Newspapers / The Monroe Journal (Monroe, … / Dec. 17, 1920, edition 1 / Page 4
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EIGHT PAGES EIGHT PAGES THE MONROE JOURNAL $2.oo Ycr. Cash In Athuw. '3 ! 4 4 7 Published Each TuetMUy ami lYWuJ. JOHN BEASLEY. Editor. NATIVE OK PEXVSVLVAMA UEKISES Til ItAlsE COTTON Founded in IS94 by the present' owner and publishers. G. il. and K. I". Beagley. ; The Journal Builtlini!. corner of Jefferson and Beagley Street. A notice to discontinue The Journal U unnecessary, as we understand that ; you do not want the paper when you : do not renew your eu&scription. ; I"KII Y, ItECEMHEIt 17. IMrt. ( "LAIMS OV THK KARMKIl ITOX EllMEXTAU AID. The Now York Times dismisses the efforts of Southern and Western Sen-, ators to secure governmental aid forj their constituent as "corntleld bank ing,' and then proceeds to quote Sen- ator Edge, of New Jersey, as savin! that farmers, like everybody else; must lake their medicine in this time of inevitable readjust me-nt. Surely the Times and Senator Edge know that the farmers are not seek ing to be. relieved from bearing an equitable, share of the losses attend ant upon this readjustment period. They are. however, rightfully object Ins to bearing the main brunt of the burden. They have more than con tributed their part towards lowering the- cost of living, while the losses sustained by corporations are infini tesimal in comparison. The best authorities admit that It cost not less than thirty cents a pound to produce this crop of cotton, and those who are selling at 15 cents a pound are pocketing a loss of 50 per cent. If the manufacturers, as the Marshville Home says, "were carrying a 50 per cent loss It would mean that they should first figure ofT all added prof its on their good and then discount the remainder 50 per cent. That is, they would be selling their products at Just one-half whit it cost them to produce them not a strait portion, but the entire 1920 output." Few. if any. manufacturer, have applied the pruning knif? to this extent. The manufacturers, being but hu man, are seeking to keep prices for their products up to the highest pos sible level so as to avoid too much loss. This policy has crippled the buying capacity of the. country. a consumers, aware uf the drastic re ductions in the price of law mater ials, are reluctant to purchase goods at prices they know to be all out of reason in comparison with the cost of the products of the farm. Take the price of shoes, for Illustration. The manufacturers have made some reductions, it is true, but 110 one would dare maintain that the reduc tions are at all in keeping with the prico of hides, which are quoted ut 3 cents a pound. All the farmer asks of the govern ment is sufficient monetary aid to permit the holding of his products until the exorable law of supply and demand has had an opportunity t assert itself. This will not be possi ble until the consumers are con vinced that the prices of manufact ured goods have reached rock bot tom. There Is another claim that tin farmer has upon governmental aid. He was told that it was his patriate duty to produce, to till every idle acrt to make two stalks of wheat, or cotton, grow where only one grew before. He was promised good prices, and unless the government comes to li is aid ho will come to the conclusion that the rewards of patri otism are meager. THK NAVAL 1IOI.IUAY. Of far-reaching importance is the proposed "five-year naval holiday" agreement between Great Britain, the United States, and Japan, the greatest powers of the world. Under Us stipulation, neither of the three countries would make appropriations for the enlargement of their navies during the five-year period. The plan is sponsored by Senator Borah, but It has the opposition of Secretary of the Navy Daniels, who insists that this country either enter lino the League of Nations or build a navy "second to none." The savin? to this country would amount to hun dreds of millions of dollars. In tho category of various and sundry extravagances, none Is more senseless than the naval competition between the great countries, and it nhowld be stopped eithr through the Lt-igue, or by the proposed "naval holiday" agreement. Unless such an agreement is entered into, the mad race for naval suDremacy between the ranking powers of America 1 Great Brttalu, ana japan, win ten times sham? the hectic and expensive military preparations of the German Empire. There will no end to (he bitter struggle. Billions upon bil lions will go into the construction or battleships, dre..vi naughts, and super dreadnaughts, and America will be come a tax-ridden nation. This is the opportunity for Con gress to effect a sweeping reduction in the cost of government. Without the burdensome expenf-o of building such a navy as Secret ary Dani As ad vocates our war debts could be paid with comparative ease, and peace would not be Jeoparded by an ex- , V.1I. .. n.n.h itlfl .tint W n fJCnlV" llJCllllIt. uiai wouiyba certain to want to try out.; Mr. fkitgrr Couldn't riMlerstaitd Idea of PrtxIut iitK a lNiuiHxliiy Hetoii Coot. (From the Charlotte O'-sorver. 