Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-05-26
|pAbSON, stat;st;c;an R3mScs
 on Business Conditions

"Talk about musicians and actors being temperamental! They cannot beat the average business man who is up today and down tomorrow. With in period of sixty days he will be a pessimist, an optimist, and back again to a pessinlist, when all the time na- ture is slowly but surely following it's natural course, said Roger w. Bab- son in his weekly interview on busi- ness conditions.
 "A year ago business men were very pessimistic; then came a tenn porary upturn in business and follow ing the lead of certain Federal of- ficials and prosperity boomers, they became optimistic. Since, however, these prosperity forecasts have not matured, they are again down in the dumps. How long will it take us to learn that Presidents don't make bus mess but rather business makes Pres idents. It is true that conditions are dull at the present time partly on ac- count of the late wet spring, partly due to the floods of the south, partly due to the strikes in New England and New York State, and partly due to the upset conditions in Europe. When, however, business is looked upon from a long range it will be seen that it is passing thru only natural readjust-
 ment which takes always considerable time. I stated over two years ago that no permanent improvement could be expected before August 1922, and I
 still feel that way. Even after the corner turns in the summer or fall of this year, it will be a slow altho a steady climb upward.
 "On the other hand, as all indus tries were not hit at the same time, they will tend to come back at differ ent times. The industry that was first hit will be the first to come back. This was the silk industry and a change for the better is already in evi- dence. The industry which was most suppressed during the war will show the greatest recovery during the next few years; indeed, it is already recov- ering. 1 have in mind the building in dustry. There is marked increase in the demand for all building ma terial, notably lumber, altho iron and steel are sharing in the building boom. The sales of hardware and paints have increased. If labor does not be- come too hungry for increased wages, this squirt in new building may de- velop into real boom.
 Another industry which should quickly show better employment is the automobile industry, especially the makers of the more expensive cars. These makers were the first to be hit and these should be the first to come back. Following booms in the stock market the makers of expensive cars and other semi-luxuries always exper- fence good business. For the first time in two years and half, rubber factories at Akron are advertising for help. This same improvement in the situation is noticeable also in certain steel centers such as Y Youngstown, Ohio, and hardware cen ters such as Ansonia, Conn.,, where a wage increase of 159o goes into effect May 16th.
 Commodity prices are likewise ad- justing themselves naturally. Those products which are first to decline, such as cotton, sugar and lumber are showing a hardening tendency, while other products, such as furs, that were bought by the masses during the war in great quantities, are showing continued declines.
 At the recent fur auctions. Silver Fur Fox was 25% lower than in Feb uary, Marten 403o lower, and other 'urs are falling in proportion. Bet er still, the cost of living as a whole s, still on the decline. A man can purchase for 75 cents today what cost | Jim a dollar year ago. Retail | 'ales are holding up very we'll, the nail order houses are showing in reases, western shoe manufacturers lre busy, and furniture factories are on a liberal schedule. Even cal production is holding up fairly yell.
 All of this means that there is no eason why the banker, manufacturer, r merchant should be a pessimist or n optimist today. Neither the pros- erity boomers nor the calamity howl rs should be followed Business has