The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-06
By ]. c. R0YLE.

New YORK, May 6.-Tne WINTER Oh
the farmers discomfort has not
been made glorious summer yet
but il has bIossomed into a promis-
ing spring. Money-real hard coin
lis coming into their hands and the
future gives no indication that
their profits will be checked. Cot
ton has made its first real move for
months and that move has been up
ward. Weather conditions and crop
prospects are inducing the agri-
culturists OF the south TO talk hope
fully of 20 cent cotton and the jump
has given opportunity to many 10
turn old holdings into cash.
Grain, strengthened by the pros
pect of increased world demand and
short supply, is maintaining its
strength and trains and vessels
are pouring their cargoes into
shipping and milling centers and
the returns into the farmers
pockets. Shipments of the early
vegetables and berries are in full
swing in the south and the season
II
with ready cash following in its
wake
The west may not be wild any
longer but it is woolly and glad or
it. Sheep men from San Angelo,
Texas, to Kalispel, Mont. are chas-
ing the fat checks for their clips,
sold at prices averaging nearly
double what they obtained last
year. The livestock situation is
improving and the ranges and pas
lures are flush with feed and
water.
Business in general has just be-
gun to feel the effects of this dis
tribution of ready cash, but those
effects will be increasingly evil
dent from now on. The first re-
turns to the farmer have gone 20
pay his debts. Old loans are be-
ing rapidly cleared off and for the
first time since the depression be-
came acute, the agriculturist feals
he has money to spend. The mail
order houses have marked this
first and now the retail merchants
are beginning to reap their har-
vest They are rejecting the feel
ing of confidence III the perma-
hence of the betterment back to
the jobbers, wholesalers and manu-
facturers in an increased willing
ness to buy for future as well as
present needs.
The rise in basic materials has
been followed by renewed activity
in the finished products, especially
IN he &c
have advanced and still further in
creases il prices are predicted.
Consumers, it appears, are willing
to buy but mills are not anxious 10
sell for future delivery until the
price Of raw cotton has stabilized
itself Wooden goods and worsteds
have risen and manufacturers are
securing the foreign as we'll as the
home markets for raw wool bar
gains. Raw silk also has advanced
and there has been a slight awak-
ening of interest in the finished
weaves although production still is
restricted
Manufacturers in many district
and many industries are buying
raw materials and turning out I'm
as present demand. Orders for
mill and factory supplies are in
creasing steadily and many makers
of such goods are booked months
ahead. Lumber production, al
though speeded up in every produc-
ing section, cannot keep pace with
new business engineered by build
in gactivity. Gasoline has been ad-
| vanced in price and further ad-
p, vances are forecasted. The re-
verberatories of the copper smelt-
ers are beginning to roar again
and the ore concentrates are
pouring in as production is being
resumed at the mines. Zinc and
lead also are in better technical
positions.
The revival of the automobile in
dustry perhaps offers the most
striking example of industrial i'm
provement. Manufacturers are be-
hind with deliveries and are in
creasing their forces and working
hours in a desperate effort to take
| the tide of business at the flood
Their chief worry is to secure suf-
ficient parts and materials to keep
up high pressure production with
out carrying burdensome inventor
les. There is promise that the au-
tomotive industry will experience
the biggest year in it's history.
Steel production is increasing
slightly despite the coal strike,
plants are well booked ahead, may
have withdrawn from the market
and prices are trending upward
from pig iron to the finished prod
uct.
To say. however. that the coal
strike has not affected commerce
and industry. is like telling the