1 During the memorable "buy-a-bale" ear when five cents was the best the market was offering for cotton, thore were "authorities" who at that time made content ion that the farmer could come out "even.'" as it had not cost him more than five cents to pro duce his crop. The Observer ent into a careful study of th? j .tst.un at the time and on the basis of ex isting costs of labor and material, established, the cost ot ra-smg 11 at a fraction over nine cojits. At that time -Mr. I'otger had newly ar rived from Pennsylvania and had raised a crop on a subuibau fat in. He found that the cotton he raised tallied in cost of production with 'I he Observer's figure. When lie . pot'd of it to a local firm. lu :;... !c the statement that it was his first and last experience with cotton. He could not understand the Southern idea in raising a thing at nine cents and sell ing It for five cents. He has never since grown a stalk of cotton, and is miles further from the pourhouse now than he was then. As there were "authorities ' who were at that time arguing that the farmer was not dolnj so badly selling his cotton at five cents, so there- are "authori ties" now who are contending that ten cents a pound will not only cover the cost of producing the present crop, but leave the farmer a little pocket money. A shining example is developed in the case of a New York commission house that is claiming fourteen cents as "a fair figure" for cotton, making allowance at that for the advance in cost of commodities. This same firm thinks eighteen cents would be "a most liberal allowance." But there happens to be a newspaper man In New York who has practical knowledge of the cultivation of cot ton and its cost. It is the editor of The New York Commercial, from whom this paper is In the habit of quoting on the state of the Nation. The Commercial intimates that it is useless to give serious consideration to the contentions of this commission house. It declares what the people know to be a fact that the figures it advances are superficial and are not based upon any independent in vestigation. Then The Commercial proceeds Tho cost of the present cotton crop is declared by those who have male a thorough Investigation of costs to be the high"st evei known. Consid ering the cost of fertilizer, of labor, of money iiself. anc of everything in the way of preliminary expenditure which the farmer :1,1s to encounter, il is not unreasonable to believe th'.s to be the case. It may be that in some favorable conditions cot 1011 has bin produced as low us eight!-, cents a pound, but ihe general as sumption is that it has been more likely twenty-eiL-ht or thirty cents a pound, while in some localities it lias undoubtedly touched forty cents. Hut assuming for the sak of ar sum nt that in pre-w;,r days cotton could be produced for less than ten cents a pound, is it possible thai right thinking American people w ant cotton produced under the romliiions this figure would represent? Show ini: a "profit" at ten cents a pound simply meant that the tenant farmer and most of the rotton is pro duced by tenant fanners -manatee to come out at the end of the crop season with Just enough to pay back what he had borrowed to produce, the crop and with nothing with which 10 start a new crop or even to live luring the period of its growth. To -tart a new crnji he would have to go in debt as before. The country store would stake him with pro v;Idps uff!cient to live on over the period, but theee provisions would in a great majority ot instances be of the quantity and rl aracter barelv sufficient to keep -,., ami iv tret her. Such a thing as a far;., ticuring in the cost of his own labor or that of his wife and children was unheard of. One who has not been down among them and encounter l these conditions at first hand can not reillze what this means. It Is very easy to talk of the cost 'f production of cotton, but it Is quite another matter to correctly estimate all the factors that enter into it. If the cost of producing the cotton were estimated on the same basis as the cost of producing wheat no one would say that it could be produced and -how a profit at ten cents. If costs were estimated on the basis of fac tory production, on the basis of the cost of raw material plus labor (and labor, by the way, on an eight-homr schedule) plus insurance, deprecia tion, interest and all other such charges, no one would expect it to be below thirty cents. 'ZZ ;::; :::: . . o . . .. . . ., y A. . A. , Y' 4 W.M Eelk .Br. Department Stores. MerUonlr.irn l-nud. (From the Charlotte Observer.) Mecklenburg does not seem to be figuring '.11 the tales of tho "tragedy" of the farm that have been heard around Washington in recent days One dav last week, a farm loca'.ed 10 or 12 miles from Charlotte was sold for $45,000. Monday a farm located six miles from town was put up at auction at the court house door and was "knocked down" for $24. 