Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1928-02-03
Review OF Busiue.s Conditions

10 the mid January revie~ Of b8sinss
conditions 10 the United States. made b
the American Exchange Irving Trust Con
psny. Of Ne~ York. is a strikinsly disoor5
snt note 10 the paeaas Of praise Of 50
called prosperity which have been 50 70
eiherously sung fox the Coolidge Rspobl
can administration. Ever 50 often. SPIKES
men for the administration. in Coasres
OF IN some Of the Executive departments
arise in their places to assert that th'
country. under the Coolidge administrator
has enjoyed and IS enjoying the NOS
bountiful prosperity within the history o
the humsn race. Here from the heart o.
the financial district. is shat this krsai
financial institution has TO say q 'Cooiids,
prosperity during the last year
Ia softer fact, 1927 wss in msny re-
spects disappointias CooPetitoa has bee1
severe. failures heavy. employment De
Ginning volume Of prod8ctioo and disui.
button in many hines Gnoouf0rtsbly re.
strieted, the losses through foods and
storms stsseerinsly large. with acute dis
comfort and s1ffefing IN Se~ Ensland and
the lower Mississippi Valley. and profits
in several important industries less thsn
1925. An eieht-month strike Of biiani-
nous coal miners represented large eco
nomic loss. 0yershsd0~ins al these draw
backs. in its significance iog the future. Is
the unsolved problem Of limiting naval
afmaments-
II Democrat had sid what is above
quoted. apolosists for the Coolidge admin
istration would no doubt have dubbed him
calamity bowler" No Democrat has
ever said that there has not been pros
perity; many may have said that the
prosperity is not general but -spotty. and
confined to very few industries which
have enjoyed discriminative tariff and
other favors at the hands Of the Coolidge
administration. They have said that the
farmers are not only no, prosperous bot
are being ruined by discrimination in favor
Of monopolistic industries. They have said
and proved BY the records that bank and
commercial failures are many times more
numerous than during the last two Demo
cratic administrations they have said
that the textile industry is in the most
unprosperous state il has been in many.
many years. Bot no Democrat has ever
voiced more complete or more SOLDERING
refutstion Of the baSeless prosperity boasts
that have been made for the present Repub-
liean administration than that of the Ame-
mean Exchange Irving Trust Company ia its
review Of 1927 conditions. There is further
testimony to the same effect
In the House Of Representatives las, week
Representative Robinson. Of Kentucky,
Republican representing one Of the largest
soft coal producing district 10 the United
States, in an uneuarded moment. made
the following statement
While agriculture. said Mr.. Robinsoo.
one OF cur very great basic industries has
been in deep distress. and | have always
supported measures intended to relieve
that distress. yet the soft-coal industry Of
this country is in even greater distress"
FOR long the country has known the
acute situation Of agriculture. bat il has
not generally realized the serious plight Of
the soft coal industry. in which. in normal
times. there are $4,000 miners engaged.
Following Mr. R0binsOn's statement, in
quiry vas made at the Department Of La
boz TO learn shat reports il had relative
TO the situation in this industry il vas
declared to Be very. very bad The De-
partment could not give the number Of
soft coal miners nos idle. but that of
$4,000 sotI-oOal miners. sboat 100000
are union miners and Of these. 100000
are nov idle. with unemployment probably
about the sane among the non-anion min
ers This means that Of the more than
500. 900 soiI-oosl miners. more than 225.-
600. considerably nore than one third. are
nov idle T. o. B. mine prices for soft
coal are very low. and one reason for this
Is that export markets cannot be reached
With this coal although coal can be produced
In this country more than one dollar
cheaper per ton than in EagIsad. ths chief
eom2~tins country. 0ne reason assisned
fo< failure to develop the eXpOSt trade in
soft coal Is the failure Of the Shipping
Board to condition ships foS the coal car
ryins trade Another IS the high freight
rates. The result IS the worst distress in
the soft coal industry in many years. an
industry in which more than soc. 900 are
employed normally. supporting a popula-
tion Of three million men. women and
children.