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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALl.AS
REPO RT O F BUSINESS CONDITIONS
IN THE ELEV ENTH FEDERAL RESERV E DISTRICT
(Compiled by the Federal Reserve Agent, January 23, 1920.)
The strong position of the nalional and state banks, a$ reflected by partial returns from their condit ion reports of December 31st, 1919, was the salient development of the general business ituation (or the month of December. The advent of the New Yljar found th ' banks in lhe larger centers with the heaviest deposi ts in their
his tory.
An illustration of the magnitude of their prosperity is afforded by the fact that one reserve city in the district reported a net gain of one hundred and twenty-three per cent in its aggregate deposits of
December 31,1919, as compared with December 31, 1918.
One of the principal factors of Ulis sihmtion is the I'clI1IU'kable development during the past year of lhe oil
industry in th is district, whose production in 1919, aggregating' 111,903,600 barrels, was more than double the yield
for 1918.
Crop statistics compiled in December indicate thaI 1919 was Texas' banner year in agricultural production,
the mOlley returns from eotton having exceeded a ll former rt!cords, and lhe production of grain having more tllan
doubled the highest previous records of rece nt years. Range conditions were never more satisfactory, nor offered
a more encouraging outlook.
.
'I'he turn of the year witnessed no appreciable diminution in trade, and, contrary to prediclions in some
qual' el' , brought no sub lantial recessions in prices.
AGRICULTURE:
Better weaUler conditions prevailing dllring the past thirty days hav(' enabled farmers to complete the picking of cotlon in practically all sect ions of the district. Texas ginnings prior to January 1st, 1920, amounted to
2,465,377 bales, against 2,479,472 bales g inned prior to January 1st, 1919.
The 1919-1920 acreage of winter wheat is 1,077,000, conditions 79% of normal, as compared with 1,959,000
acres and a condition of 850/0 for the corresponding period Ia t seasptl.
Reports 011 truck crops indicate that Texas will have a commercia l acreage of 35,000 acres this year, the
average condition at this time being about 851'0. A recent inAux of new settlers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
ha s stimulated truck growing operations in that section, where hea,'y shipments of early vegetab les will begin to
move to outside markets in March, with the movement reaching its peak point early in April.
LlV·EST OCK :
Range conditions are uniformly good throughout the district. Grass is plentiful, cattle and sheep are fat,
and reports from the ranges indicate that very liLtle dry feed will be required to carry livestock through the winter. While New Mexico and the Panhand le country have heen visited by cold waves and snow storms, cattle have
not suffered to any great extent and winter losses are expected to be unusua lly light, due to the excellent condition
of the herds.
The December movement of cattle and calves to the market was lighter than in ovember, whi le the movement. of sheep was about the same. I n the San Angelo territory the sheep ranges have recently been heavily resto cked-the movement being estimated at 250,000 head-by Shipments from Wyoming, where wealher and range
condiHons threatened serious losses. Cattle ranges throughout the district are stilt considerably understoeked, not
having yet recovered from the effects of conlinu d drouth s and the slaughter of breeding herds during the war.
Prices on beef steers at t he leading market of lhis district nried very litll e during the month of December,
the top at the end of that month being $12.50, as compared with $12.25 at the end of November. Hogs reached a
tOI) of $14.50, as compared with $13.25 for the previous monlh , while calves commanded a tap price of $13.25 on
D(' ccmber 31 1, as aga inst $11.00 on November 29th.
Comparative livestock receipts at Fort Wort h were as fo ll ows:
November December
Loss 01' Gain
Callie ....................................................108,781
89,669
L 19,11 2
Ca lves .............................................. 28,920
13.,605
L 15,315
Hogs ............................................... 30,339
4;',014
G 14,675
Sheep .............................................. 33,758
32,067
L
1,69 1
Horses and Mu les.... ................... 10,845
6,770
L 4,075
1918
1,384,594
280,575
762,486
334,596
78,881
1919
1,030,932
235,282
588,101
453,249
60,366
Loss or Gain
L 353,662
L
45,233
L 174,385
G 1] 8,653
L
18,515
LU MB ER :
The lumber l11iUs went into the New Year wi th what is said to be the shortest stocks in their history, although confronted with an illcreasing rather than a decreasing volume of orders. The demand, which ord inari ly
shows a noticeable lull from abo ut the middle of Decemher until after the first of January, has th is season continued strong and sustained throughout the holi day period.
