The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1924-06-20
Present Economic Situation
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By Jay LOvestOne)

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the a'dyisability of cutting forces
or cutting wages.
Labor, as well as caDitaI
must take into consideration fhe
iact tina when the Dawes renort
Is accepted and put into operation
EUROPE will begin competition in
worlds markets which will grow
more and more aggressive and at
labor cost of production cOnsid-
erably below American stand
ards. This must affect American
= domestic prices and wages. and
would tend to make them gradu
ally smaller.
A correspondent says that
European producers have been
making a careful study of Dro-
ductlOn in the United States and
their conclusion is that wage re-
auctions are not only already I'M
DER way IN America, but that this
tendency will become pronounced
during the summer"
+ u. s. DEPARTMENT.
I OF COMMERCE
Summarized by the Department of
I commerce., the present economic sit
uaIlon appears tc be as follows:
The output of pig iron in
April, according to reports to the
Bureau Of the Census, DEPART
ment Of Commerce, amounted to
5,z33,OOO tons, a decline of 6 Der
cent from the March production
ana 9 per cent from the OutDut
year ago. Steel ingOt production
III April also registered decline
from March end year ago. I'm
filled orders at the end of ADriI
were SIS 900 tons less than the
the forward business on March
3lst and AZ per cent below a wear
ago when orders for 10000 tons
OF steel were on the books of the
United States Steel Corporation
Locomotive shipments to rail
Oais declined in April while the
IOrWerd business of locomotive
manufacturers at the end of
AprH was larger than on March
5Ist. New orders for freight
cars declined in April but were
larger than year ago."
ANNALIST
In the eyes Of the financial editor
OF the "Annalist" the business out
lock is as follows:
Outstanding and cOmprehen-
slVe evidences of a farther gener-
al slackening of both trade and
industry together with indications
OF some lessening of employment
IN factories, are a good deal
palmer than the methods bv
which business is going to accom-
mOdate itself to the changed and
changing conditions.
IF, as the Optimists and some
other theorists insist, the pur-
chasing power of the country is
bound, willy-nilly, to force
speedy renewal of ample pur-
chasing in all lines, then the
present slakening will soon dis
appear. If the other view
which is that of the Annalist-
IS correct, that the present bust
ness decline is due to {, period of
OYerprOductiOn and OversDread-
ing which has seriously over
taxed the buying disposition of
thOse with money to spend. then
the process of recovery will he
much slower and more difficult"
MAGAZINE OF
WALL STREET
The Magazine eff Wall Street views
he present conditions in these LIGHTS.
Undenlably, a change has
come over business during the
past month or two. Just when
everything seemed to be gOinO
nicely with mills occupied at full
time, prices rising and a note of
cheer IN the air, the change Oc-
CURED without warning. Bust
ness fell off, production was cut.
prices fell, and the note Of cheer
vanished.
The fact is that for several
years We have been going along
smoothly, filling out the pOst
war demand for sundries, such as
new housing, railroad Equipment.
automobiles to ride in, and manv
other essentials and nOn-essen-
tials. That demand hes to an an
reciable extent been satisfied"
In its investigation entitled "Tue+
-oW Bad is Business Today? 2" and
I'll IL become the Magazine
wal Street finds that
~ OF the 10 leading industries
y PASoCAAS NCltdIIu IN IL is less than
year ago; in one, it is the same az
year ago; and in only two, SLIGHTLY
reater than a year ago. The bitum-
ous coal industry heads the list of
ard-hlt with drop of almost so per
mt compared with that of a wear "
CO. . year "
10
EMPLOYMENT DECLINES IN tn
LADlNG INDUSTRIAL STATES dc
According to the Illinois Danart- at
ent OF Labor, manufacturers en- IN
oylng about 100000 workers re- st
'rIed decline of 1.2 per cent ep1- M
oyment during April. Since lime 10,
20 the working forces have baen at
duced by 81 per cent that is a lttIa !,
er $4,000 working men have lost SIT
err Jobs in this period. The De- sini
rlImIent OF Labor views this unfav- an
aole change with. considerable con on
n because production generally he pa
IS TO pick Up" in March and ev
lus further in April and Nav. The
.qlstry hardest hit was that Of men;s
Inlng. Nearly one-fourth IF +bo
DIONeeS IN plOtbi,rr f,.l. AAS MI