000. This was a rash sale, and as it war, held open for a higher bid. It is probable that in the final transaction it will call for even a larger exchange of money. This farm consists of about ISO acres, only two or three of which front on the "main toad," tho balance lying on a "cut-off." That portion of the land fronting the Im proved highway brought $700 nn acre. The average price offered for the farm in cash was about $200 an acre. It Is Just an ordinary country side farm, vllh no mid"in Improve ments of note and no extra qualities f.hout tho soil. It was never suspect ed that there was a gold mine on the land, but bidders wanted this farm and were willing to pay what a few yonrs auo would have bern reitarded as, an nmarlng price. These $24,000 and $45,000 transactions In Mecklen burg lands might be taken as good Indication that things are not In a bad wny In at least one North Caro lina county. Now on Sale at New Low Prices Many Useful Gifts For Every Member of ihe Family OUR ENTIRE STOCK OF COMFORTS, BLANK ETS, ETC., ARE BASED ON NEW LOW PRICES Which Means a Great Sarins. $2.98 Comforts, extra heavy quality $1.98 ;R43 Comforts, extra hear quality, full size $2.48 $ Better Grades in extra quality Quilts 9Y t no tino a ta iaat fO.JO, fr"?, tpo.40, ?IV.?J COTTOH AND WOOLEN BLANKBTS AT GOOD SATING $2.50 all cotton double Blanket $1.95 !:.50 extra heary cotton Blankets, double $2.48 Wool nap Blankets in plain plaid and prey $3.93, $4.48, $4.93, $3.93 BUY YOUR RUGS NOW. Not So Cheap Since the Year 1914. $3.50 Manor Tapestry Rugs, 27x54; New Low Price $2.48 $10.00 Axminister Rugs, 36x6;; Beatuiful New Paterns, at New Low Price $6.95 Manors Tapestry Ruga, 9x12; New all eier pat terns; value at $35.00; New Low Price $29.50 $60.00 Amber Velvets, 9x12; old priee $60.00 to to $65.00; New Low Price $37.50 Smith's Velvet Rugs, 9x12; values at eld price $75.00; beautiful designs; Now New Low Price $49.50 BATH ROBES For Eyery Member of the Family. $12.50 Gents' Bath Robe $8.95 to $9.95 i, . e I I c I X . I ., I I M . . . I l . I . . I . I . . l . I . . . . ( . ( M . M . Ladies' Bath Robes . $3.95, $4.95, $6.93 to $8.50 30 Die: Department Stores Belk Bros. SELL MORE AND BETTER GOODS FOR LESS. 30 Big Department Stores .-.-w.v-:"---:"Xw The Observer on Ilond Klectlon. (From the Charlotte Observer. I The people of Monroe have Just ran led a bond election for an issue of $200,000 school bonds, and ear ned it "against the registration. the snug that for a long time stood it. ihe way of school improvement in Charlotte. Monroe will now proceed with erection of a school building that1 has been badly needed and that will relieve the sit nation for a time The way towns In this State have gone into the busines of voting road and school bonds In recent days Is pretty good evidence that the long existing prejudice against that sys tem of providing for municipal ami county needs is fast disappearing. Hut the truth of the matter is thai under developed conditions the bond issue Is th only method by which needed money Is to be handily raised, and it Is either isstio bonds or stand still. 4"M-M"MKX----M-x-:...4 &A.bLUHhAA.A.U.UAAAAJI a . .. - 1 . IT . . . ...... . TT. TTTTTTTTTTTTVTT T w r W w W.yWyTTTTTyiryy y-yTrrTTV V T V W VV W V T T VWWWyWWi Comments on Success of School Ilond. i From Kalelgh News and Observer.) Monroe votes an Issue of bond for a hl'h school building. It rec ''cui"s that good educational facili ties are necessary for the growth of a town and that education is an es sential to the stability and perma nence of our Institutions. There will be little danger of Dolshevlsm or any of the other governmental doctrines which threaten to wreck clvlliiation if the people are educated so that they can know the past and profit from Its mistakes. Just Received Fresh Shipment of CHOICE FRUITS. It will pay you to see our line before you buy. Oranges 30c and 40c per dozen. Apples, Pears, Grapes, Tangerines and Nuts at Attractive Prices. McCOLLUM BROS. Phone No. 474. Buy Your Toys for Christinas And Use This List FOR MEN AND BOYS Saftey Razors Straight Razors Razor Straps Razor Blades Flash Lights Pocket Knives Tennis Rackets Foot Balls Base Balls Basket Balls Roller Skates Wagons Wheelbarrows Velocipedes Bicycles Big Bang Cannons Shears Thermos Bottles Air Rifles Shot Guns FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS Community Silver Candy Jars Chafing Dishes Percolators Fireless Cookers Electric Irons Fire Screens Aluminum Ware Scissors Sewing Sets of Scissors Manicure Sets Caseroles Baking Dishes Electric Hot plates Sandwich Baskets Cole's Hot Blst Heaters Auto and Carriage Heaters Majestic Ranges Copper Clad Ranges Auto Lap Robes Monroe Hardware Co. Every Inch a Hardware Store.
The Monroe Journal (Monroe, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 17, 1920, edition 1
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