Newspapers / Marion Progress (Marion, N.C.) / Dec. 30, 1948, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE MARION PROGRESS A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY ESTABLISHED 1896 MARION, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1948 VOLUME 53 NO. 24 Babson's Forecast Of The Business And Financial Outlook For 1949 By ROGER W. BABSON 1 Total volume of business for 1949 will be less than that of 1948. There surely will be many soft spots. General Business 2 Most industries will show small er net profits. This means that, in *»any cases dividends will be less in 1949. 3 Military preparedness will be a new and powerful industry which this country never heretofore ex perienced in peace times. It is des tined to bolster employment for som« years abead, but not the stand ard -of-living. 4 Inventories quoted both at their dollar values and in volume will increase during 1949. Both raw material piles and manufactured goods will be in greater supply dur ing 1949. Commodity Prices 5 Some rationing or -priorities may be attempted in 1949. The pub lic will make demands for price controls in the case of certain pro ducts. Beware of installment pur chases in 1949. 6 We expect the peak in whole sale commodity prices has been reached for this cycle. We, therefore, advise going easy on inventories.— 1949 is a time to get out of debt and stay out of debt. 7 The retail price of some goods, other than food products, may be higher dui'ing 1949, but we believe that the Cost-of-living Index has turned downward. 8 Retail price changes lag after wholesale price changes. This ex plains many retail prices on good quality merchandise to hold up for awhile after wholesale prices de cline. Farm Outlook 9 The total farm income for 1949 should be less than that of 1948, due to lower prices for wheat, corn, pork, poultry, eggs and certain dairy pro ducts. Farmers should diversify more in 1949, get out of debt, putting surplus money into savings and pre pare for real trouble some day. 10 The supply of certain vege tables and fruits should increase during 1949. The price of these should fall off, barring some weather, insect of blight catastro phe. 11 All poultry and dairy products will also increase- in volume during 1949, prices averaging less than 1948 prices. 12 Farmers will continue to work for extensions of subsidies. The above four Farm Forecasts assume normal weather. A drought could upset these. Taxei 13 The Federal Budget will not be decreased during 1949. 14 Federal taxes will not be de creased during 1949, but there may be some re-adjustments to encour age venture capital and to ease the tax burden on wages. 15 We forecast that an attempt will be made by some cities to put ceilings upon real estate taxes or enact local sales taxes. 16 The long-term capital gains tax of 25% will remain unchanged. Retail Trade 17 Goods on counters will be of better grade in 1949. 18 There will be many "mark down sales" of inferior quality of goods. Curbs on installment buying will continue. 19 The dollar value of all retail sales in 1949 should about equal that of 1948, perhaps off 5 CU. 20 The unit volume of retail sales will be less in 1949 than in 1948. Foreign Trade 21 Our foreign trade will remain about the same. We shall continue to help Europe; but it will be on a more efficient basis. 22 More foreign credits will be granted during 1949; but these mostly will be direct to business concerns. 23 There will be greater compe tition from other countries in legit imate foreign trade where the credit is good. 24 Throughout 1949 war talk will continue; but no real World War III will start in 1949. War prepara tions will continue. Labor Outlook 25 Good business depends upon two things: (1) reasonable wages and (2) reasonable prices. When both of these factors are in balance there is good business; but when they get out of balance, look for trouble. Low prices are of little help when people have insufficient wages with which to buy; but it is also true that good wages are of little use if prices are too high for people to buy. The Taft-Hartley Law will be repealed or amended to encourage free speech, union protection and increased production. 2(3 The income of wageworkers must increase before an advance in prices. Contrariwise, too high prices always precede a decline in em ployment and wages. This down ward cycle leading to unemployment may begin in 1949. Much depends upon ci'ops and weather. 27 Labor leaders who get in creased wage rates usually get re elected. while those who do not get wage increases are liable to be de feated. Hence, labor leaders have naturally kept urging higher wages, although they may feel in their hearts that wages are high enough for the time being. We forecast that 1949 will see some change of atti tude in this regard and that wise leaders will be more interested in preventing the "bust." 28 If wages are too high, organ ized labor is the first to be laid off when business declines. Unorganized workers have the steadiest jobs and will go through 1949 without losing their positiions. 