December output showed a decrease as compared with lhe previous month, due to milling difficult ies arising
frol11 adverse weather conditions, the scarcity of labor and a continued shortage of cars.
Thispublication was digitized and made available by the Federal Reserve Bank
of Dallas' Histo17cal Library (FedHistory@dalfrb.org)
On some items prices continued to exhibit an upward trend during the month. In some quarters it is believed
that lumb er prices have reached their peak levels, while the contrary view seems to be held by a majority of manufacturers, who, though declaring that prices are too high, assert that the demand has so far outstripp ed the supply
that a gradually rising scale of prices for several months to come is a natural concomitant of such a condition,
and that producers will be powerless to stabili ze the situation until demand and supply become more nearly
equalized than they are at the present time.
OIL:
A comparison of the November and December operations of all Eleventh District oil fie lds w hose records
are available discloses an increase of 158 in the number of completions, 139 in the number of producers, and an increase of 19 in the number of failures, while the total production for the month of December, including new and
old wells, showed a slight fa ll ing off, as w ill be seen from the following tabulation:
Completions
Pro ducers
Failures
Tota l production
8,822,235 barrel's
8,807,232 barr els
Statistics of the operations of all fields in Texas and Northern Louisiana for the year 1919 are quoted below:
Comp letions
Producers
Failures
Total production
( new and old wells)
Texas lields ..............................................................
4,863
3,723
1,140
96,662,606 barrels
Louisiana ....................................................................
629
541
88
15,241,485 barrels
The results of drilling operations for 1919 in Texas "wild cat" fields were 313 completions, of wh ich ~7 per
cent were producers and 63 per cent failures. In T exas Burkburnett led the proven fields wit.h 1,989 completion s
and a production of 25,865,757 barrels, while in North ern Louisiana the Bull Bayou district led with 126 completions and 4,041,115 barrels.
In lin e with price advances placed in effect in the Oklahoma fields (luring the past month, an advance of 25
cents per barrel was recently posted in the North Texas field, increasing the price of North Texas crude to $3.00.
The advance was attributed to a general increase in the demand for domestic consumption and export requirements.
~~~~l~~~::: t~f~ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~::::::::::::
1~f
19~
~~
MANUFACTURING:
The December position of the manufacturing industries was sub stantially unchan ged as compared with the
month of November. Textile plnnts are operating at fr0111 60% to 80% of their output record for the correspondin g period a year ago, the curtai lment being attributed largely to concessions granted to labor in the matter of
shorter hours. A number of cotton mills report orders booked in such volume as to absorb their entire output for
the next several months.
Manufacturers of cottonseed products show the usual seasonal increase in vo lum e, despite the fact that prices
of raw materials and labor costs are setting new high records.
The demand for the highest grade of manufactured products continues to outrun the inquiry for the .lower
pr iced articles, and there is no visible prospect of an early abatement of this tendency.
TRADE:
Wholesale Trade:
In an effort to secure more definite data with respect to conditions in the wholesale trade, a questionnaire
was l'ecently mailed to a number of representative wholesale houses in the Southwest, calling for comparative statistics of their operations for the month of December, stated in terms of percentual increases and decreases as compared with the months of November, 1919, and December, 1918. While the reports thus far received have been insufficient in number and geographical distribution to warrant their use in arriving at an accurate and representative
group of averages for the district as a whole, they throw an interesting light on the general trend of wholesale
operations in the particular localities which they represent, and, for that reason alone are reproduced below in the..,.form of consolidated a verages for each line of busin ess represented by the reporting firms:
Month of December, 1919, Compared with December, 1918.
Reporting lin es
Sa les
lllc. D ec.
Grocer ies ...................................................................... 32 70
Furn iture .................................. - .................................. 50 0/0
~~~g~~.~~~~ ..::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::l~~~
Selling
prices
Inc. Dec.
