moratorium in effect. simply because
there is nothing else that can be
donc. y great deal Of tho cotton
is being Abandoned because Il will
not sell for enough to pay for the
picking and ginning. The best
grades do not yield the producer as
much as 10 cents pound. which cost
him ~ cents TO produce. While the
feeling exists that the worst is now
over the credit situation in the South
il Still tight and liquidation Of such
items as loans to country banks. fer
,llzer and other crop accounts arc
very slow.
The cotton farmers should. 10y all
means, reduce their acreage 80 per
'-''' ''' 'tt h'N NibF pbA ~ - al
most impossible TO get chem TO do
80. The only way II can be accom-
rlishcd is for the banks To refuse 20
lend tho usual amount OF money. and
this they are doing.
Farmers who are tu position Il
do so arc likely 20 80 ahead and plant
Hs usual all they can undertake.
t;corgia seems to he tho hardcs: n;
Of amy Of tho states. The real i'm.
, rrov"mcnt la Florida. Alabama
louisiana. Tennessee and the Caro-
l'nas has been much better than in
Georgia. Florida suffered consider
:hiy as did Louisiana. but conditions
&C improving. ON the whole. how :
over tho South seems 10 he better OF
thar az any time since dei!atlen set
-. and the Atlanta Federal Reserve
Bank has completely lquda;ed rs
'ediscounts and is no LONGER "a Dor
rowing bank
In general il may he sad tina, ~.
tendency toward recovery in business
which WAS $" marked during January.
did not continue with The same sp.r!:
during February due largely 10 tn.