29 Some labor leaders will, dur ing 1949, work for pension systems and sick benefits. This would be a constructive program for employ ers who can afford to do it, but many employers cannot afford even these benefits at this time. Both employ ers and wageworkers will some day unite in urging a program which will give steady work throughout the year. This is the best hope for J lower building costs. Bricklayers,; painters and carpenters are criticzed today for doing such a small amount of work, but we must remember che many days when they are unable to work due to weather and other con ditions. Inflation 30 Inflation (high prices) comes when consumption exceeds produc tion. This means that inflation can be checked only by increasing pro duction or by reducing the money supply. The job of getting prices down today depends, therefore, upon what management and labor pro duce per hour. We believe that wage increases during 1949 will be accom panied by a corresponding increase in the per hour production of the wage workers. 31 Some object to the large profits that their employers are get ting today compared with 1930's. It, however, should be remembered that during these depression years most employers had no profits whatso ever. We forecast that profits will continue to be regulated automatic ally by the law of supply and de mand, rather than by government. 32 At some time during 1949 we forecast that the point will be reached where the nation's inflated money supply will have become fully employed. Hence, emphasis may shift from efforts to stop inflation to ef forts to halt deflation. Stock Market 33 Nineteen forty nine may not be a better year stock market wise than 1948. Investors will especially get out of stocks of companies which have most of their assets in big, "vulnerable in case of war" cities, reinvesting in companies whose as sets are well distributed and safe from attack. 34 The Administration will not want the Dow-Jones Industrial Av erage to go too high on account of the consequent effect upon labor's demands. Commodity speculation will continue to be curbed. 35 The wisest will not try to pick any special "winners" in 1949; but will diversify broadly. Those who have too many stocks will gradually build up good reserves, in cash or Governments, for the big break which will come some day. Careful buyers of stocks will insist on mak ing full payment and avoid borrow ing during 1949. 36 Safe dividend paying stocks (Continued on last page) MM " ' YOU—and the year ahead..f. I 1 Tradition ordains this the season of resolve. Let's keep cur resolutions, simple but firm. Ideas have legs. If, on a local level, we resolve to make this community a better place in which g to live, it may have an affect on making the world, of nations a better! place in which governments may live. Start in your own backyard. You figure out what you can do to bet ter the churches, schools and institutions of this place we call our home. | <jjj We'll start in our own backyard. For the year ahead, this news paper pledges a program of complete editorial support for any and all" efforts at community betterment. ^ ,r~ This community is only as strong as we make it. No one outside it cares much what hap pens to our town. But we care. , let's prove that we care by mak-1 L^fing that resolution bow—to build ; ' ^a better community. f It is in that spirit that the peo , pie who publish this paper wish | , "lor you a rw C. B. Morgan Dies After Long Illness C. Bascom Morgan, 74 died at his residence on Lincoln Avenue Sun day afternoon after an extended ill ness. Funeral services were conducted at the First Baptist church Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock by the pas tor, Rev. M. O. Owens, and burial was in Oak Grove cemetery. He is survived by the widow, Mrs. Rosa McNeill Morgan; five sons and four daughters, S. Roy, C. Walter, and Clifton R. Morgan, Mrs. Jesse G. Price and Mrs. Robert G. Burgin, all of Marion; Mrs. J. O. Kelley of Elizabethton; Mrs. Robert P. Lewis of Old Fort, George B. Morgan of Black Mountain and J. Fred Mor gan of Benton, Ark.; 18 grandchil dren; two brothers and one sister, C. D. Morgan and Gordon Morgan of Erwin, Tenn., and Mrs. Hoby Ellington of Dysartsville. Inspection Dates Set Raleigh, Dec. 21—The Motor Ve hicle Department has completed its schedule of deadlines for mechanical inspection lanes the first half of next year. Vehicles must be in spected once every six months next year, instead of just once a year. Inspection deadlines for the pe riod, January through June: Vehicles up to and including models 1936 must be inspected on or before Jan. 31. Models 1937 and 1938, on or be fore Feb. 28. Models 1939 and 