10.7%
25. %
~~: ~
Stocks at
end of month
Inc. Dec.
6.7%
20. %
Unfi ll ed factolJr orders
at end of month ' '
Inc. Dec.
250/0
250/0
14.8% 37%
20% 30%
Auto supplies ............................ ............................ .... 50 %
10%
25%
An effort is being made to broaden this survey with the view of obtaining a larger and more represent~tive
list of reporting firms as a source of information concerning the monthly fluctuations in the statistical position of
wholesale trade.
Retail Trade:
A survey similar to the one undertaken with respect to w holesale trade for the mon th of December was insti- ,
tuted with a view of obtaining statistics on the condition of retail trade, the latter yielding somewhat better results.
In .response to inquiries directed to leading retail dealers in the district replies were received representin g a' sufficient number of firms and cities to make up what may be considered a fairly representative showin g for the "district, although with respect to some lines of trade the records of the r epo rting firms were not carried in such' form
as to enable them to furnish the exact averages of the fluctuations in stocks on hand at the end of the mOl'iih, and
unfilled wholesale ord ers, a nd in such cases the percen tages r epo rted for these items were based on estimgtes~
The tables appended below reflect the condition of trade in seven of the leading retail lines of business for
the month of December, 1919, Table I showing percentual increases and decreases for that month as compared with
the preceding month, and Table II showing the comparison with D ecember, 1918. The percentages shown in these
tablcs were obtained by calculating the average of the percentages reported by all reporting firms in each line of
trade.
I.
Month of December, 1919, Compared with November, 1919.
Reporting lines-
Sales
Groceries ............................................................................................ ..
Furniture .......................................................................................... ..
Dry Goods ....................................................................................... .
Clothing ............................................................................................. .
Shoes ................................................................................................... .
Iiardware ............................................................................................
Fal'ln Implen1ents .......................................................................... ..
Combined .......................................................................................... ..
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
26%
36%
31%
41%
10%
18%
74%
34%
Selling
prices
Inc. 5%
Inc. 18%
Inc. 15 %
Inc. 2%
Inc.
5%
Stocks at
end of month
Inc.
Dec.
Inc.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
Dec.
4%
30/0
110/0
11 %
7%
20 %
3%
4%
Unfilled
wholesale
orders at
end of month
Dec. 2%
Inc. 3%
Inc. 10%
Inc. 8%
Inc. 14%
Inc. 10%
Inc. 40%
Inc. 12%
II. Month of December, 1919, Compared with December, 1918.
Reporting lines-
Sales
Groccries ..............................................................................................
l~ urniture ............................................................................................
Dry Goods ........................................................................................
Clothing ..............................................................................................
Shoes ....................................................................................................
Hardware ............................................................................................
Farm Implements ..................... :......................................................
Con1bined ............................................................................................
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
39%
86%
91 %
46%
33%
66%
51 %
59%
Selling
prices
................
Inc. 31%
Inc. 20%
Inc. 21%
Inc. 31%
Inc. 13%
Inc. 3%
Inc. 17%
Stocks at
end of month
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
Inc.
12 %
22%
21%
2%
5%
17%
28%
15%
Unfilled
wholesale
orders' at
end of month
Dec. 20%
Inc. 7%
Inc. 150/0
Inc. 64%
Inc. 23%
Inc. 20%
Inc. 50%
Inc. 23%
BANKING AND FINANCE:
Comparative figures showing the principal items of assets and liabilities of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on November 29th and December 31, 1919, are as follow s:
Nov. 29
Dec. 31st
$ 59,411,000
Total Cash Reserves ...................................................................... ................................................ $ 61,038,000
Bills Discounted, Members ..................................................................................................... _... 44,065,000
58,316,000
Bills Purchased ................................................................................ ................................................ 12,803,000
6,420,000
Net Deposits .................................................................................................................................... 106,545,000
107,662,000
F. R. Note Circulation .................................................................................................................... 69,787,000
74,930,000
Ratio of Reserves to Combined Note and Deposit Liability ................................................
51%
48%
During the period from November 7th, 1919, to January 2nd, 1920, the following changes appeared in the condition reports of 44 member banks located in the principal cities of this district:
Nov. 7
Jan. 2
Inc. Dec.
