Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1923-04-26
BUSINESS GOOD AND PROS
PECTS BETTER

safes manager Oh the Natl0nal OaF-
bon Co., New York, gave out the
! following interview to the newspa-
pers at Jacksonville, Florida, dur
! ing the JOINT convention Of the South
ern Hardware Jobbers and the A.
(, merican Manufacturers Association.
! Mr. Crawford has just made an in
tensive survey of business conditions
especially in the northern and west
ern states and the message he brings
is one that rings with optimism and
hope.
1T is little short of marvellous"
! says Mr.. Crawford, the way in
| which the United States has recover
ed its stride after the disrupting
march of the war. All the dire pre-
dictions of the pessimists in regard
/ to the difficulties we would exper-
fence in re-absorbihg into our indus
trial life the great mass of discharg
ed soldiers, have proved false. All
the wild and disquieting talk about
the dangers of bolshevism and the
spread of radical doctrines has like
wise been shown to have had no
foundation in fact.
"Particularing remarkable and
gratifying is the brave Comeback
Industrial depression that the
South has made. / doubt if at any
prospects Of the Southern States
were SO promising; aided by vast
acreage reclaimed by draining and
by intensive and scientific study Of
the soils the southern farmer and
fruit grower is filling an even larger
space in the markets of the world
And in industry, also especially IN
cotton weaving and kindred arts the
| Southern States have entered into
keen and healthy competition with
the New England States. And / am
glad to note that Southern industries
as we'll as those in other parts of
the nation have apparently learned
and taken to heart the lesson as to
the value of advertising in the
daily press. Very fine barometers
of business are the advertising col
umns Of the daily paper which after
all, is the best advertising medium
in the world, when backed up by the
proper advertising to the jobber,
wholesaler and retailer in the Bus
mess Trade Press.
Zone of the chief factors in bring
ing business back to normal has been
the retail dealer. By cooperating
with the jobber and manufacturer,
the utilization of the most modern
merchandising methods, the use of
newspaper advertising, window dis
plays and other advertising mater
ial, and by teaching his clerks sales
manship, he has speeded the wheels
of commerce and aided in the task
of re-establishing prosperity.
Only country as resilient, quick
to sense new value and grasp new OPP
portunities; country with a spirit
large enough to march alongside the
splendid opportunities America of
fers could have got back into asteady
business step. as quickly as our coun-
try has done. There has been no
gulf created between capital and la
Dor; instead there is growing reali-
cation that the interests Of capital
and labor, so far from being oppos-
ed, are identical. Fearing great
influx of cheap labor from the dis
traught countries of Europe our Con-
gress passed selective immigra-
ton law designed to keep our own
American workmen from being
swamped by cheap competition.
Really such law may not have been
needed at all, for business and in
dustry has taken ON such sturdy, new
vitality that there is actually
shortage of labor and there is no
excuse today for any man being
without job at good wages.
"And this is only the beginning, |
believe, of such an era of well-found
ed prosperity as the United States
has never known. All over the coun-
try such is at itss height SO that the
allied industries the makers Of hard
ware and the brick and cement and
lumber are being hard pushed to keep
up with the demand. Our farmers,
the foundation-rock of our prosper
ity, were never in better shape. By
the wise provision of Federal staa
tutes the farmers can get all the
money they need at reasonable rates
for the betterment and conduct of
their farms and they are getting
good prices for their products. Man
ufacturers everywhere are facing an
avalanche of orders; the railroads
have so far recovered from their
temporary stagnation that they are
beginning to order new equipment,
Y,axu cfao1 carc vau role now loco