The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-20
BIZ ]. C. BOYLE.

Consolidated Press Correspondent.
New York. May Stop, look
and listen,'' may be a necessary ad-
monition at railway crossings but
it is no longer necessary to flap
that warning to the American bus
mess men. They have no inten-
ton of being run over by the cars
in 1922 if caution will avoid it For
a time business men were forced
to stou. Then they found it advis-
able to look, and they cast close
scrutiny on the annual and monthly
statements-their own and their
competitors. Ever since, they have
been listening. listening closely to
the jingle of the cash register. They
have discovered that pleasing tym-
panic symphony plays loudly only
to the tune of moderate prices.
The annual and monthly state
ments have shown that profits lay
not in increased sales or advanced
prices but in reduced operating ex-
penses and Iessened costs. Conse-
Quently the ear of every business
man has been turned to catch the
Tilt of the melody which had for its
refrain the lessening of costs with
out the raising of prices. Scores
believe they have caught the right
note in amalgamation.
Mergers are the order of the day
1t is not the mergers of the big
companies engaged in the basic in
dustries which count most
although those loom largest in the
public eye. There are hundreds OF
mergers now in process of nego-
tiation among concerns whose
stocks are not active in Wall street
but whose goods are active in the
warehouses and docks and freight
terminals of the commercial CEN
tiers of the country.
These smaller mergers are being
made without regard to the stock
market. They are being negotiated
to accomplish economies in pro-
duction and distribution. They give
every evidence that they will &C
| complish their purpose but theil
effect will not be apparent even tC
the participants until May monthly
statements have been compiled anc
digested. However. they give
I
ness men of America have recog
niZed that buying and consuming
! public has no intention of submit
ting to another imitation of price:
and that the future for some time
to come will be a period of narrow
profits and keen competition.
The parties at issue in the bi
luminous coal strike are beginning
to say to each other, take you
thumb out of my eyes," and "let 81
my ear" In other words, the strikt
is beginning to pinch the partici
pants as well as the public and TIT
prospect of settlement seems
trif1e nearer In the anthracite
field, however, this tendency is no
so manifest. The operators still
have hundreds of thousands of tom
of coal to sell and the strikers still
have hundreds of thousands of dol
lars of savings to spend. The sit
uation can be adequately outlines
by the fact that one coal compan,
had 10 solid miles of loaded Goa
cars on hand when the strike start
ed and one miner, taken to hos
pital the day before the close dow
had $4,000 in belt around hi
waist.
Markets for cotton, wool and sill
basic materials of the textile trades
all are strong at advancing prices
This has encouraged producers an
exporters, and manufacturers hav
been compensated by increased de
mand and higher prices for flnishe
materials. Mems and women's az
parel is selling well in all section
of the country with prospects tina
: manufacturers and dealers /
straw hats and tropical weigh
clothing will enjoy one of the bes
years in a decade. Advertising
universal and persistent and is be
ing attended with excellent result
when backed by quality, servic
: and moderate prices
Steel producers are in CONSTANT
: increasing demand and belief in tn
permanence of this trend is sign
: fed by enormously increased Pre-
duction of pig iron. The non-fel
, rous metals lead, zinc and cope
: all have registered advances and OF
: cupv better technical positions tina