Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-04-10
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
FILES MONTHLY REPORT
'chruhry Statement for the Fifth
District Shows That Country Il
Rapidly Returning To Normal.
.AHoK SITUATION IMPROVES
'armcrs Are Reducing Acreage on
i"hacco and Cotton and Arc Able
To Secure Sufficient Farm Hands.
North Carolina Situation Better.


According TO tho report Of the Fcd-
"a! tcscrY" Bank Of Richmond Tor
~" month Of February On the ;,"r-
raj business aud Agricultural cundt-
ohh Ia ia" fitth Federal RnS.rv"
. 'ISirlct. tho district is Slowly but
ur"ly moving back to normal as the
car advances. Tho spirit Of optf-
"ism currou; in :hc report Of tho
| mrccdlnE month continued through
ehruary IN ali Industrial and bust
.icss activities, with tn" possible OK
option Of tn" textile field.
| building operations increased 1875
per cent over Jauuar&'S record and
.il "f'y ~, per cent h.io" tn" Feb
,hlch, IN Wow Of the greater pur-
hasing power OF IN" dollar this Year.
u reality denotes that construction
provided for ia February. 1921. was
|racticaily tho same as in i!,liri.r-
"2H. Failures reported during the
In"mth 10y l'un'% review, "hil" num,r-
|cally greater by TWO than ia Iuuu-
~. were considerably below the pre-
i"us month III total liabilities.
IN" labor situation has changed lit
lie. tn, number of unemployed on
Iihrch remaining practically tin"
am" rs on February |. Figures re-
I"i'"d from Wholesalers SHOW in
creased sales iu nearly all lines IN
comparison with Junt!ary, ANA retail
rade figures show "a gain OF 50 per
Tent In dollar value ia comparison
Ifith the corresponding month OF
go. IN" Increase denotes Il comsif
Irahly larger Solum. al merchandise
old than tEc figures indicate. due to
| lower prices prevailing.
Reduce Cott"n Acreage.
Reduction in acreage for both to-
IarCO ana cotton seems assured. and
ariu.rs aye determined 10 MAKE tn.
"2l cr.rs more economically than
or several years past. AdJUS tm"uts
I1re being made between employers
|sud employees IN the matter oi wages
r. commodity prices continue IA"
Downward trend.
DuH's review reports IA failures In
hc district Ia February. 1921, with
Iomhlncd liabilities Of s3.l7U.HiI,
compared With forty failures with
liabilities OF sl32d,Z3D during the
corresponding month OF 1890. The
humber OF failures reported IN Feb
F'uary shows an increase OF two over
january, but in Liabilities january
exceeded by Si1.5ol. The average
liabilities ~ February failures ar.
22.0l1 in comparison With an aver
age OF E2T,5sO IN the preceding
month.
Twenty-Five leading retail stores.
ocatcd in fourteen Important cities
|f the i'i!th District. report cnli-c-
ions satisfactory. WIKI one .Ncep-
ION. Charge sales are less than u
kcOr ago, due TO more care hcing
Exercised in granting credit but on
h. whole people, continue to buy
b. hat they need, and thus exhibit llt-
lie decreased purchasing power COL
|cctions IN the stores and the actual
bot sales reported would seem 10
|ihow that many consumers have SUI
Ecrcd no disastrous effects from the
OF Income.
North Carolina Placed In Far List.
on November 10. 1870, Eorth Caro-
lima MS a Who'll. stat. was placed IN
~ res e.
(syRtcin. and unti February >, 1871.
khe district bank was collecting
hccks on all banks in North caro-,
/ ina. on that day Il law was passed
nuunc mbcr banks and
trust companies 10 charge, not cA-
|,ccd!ng Is OF / per cent, and IN the
ease OF checks presented AT N" coun-
her OF the draw.c bank 10y Tie Fed
|,ral Reserve Bank OF kicnin"Na. an
express company, or the Post ono"
or any OF its agents. to
|pay by means oi check drawn
ION some other bank, instead Of cash.
CUSTOMERS checks payable Sp"c!hchiIE
in cash. or payahi" TO the state OF
North Carolina or the United states
were excepted
While many nonmcrnbcr banks con
iinucd 10 remit NJ par. & conS!acrithlc
humber cuGcaVorcd to take advantage
of the law, and eventually 2i3 out
nf the SEQ nonmcmbcr banks became
partics to q suit in which an lhJHhC-
lion was obtained, the result on when
caused us to discontinue handing
chcCks drawn upon those banks. OF
The 2is. however, twcnty-four. subsc-
nucutlv made arrangements to con-
tinuc at par.
From time to time statements have
,,..,- issued giving a corrcStcd list
of the banks which the reserve bank
Is unable TO handle, but cons!dsrib!c
confusion has resulted through Tue
inability of merchants ana wholesalers
to Keep posted.
40 Labor Scarcity.
There was no scarcity OF labor any
where in the Fifth District. 20 JUG"
from letters ana reports from leaders
in practically every industry repre-
scnted in the territory. The only
calls for labor that cannot be immc-
diatcly supplied comes from house
wives for cooks and maids, where
an actual shortage appears.
Manufacturers, builders and Other
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