1940, on or be fore March 31. Models 1941 and 1942, on or be fore April 30. Models 1943 through 1947, on or before May 31. Models 1948 and 1949, on or be fore June 30. * Teen-Age Canteen To Open January 8 The "Teen-Age Canteen" will not be open on New Year's night, it was announced yesterday. Due to a change in plans, it will not open un til January 8, it was stated. Gold Star Buttons Are Now Available Gold Star lapel buttons are now available without charge to widows and parents of those members of the armed forces who lost their lives in World War II, according to Jack C. Winchester, District Officer of the State Veterans Commission. Under the terms of Public Law 306, 80th Congress, children, broth ers and sisters are eligible to pur chase one of these buttons. They cost about $1.50 each. 'Only one Gold Star Lapel Button can be furnished any one individual, so they should be carefully safe guarded," Winchester cautioned. The wearer's initials are engraved on the back of each button before issuance so they can be identified if lost or misplaced. "Those desiring to apply for one of these Gold Star Buttons will be furnished application blanks and any assistance necessary in complet ing them," Winchester said. For fur ther information call or write to Jack C. Winchester, Box 758, Dis trict Officer, N. C. Veterans Com mission in Morganton, N. C., or visit your County Service Officer in the County Courthouse, RECORD HARVEST Final harvest reports have stamped the 1948 crop year as perhaps the most remarkable in the nation's his tory. The Agriculture Department has announced that the season broke many production records. Beside the record-breaking crop of corn, ..pro duction records were set for flax seed, soy beans, peanuts, rice, pe cans and cranberries. An unprece dented total of nearly $179,000,000 tons of grains was harvested. This is nearly 40,000,000 tons more than last year and 17,600,000 more than the previous peak in 1946. » The importance of honey bees for pollination is indicated by a new plan being tried in Ohio this year. Bees are needed so badly in that State that the Federal Government is now paying owners a subsidy of $1 for each hive maintained and $3 for each hive moved into a field of red I clover. I BARY ENSEMBLE—The popular Bary Ensemble, above, Getrtrudej Bary, piano; Mary Becker, violin; Phyllis Gugino, clarinet; Virginia, Peterson, cello; Helen Bacchus, viola, will be presented at the Marion j high school on Wednesday evening, Jan. 12, under the sponsorship of the Marion Community Concert Association. To Hold Watch Night Service Friday Night A traditional "Watch-Night Serv ice" will be held at the First Meth odist Church on Friday night, De cember 31, it was announced today by the pastor, the Rev. James B. McLarty. The service will start prmptly at eleven-thirty and end at mid-night. Mr. McLarty states that "a Watch-Night service is an old cus tom of 'the people called Methodists' and one that is worth preserving. The Reverend John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, strongly urged the Methodists to use such an occasion to renew /their covenent with God. In 1447 Mr. Wesley conducted his first Watch-Night service, and for more than two hundred years such a service has been a part of the annual porgram of the Methodist church." A cordial invitation is extended to all members and friends of First Methodist church to attend this spe cial service. Mi-. McLarty expects a large congregation to be present, and has urged his members when making their plans for New Year's Eve to remember that their church asks for thirty minutes of their time. Corporal Wall Aids In Construction of Airfield In Germany Heidelberg, Germany, Dec. 17— Inauguration ceremonies at the new Tegel Airfield in Berlin, attended by the United States, French and British dignitaries and German of ficials of the western sectors, cli maxed four months of effort by Army engineers to complete land ing facilities for planes flying to Berlin on Operation Vittles. Corporal Walter H. Wall, whose next of kin, Fannie Wall Edney, lives in Marion, N. C., was one of a ! handful of Americans who super vised about 17,000 German workers and operated heavy engineer con struction equipment to rush through completion of two additional mile long runways at Tempelhof Airfield and an entirely new field at Tegel which was four months ago a sandy desert area in the French sector of Berlin, once used as a Panzer train ing area for the notorious Hermjan Goering Division. With completion of the airfield construction in Berlain, Corporal Wall returned to his permanent sta tion with the 501st Engineer Utility Company, located in Hanau, Ger many, CONSERVATION NEWS By L. B. HAIRR Every dairy farm should have a supplementary pasture according to W. C. Mclver of West Marion. He plants a supplementary pasture each year. Mr. Mclver says this pasture always