The Wilmington morning star., 1945-01-19
BABSoN THINKS
BUYERS TlRINC
nv ROGER W. BABsON

a. De- PARK, Mass, Jan. 10
BADp bss been a slump in many
IAele Of business since January l.
ines ;, y, naturally expect letup
+: Re. saIes after Christmas; but t their
N mes ss' usually pick up again before
tnl Is, the other hand, some basic
On i'..tr rils again are speeding up.
lna0S sheIl steel needs have been
me ' sed 10 100000 tons per month
ln ciis the demand for plates, bars,
Tai4t for heavy tanks is very great.
e!', ~ oil output is continuing to
C llon, an increase over the same Pc
snow 1 s, wear; it is producing the
r l.o.o5ibIe amount of about 5,OOO,-
l I'M b s per day. Paper products
wv :o w are in such great demand
%l.-r nacking ammunition for ship
III are being increased above
l n-cr, requirements. Lumber
p9 dncts also are ahead of year
Farmers received 10 per cent
Ts oro money for their crops in 1914
! .,o in 1913 and per cent more
t a'r live stock and live stock prod
~ Railroad gross earnings, how
o or which are the best barome-
tar n general business, have ceas-
- ;,rrease; while electric pro-
s~ction has begun to decline.
Various reasons are given for
.,is slackening in general business.
Came families have decided to buy
So'' more cheap war goods; others
are mixed up by the various
c5anges in ration points; while
msnv are thinking only of their
b i abroad and have no heart to
bJy much; while everyone is get
rna tired. Certainly a cloud OF
,ome kind has shut the sunshine
off Main street since the bad news
came from France. However,, it
will be found that this cloud has
silver lining.
Recently several important adj
dresses have been made to farm
examinations. Farmers are being
tod by their friends that they must
expect a severe slump in agricul-
tral prices after the war. This
fact is now sinking in'' and many
farmers are rather solemn. Rail
road labor, which has been riding
high and handsome, is likewise
realizing that railroad traffic will
fall off terribly after the war: Most
Of the railroad employees, taken on
during the past two years, will be
then out of work
Most post postwar new inven-
TONS will be labor-saving in eff
feet. They will result in fewer peo-
pie being employed. Since the No
vember election, even the Govern
ment has had the courage to tell
women workers that they will be
laid off first. Bankers and inves-
tors who have been counting on
a big foreign postwar demand are
realizing that this is possible on
ly by their loaning money to Eur
opean governments.
When congressman were home
for Christmas, they explained that
most of our Allies are, more or
less, communistic. These congress-
men asked their constituents if the
U. S. should loan these Allies mon
ey to start socialistic and nation
ally-owned industries? What h a S
happened in Belgium, Greece and
elsewhere is making many ask for
what We are fighting.
People are beginning to wonder
whether the talk by Churchill and
Roosevelt demanding "uncondition-
al surrender is either Christian
Or wise? We are coming to realize
that world peace will exist only
as every nation surrenders uncon-
ditionally to God. rather than to
the British Empire or to Mr.. Sta
lin or even to us Americans.
Talk about a postwar national