U. S. Securities Owned ...........................................................................$ 59,000,000
$ 70,000,000
17%
Cash Reserves ......................... ........................................................................ 35,000,000
39,000,000
11%
Loans and Investments ............................................................................. 235,000,000
258,000,000
10%
Total Deposits .............................................................................................. 249,000,000
297,000,000
20%
Bills Payable due F. R. Bank............. ................................................ ....... 23,000,000
12,000,000
50%
The advance in discount rates of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas effective early in November apparently
had but little, if any, effect upon the volume of its discount operations during November and December, demonstrating the comparative freedom of this district from speculative loans of serious magnitude. While the advance was
followed by a heavy liquidation of paper discounted fot reserve city banks, the retirement seems to have been the
logical result of their heavy growth in deposits. Liquidation from this source was more than offset by the December demand from interior banks, which, despite the advance in the Federal Reserve rates, rediscounted freely for
the purpose of financing the early preparations for the 1920 operations of farmers and cattle raisers.
Bank clearings in the principal cities showed a substantial growth, both for the month of D ecember and the
year 1919, as evidenced by the following statistics:
DECEMBER
TWELVE MONTHS
1918
Austin ................$ 12,975,434
6,138,245
Beaumont
Dallas ................ 110,758,577
El Paso -_.......... 20,781 ,340
Fort Worth .... 58,155,277
Galveston ...... .... 29,096,247
Houston
76,060,649
Shreveport .. ...... 13,561,914
Waco .................. 11,288,431
1919
$ 8,827,632
7,311,411
193,279,859
32,329,904
102,386,742
43,237,103
146,648,457
22,737,166
]5,479,000
Inc. or
Dec.
Dec. 32.0%
Inc. 15.8%
Inc. 75.4%
Inc. 55.6%
Inc. 76.1%
Inc. 48.6%
Inc. 92.8%
Inc. 67.7%
Inc. 9.1%
Total ............ $338,816,114
$572,237,274
Inc. 68.8%
1918
Austin ................$ 185,372,224
Beaumont .._-_ ...
68,216,730
Dallas ................ 1,076,092,264
E1 Paso ............ 226,641,693
Fort Worth .... 694,451,202
Galveston ........ 287,382,862
Houston ............ 796,351,625
Shreveport ........ 132,002,71 ]
Waco ........ -...... - 138,579,497
Total .............. $3,605,090,808
1919
70,361,813
] ,63] ,376, 165
308,861,839
900,098,820
397,359,563
1,117,571,425
175,859,143
148,213,082
Inc.
15.3%
3.1%
51.6%
36.3%
29.6%
42.7%
40.3%
33.2%
6.9%
$4,963,429,899
37.6%
$ 213,728,049
\Nhile reliabl~ statistics are not available at this time with. respect to the output of new issues of stocks and
bonds in December, a survey of the new financing accomplished in this district during the year 1919 discloses the
'fact that the State of Texas is taking it le~ding part in the processes of reconstruction, as is evidenced by its 1920
program for public highway improvements. Carefully compiled records show' that from January 1, 1919, to January
1, 1920, a total of $79,983,000 in bonds for road building purposes was voted by Texas counties, a total of 109 counties
voting bond issues during the year. D alla s County led the list with $6,500,000, with Eas tland County, in the center
of the North Texas o il fields, a close second with $4,500,000.
LABOR:
Current reports indicate that on the whole there is still a shortage of lab or in the district, although complaints to this effect are beginning to be less frequently hea rd. The most serious shortage is in agriculture, farmers
finding it increas in gly difficult to compete for labo r with the oil fields, construction enterprises and other industries
where high wages, short hours and not infrequently the bonus system, combin e to attract labor to the industrial
centers and away from the farms.
Manufacturing plants report the labor supply inadequate, while in mining and transpo rtation the supply is
practically sufficient for all requirements.
FAILURES:
Only 16 suspens ions we re reported in December, involving liabilities aggregatin g' $186,817.00, which, with the
exception of September, 1919, is the best month's record the district has made for the past three years.
