The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-24
BY J. G. RoYIE.

New York, June 24.-on seagoing
vessels il is sometimes customary
for the lookout TO report each half
hour in the following phrase: SIX
bells and ali's we'll" The officer TO
whom he reports then replies:
Make it So The BUSINESS look
outs are reporting regularly that
..a1T's wei1". 1t is up to the fndi-
yiduaI business men and worker 10
make it So"
Harvest fields are singing to the
click of the reapers. Fruit, vege-
tables. berries and farm products
generally are pouring into market
and in return hoods of actual mon
ey are pouring into the farmers
bank accounts. Tremendous guam
titles of raw materials are rolling
into industrial plants and factories
and are rolling out again promptly
in finished products. 1t is neces-
sary to keep them doing all that
if prosperity and normal business
Improvement is to be maintained.
Business must make it So.
Some Won't Work.
A little less than a year ago the
entire country was wrought up over
the danger facing the millions OF
men who wanted to work and
couldn't find jobs. Now the most
imminent danger to business pros
perity is from the men who can
work if they want to do so but who
are voluntarily idle or are not OPP
posed to becoming so. Farm prod
ucts cannot be sent to market with
out workers. Building construction
which is booming, cannot continue
without Iaborers and artisans and
more than all, factories and rail-
roads cannot run long without coal.
Sporadic outbreaks of violence
either around the coal mines or the
textile mills or the building jobs
are of no general danger. But just
one week from todaNon July l will
comes as a result of II e reduction Of
the country in practically every line
of business. The railroads will be
overloaded, for those orders will
come a sa result of the reduction of
10 per cent in freight rates, which
becomes effective on that day. Ev-
cry business man and manufa cturer
is counting On that rush of bust
ness. Bankers are prepared to fl
nance it Factories are ready to
turn out the goods. But they can
not turn out the goods, the rail-
roads cannot transport them, nor
the merchants sell them if the
shortage of coal becomes acute 0:
If there is a tieup of the transport
tation lines.
Buying Is Good.
In the meantime business dis
patches received within the last "A
hours indicate that the cry of "a1l's
WELL is founded on adequate facts.
The improvement in the markets
for agricultural products have slim
ulated country buyers and country
merchants and retailers all over
the country are buying freely for
summer and fall, and many have
been forced to add to their sales
people.
The technical position of sugar,
rice, grain and cotton have shown
improvement. Sugar refiners are
working at top speed and are be-
hind on orders. So are the lumber
at capacity, are sold from one to
two months ahead and are falling
steadily behind in their deliveries.
Prices have advanced in conse-
Quence.
Farmers Hold Cotton.
Hats. Shirts, shoes and wearing
of various sorts are selling
so fast that in some lines a short
age is predicted by fall The wool
market has slowed up so far as
sales are concerned, but this is due
in part to the fact that the ma
jority of the clips have been dis
posed of. Manufacturers are in a
between seasons period and have
fallen from the market but this has
not tended to lower prices to any
appreciable extent Some question
still exists as to how big the cot
ton crop finally will turn out to be,
but many farmers of the south are
holding on to old cotton in the firm
belief that prices will touch the 25-
cent-a-pound level
Steel mills are falling behind in
their deliveries. Demands have
been extraordinary because of the
impetus of the building construe-
ton activity and ~the automobile
The lack of coal has
had its most immediate effect on
the steel trade. Railroads are add
ing and repairing equipment in
for rush of business
The iron mines are back nearly tt