The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-07-19
BUSINESS
FACTOR
(;RIJX
Manufacturing Not 80 PFos-
porous and Farmers Have
Considerable Boom
By WILLIAM HARD.

NN6AAAN8SeAhA
There is . sudden chance that
La Toilette may not run 30 we'll
as was expected in the West and
that he may gain unanticipated
strength in the East.
The East is not 50 prosperous
Is it was. The West il more
prosperous slightly, at any rate
than it has been.
There is chance that there
may be in an increase Of content
IN the West and an increase Of
discomfort in the East.
Business factors have almost
always proved themselves to be
the dominant factors in politics,
and there seems to be little reason
to suppose that the affairs Of this
year win be any exception to the
rule.
Business In Control
The business situation fundamen.
tally controls the political situation,
and the business situation at this
time Is characterized chiefly by
BY riffs OF blue on the Western.
Factory employment Is down to
90 per cent Of what It was in the
, YRkzA - - A.Sar
months our factory workers had
their employment, and, therefore,
their income, reduced by q margin
which represents loss to them
running at the rate of more than
one billion dollars q year.
This means a severe decline in
North and East. It means also
necessarily some little increase in
political unrest In the North and
East.
Our pig-iron furnaces, which In
the middle Of last year were run.
ming at the rate of some four
million tons of pig iron per month,
have now recently been running at
the rate Of only about twp million
tons month.
Our cotton textile mills IN New
England have been having quite
bad time and have exhibited many
cases of shut-downs and Of reduced
forces.
This state of things In the East
Il bound to tend to reduce the lead
that Coolidge has had over the
other candidates.
Labor Estranged
If It sends votes to Davis, It
might help Davis to overtake Cool
idge in some parts OF the East,
but 1t seems more likely to send
votes to La Toilette, who, accord.
ing to all present expectations, can
not possibly overtake Coolidge any
where in the East.
The Democratic convention in
New York enraged and alienated
the representatives Of Eastern labor
in the wording Of the platform, in
the naming Of the candidate for
President and in the naming also
Of the candidate for Vice President.
On the other hand, 1t Is becoming
abyndantly clear that in the naming
az the candidate Tor President Il
made a highly successful appeal to
those big business people and to
those rniddle-class idealistic people
who regard a closer cooperation
between this country and Europe
as the great central issue OF the
moment.
From the standpoint Of those peo-
Die, many Of whom on the big
business side are extremely wealthy
and generous, and many Of whom
on the idealistic side are extremely
eloquent and active, the Democratic
candidate would make a much bet
ter President than the Republican
candidate.
Davis win have a lot Of high.
brow support and a lot Of big
business support which may com.
pensate him for his loss Of labor
support and which may enable him
TO give the Republican managers
q lot Of anxiety between now and
November.
In any case, however, it is gen.
orally believed that the present
perhaps temporary decline Of pros
perity in the industrial sections Of
the East will extend the La Toilette
power eastward quite considerably.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, the
La Toilette power may wane q bit
in the region west Of the Mis-.
siasippi.
The prices Of the things which
the farmer buys have begun to
come down and the prices Of the
things which he sells have begun
to go UP.
The Federal Reserve Board re.
ports that IL food prices are left
out Of the calculation. the general
price level is now six per cent
lower than 1t was a year ago.
Meanwhile corn and wheat are
higher.
Hogs always follow corn in going
down or up; and the best and most
experienced hog buyers In the Chi.
cago market expect hogs to 60 up
steadily from now on.
The reason for the advance in
corn is that while last year we
grew some three billion bushels IL
corn we this year viii grow only
about two billion five hundred mil.
lion bushels.
No Need for Laws.
This contraction OF output seems
likely to accomplish all that could
even arguably have been accom-.
plished by such legislative devices