The tota l number of failures during 1919 was 322, as compared with 423 for 1918 and 684 for 1917.
A comparative tabulation of the monthly suspensions for 1918 and 1919 is g iven below:
Jan uary ................................................................................................................................
February ..............................................................................................................................
March ....................................................................................................................................
April .................... ......... .....................................................................................................
May ......................................................................................................................................
June ......................................................................................................................................
July .............. ....................................................................................... .................... ............
August .. ........................ .....................................................................................................
September .............................................................................................. .................. :.........
October ................................................................................................................................
Novemb er ............... ..........................................................................................................
December .... .............................................................................................. ......................
No.
48
41
31
32
31
33
33
46
33
30
32
33
1918
Liabilities
$ 455,538
288,227
192,997
251,858
262,671
470,752
311,032
298,340
272,521
410,202
293,019
1,191,850
No.
48
41
17
24
35
31
23
30
7
22
28
16
1919
Liabilities
$ 695,082
930,894
252,971
226,206
304,739
210,444
261,727
249,603
48,883
263,516
253,516
186,817
Totals .......................................................................................................................... 423
$4,699,007
322
$3,884,398
BUILDING:
Building permits issued in the principal cities during December totaled 1,550 i:n number, representing, valuation aggregating $8,158,138 as compared with 1,587 and $5,111,726 for November, 1919, and 942 permits with valuation amounting to $472,431 for the month of D ecember, 1918.
The record for the year 1919 shows an average increase in valuations of 307% over 1918, and reflects the magnitude of the movement now under way to m ee t the housing demands of the increased populations in these cities.
The following tables show the comparative operations reported by the larger cities of the district for the
months of December, 1918, and 1919, and also the total for 1918 and 1919.
No.
7
Austin
Beaumont ...... 40
Dallas ............ 33
E1 Paso .......... 65
Fort Worth .... 38
Galves ton ..... .415
Houston .. ...... 172
San Antonio .. 1l8
Shreveport .... 54
Total... ....... 942
DECEMBER
1918
1919 Inc. or
No.
Dec.
6 $ 14,020
+312.3
$ 3,400
35,583
48
32,004
-10.0
6 1,635
191 3,164,600 +5,034.4
52,668
87
237,385
+350.7
53,312
166 3,071,270 +5,698.4
15,062
316
31,464
+108.8
149,784
380
542,715
+262.3
299,190
82,963
149
+260.6
207
765,510 +4,147.1
18,024
$472,431
1,550 $8,158,138
+ 1,626.8
TWELVE MONTHS
1918
1919
No.
No.
Austin ............ 102 $ 252,6 15
145 $ 250,317
Beaumont ...... 865
1,304,421
968
1,057,074
Dallas
555
1,667,729 1,599 13,921,565
E1 Paso .......... 1,030
.646,149 1,242
2,245,587
Fort Worth .... 630 2,067,887 2,000 19,053,157
Galveston ...... 3,957
175,614 5,720
666,272
Houston ....... .2,227 2,222,151 4,066 6,874,380
San Antonio .. 2,612 3,756,344 2,710
3,973,330
Shreveport .... 593
552,257 1,637
3,538,386
Inc. or
Dec.
-.9
-18.9
+734.7
+247.5
+821.3
+279.3
+209.3
+5.7
+540.7
Tota1... ..... 12,571 $ 12,645, 179 20,087 $51 ,580,068
+307.1
POSTOFFICE RECEIPTS:
Receipts at the larger postoffices for the year 1918 and 1919 were as follows:
Percentage
1918
1919
Inc. or Dec.
~~11~~ ..::::::::::':::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::$l,~~~:t~~:gg
.·.·. ·. · . . .· . . . . . .·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..l:!illnH
BI Paso ........................................................................... ....................................... _ 400,543.00
~~:~i:~~; .·.·
. Total.. ........... :................................................................................................$5,951 ,087.00
$ 250,749.00
2,206,458.00
435,258.00
947,542.00
1,167,825.00
926,130.00
252,439.00
19.3
8.7
12.5
13.4
$6,186,401.00
3.9
6.4
19.1
39.3
@FedFRASER