Imperial Valley press., 1924-02-08


Condition in the middle Atlantic
states as whole are fairly good, =
says Roger Babson. "At the mo-
ment, Pennsylvania is slightly weak
showing similar recessions to those
which appeared in New York sew
eral months ago. The downward
drift in these two states is due
largely to the fact that a large
part Of the value of their products
are manufactures.
elm Pennsylvania, for example,
manufactures represent So per cent
Of production. Though New ork
has shown a tendency toward i'm
provement, the percentage gain of
general business over the cores,
ponding period year ago is rela.
lively slight. Here we have a
distinctly industrial state, the
value of manufactures constituting
about 90 per cent Of the total value
of products of New York. More
over, Of this total 80 per cent is
concentrated in New York CITY
This extreme concentration is ar
unfortunate situation for all inter
osts concerned. Furthermore. with
the wonderful Mohawk Valley
there is no excuse for such {
crowded manufacturing situation il
New York City.
Shipping, commerce, and the
iobbing interests must concentrat,
at the port. There is no good reas
xr~lx- 50 ehn,,11 r
out into more rural sections where
living conditions are better, power
is plentiful, and costs are lower.
.'Twelve months ago bushes.
was improving rapidly in the mid
die Atlantic states and slowly II
the rest of the country. At the
moment we find exactly, the oppo'
site conditions. The middle Allan
tic district is slowing down, and
other regions have taken the lead
1t is a trend which has sometimes
preceded a recession. It is interest
ing to notice that this tendency
toward recession in the middle At
lantic group was foreshadowed a
long while ago by decline IN New
York City business. The --latest
movements in New York City bust
ness show occasional upward swings.
Pushing Public Works
Government economists who
have been advocating pushil puo-
lie work as an offset to dull bust
ness, NAV feel that "a >suitaote -oc-
casion will appear this spring. That
projects of Fundamental character
are being given close thought by
the government, was suggested by
certain points in the president ;
message. You will recall that b
mentioned the opening of our IN
ter-coastal waterways, the develop
ment of power and navigation pro
iects, the Importance of highways
and other really essential 'undertak
ings. In this particular group OF
states there are many places where
such work of a fundamental nature
is really desirable.
"Sales of wholesale houses are
holding up fairly well compared
with the corresponding period
year ago. -
Mr.. Babson was asked why New
York and Pennsylvania are not
making SO good showing as many
other parts of the country.
"The main reason he replied,
'sis that New York and Pennsylva-
MIA are so largely industrial. EX-
perience shows that the industrial
areas of the northeast are quick on
the trigger. When business dips
down this is the first territory 70
slip. Therefore, in d period like
the present, the manufacturing cen
ters are working cautiously. This Is
especially important in view of IN
creasing European competition. r'oi
the time being, at Least, many OF
these industrial localities can suffe
further curtailment and still haV'
an advantage over the farming
livestock, and mining sections.
These Three Points
In summarizing the situation i
this section, Mr.. Babson brough
out these three rather interesting
points.
81. There will be but few wag
advances during 1924 in New York
Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jer
sey, Maryland, and the Nrsiniss
Wage advances, OF course, are