The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-12-30
Continued from page u
Farm Income

Farm Income
Good crops and moderate
prices indicate fair year i'll
1861 for farmers. l, therefore,
look for a reasonably heavy vol
ume of the things farmers buy
during 1861. including equipment
for getting on with less help The
farmers cannot expect any boom,
but profits, on average. should
be at satisfactory levels My
forecast. in detail. is:
Larger volume of marketlngs
should more than offset any re-
duction in farm prices There
fore. 1861 cash receipts for farm
ers should be slightly higher than
1865 Sll 300 .000. 600 net. ! fur
thermore learn that the intelli-
gent farmer is reducing his in
debtedness. which is ALWAYS an
optimistic sign. AS 1 dictate this
forecast. l am told that growing
conditions are favorable in most
sections. with sufficient moisture
in the ground and other seasonal
optimistic factors. The prices
which farmers will receive in
1861 for crops will, of course. de-
pend upon weather: but. each
year agricultural science is help
ing the farmers to avoid early
frost losses and to secure needed
moisture
Employment. Wages
Strike activity may well be at
a postwar minimum during 1861.
with any dislocauons limited to
independent separate companies.
First important industrywide re-
gotiations will come in the auto
industry. but not until September
1861. Railroad workers cannot
strike until November |. 1861 at
the earliest. Most steel contracts
hold until June 30. 1862.
The average employment in
1860 was about 67.000.000 work
ers. l forecast that 1861 will aver
age a million fewer wagework-
ers. Countrywide. unemployment
reached as high as ~ million in
1860. and for 1861 may hit 5i2
million. The basic difficulty is
that while industry is cutting
back. the labor force is becom-
ing larger. This means that it
will be more difficult for those
getting through schools and col
leges to get positions in 1861 I'M
less they are well trained in bust
ness, mechanics, or electronics.
Certainly. the demand for execu-
tives will be less in 1861 than it
has been for some years. Those
executives who now have po-
Sltions should strive to do better
work. not ask for increases. and
do everything possible to hold
onto their jobs.
Labor leaders hope to have a
key to the White House with Mr..
Kennedy as President. This may
apply to the settling of strikes
and contract disputes. The ALL
CLIO will influence more votes in
Congress during 196l-62 than in
1880. The conservative South
ern Democrats. however. will
unitef with Republicans to block
radical labor legislation. Con-
gress certainly will not outlaw
the right to work" legislation
which has been passed in certain
conservative states, nor will
labor get revision of the Taft
Hartley Act. Congress will not.
compel industry to collect dues
from union members, but may
temper the recent Court de-
cisiOns ruling against excess
union spending.
All the above means that labor
will be able to hold its own dur
ing 1861 and secure some small
increases in wages. pensions, and
improved working conditions: but
this may not be what labor ex-
pected to get from the election
of President Kennedy.
The Federal Government will
not increase income taxes dur
ing 1861; but may close some
loopholes and increase certain
excise taxes.
Building, Real Estate
Looking back over the years
that l have been making these
Annual Forecasts, it seems that
building and real estate have
been the last to profit from a
boom, and the last to suffer from
the following reaction. Readers
all know that from its World War
II low point new building, especi-
ally of homes, gradually rose to
an all-time high in 1859. Part of
this growth has been due to in
creased population and higher in
comes.
In addition to the natural
growth to which new building
was entitled, it was greatly en-
couraged by loans to veterans