pays big dividends in saving feed and in icreasing milk produc tion. A mixture of crimson clover and rye grass was used in seeding Mr. Mclver's pasture last fall. He will graze it this winter and early spring before the other pasture is ready to graze. J. S. Stezer of Route 3, Marion, says he gets good returns on his investment every time he fertilizes his pasture. He applies about 500 pounds of phosphate or 0-14-7 ferti lizer per acre each year. Mr. Stezer j says he has proof that it pays to j feed his pasture, because the two j acre pasture in front of his home. grazed seven head of cattle from the first of April to the first of Decem ber tiiis year. This pasture was seeded four years ago, according to Mr. Setzer, in a mixture of grasses and legumes. FARM INCOME Farm income for 194S will run i a little higher than for last year,' according to the Agriculture De- j partment, reversing earlier esti- j mates of a drop. Farmers' cash receipts this year were estimated at $-30,800,000,000 compared with $30,200,000,000 in 1947. Lack of vitamin A is believed to cause night blindness. BIG PROBLEMS FACING N.C. LEGISLATORS Ra^igh, Dec. 27—Four major problem s— finances, education, roads and liquor—will keep North Carolina's legislators busy most of the time after they convene here Jan. 5. There's no way of predicting just how much money the General As sembly will appropriate to operate the state's manifold agencies and institutions during the 1949-51 bien nium, but one thing is virtually cer tain ; the appropriations will be sub stantially greater than the $322,000, 000 the state is spending this bien nium. Demands of the people for more services—better schools and more pay for teachers, more money for dependent children and the indigent aged, better care for the sick and insane, and better pay for state em ployes—will cause these appropria tion increases. Budget Requests The state's advisory budget com mission last fall received from the state agencies and institutions re quests for a thumping $611,000,000 to carry on their work during the coriiing bie^nium. Now the commis sion is busy cutting these requests, down to bring them into line with, anticipated revenues. With the pres ent tax structure, the state can count on taking in about $425,000,000 dur ing the 1949-51 biennium if collec tions continue at their present levels. Rut changes in the tax structure are possible. Governor-elect Kerr Scott has suggested the possibility of increasing the gasoline tax and issuing bonds to pay for his rural road program. Scott also has hinted | at the possibility of other tax in creases. Of the $611,000,000 requested of , the budget commission, nearly half was sought by the-state board of education for the public schools. The board asked for $221,475,607" to operate the schools in 1949-51 and another $50,000,000 to aid. local units school building. Approxi mately $128,000,000 is being spent on the schools this biennnim. Instructional Salaries The school request included $177. 500,000 for instructional salaries as compared with $101,500,000 being spent this biennium. This much, money would give the teachers a pay boost of 50 per cent. It would provide an average salary for teach ers of about $3,100 a year com pared with the present average of $1,943. Scott has indicated support of a.' minimum teacher salary of $2,400 provided for in the board of edu cation request, but he has hinted he may balk at the maximum levels proposed by the board, $3,600 for a certificate teachers and $3,900 for those with graduate certificates. Roads Major issue Scott himself has made roads a.' sure major issue for the Legislature. He has indicated he wants to pave 12,000 miles of rural road and treat 36,000 more miles "within four years so school buses can get over them in all kinds of weather." To finance this tremendous pro gram, he has suggested the possi bility he will ask the Legislature to increase the gasoline tax, auth orize a huge bond issue, or both. The wet versus the dry row has emerged as a running legislative issue because of the success drys have recently had in elections to out law sale of beer and wine in various counties. They have won in 18 such elections without a defeat. The drys will be seeking a state wide liquor referendum because they believe they have enough support to dry up the state. Scott's attitude on the issue will have an important bearing on the outcome. In his election campaign he said he favored a referendum. The Bargain Store Now in New Location The Bargain Store has moved to the store room in the Blanton build ing, formerly known as The Leader Store. Both stocks of goods have been combined, it is announced, to give greater values. Invest in U. S. Savings Bonds
Marion Progress (Marion, N.C.)
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Dec. 30, 1948, edition 1
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