Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "August 25, 1919," Economic Review (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) (August 25, 1919). https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/7030/item/630443, accessed on March 4, 2025.

Title: August 25, 1919

Date: August 25, 1919
PREVIOUS | NEXT
Page 1
image-container-0 This Bulletim is is.s-uea /M the infonnation of Membe,- Banks 11nci the B..uflr.eSB Inte,-esla of this District. If copy i., rece{~ed in ad'tllmcc it sll.o,dd be m,- dcr,,lood it i., intena•d as a ,pecwrcowrt~B11 and its contont, Me con)idenli<>I. Thia copy i., Mt to b• ,.,1,a,ed Jo,- J)Ublica.eion be/OTO AUG-UST 25, 1919. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY ASA E. RAMSAY, CHAIRMAN BOARC OF Dlr:i!E::CTORS AND FEOE~AL RE:SE.RVE AG.ENT C. K. BOARDMAN. ASSCSTANT FEDERAL RE!IIERVE AGENT REPORT OF CONDITIONS IN DISTRICT No. 10 FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1919. Kansas City, Mo., August 25, 1919. REPORTS from all sections of the Tenth Federal Reserve District indicate that busi- ness this month is moving forward with amazing strides under difficulties. Practi- cally every line of activity has been hampered in some way, and more or less seriously, by transportation interruptions due to the railway shopmen's strike, by numerous wage demands and other strikes or threat- ened strikes, by shortage of labor and materials, an<l by the general unrest and dissatisfaction growing out of present economic conditions which is now expressed in nation-wide agitation for a reduction of the au- normally high prices of commodities. Improvement has come since the first week -in the month by the ending, temporarily at least, of the shopmen's strikt and ,ve have escaped the much dreaded paralysis to traffic movements by a railroad tie-up. The labor ,;ituation is for the time being easier. But it is too earh· to forecast results from the efforts of state an<l nati;nal governments to bring quick relief in the form uf lower price levels. Yet, back of the reports is an unmistakable feeling of confidence that, with the Na- R r.:on arou.sed to the need of remedial action, things will ue speedily righted and we will see a continua- tion of busy and prosperous times for many month~ to come. \Vi th the prosperity that has come to t h e farmer from ~oorl crops and high prices for everything he ha!s tO. sell, and to the wage-earner with full employ- rnent at the b ighest wages he has ever received, t h ere has come a business prosperity in proport ion, w ith a plentitude of money. A habit of b uy ing a nd buying big has found kidgme11t in the minds of !~e peo~le, who a.re becoming accustomed to commod1ties w hich for merly appealed to them as l uxuries only." And al ong w ith t his buy ing and buying big h ave come in- creases upon increases of prices until levels already reached are higher than the maximu·m imposed upon lhe people by war-time necessities. Seemingly, the gap between the producer and the consumer has be- come too wide, according to the popular view, and \\·bile labor is insufficient and wages high, and money i~ plentiful and easy to earn and to spend, the gen- eral public apparently is taking the position that it is time to call a halt on exorbitant prices, at least on commodities. Business m en of this part of the United States are agreed that present abnormal demands and larger do- mestic needs following the ending of the World War, coupled with the high cost of production and market- ing, necessarily call ior higher prices and business on a larger scale than was ever before carried on. But business men who believe in playing the game square see no justification in profiteering mark-ups on goods simply because the supply is limited and the public has the money w ith · w ~ch _ to bu y,. Some w h0Jes<1,le merchants and jobbers in -this dis trict an;; giv;in g __ w ise cow1sel to their patrons, t he retailers, to t ake onl y a fair profit, cont ending that the present demand for merchandise is sufficient to give them a legitimate profit. It is also conceded by business men of the district that regulation of prices on several of the necessities would work great improvemen.t to business and would materially aid in dairfying ti!~ s i~tion. B ut sweep- ing reductions, such a s a re advocated by man. y leader:s, cannot come in1mediately_-th ey must come gradually and in harmony with a general and carefully wprked out plan of readjustment of economic conditions. · General Business. . . . · · · · . · H~rvesJ;ing a<;.tiy iti~ -a_ 11.d vacatioti ,perfoas, \!Sually deterrent factdrr fo trade .at this ·season, nave n ot this year caused the slowing-up of business to such an extent as has been prevalent in summer season~ past. Repl ying t o a query as to conditions at the beginning of August, 74% of the houses repor ting to chis Bulletin said business was improv_ ing, 18% re- ported bu siness steady, 3% normal and 3% quiet. Supplemental reports covering the first half of the pr esent month disclosed no material change from the conditions reflected in. the earlier reports, excep t as business was inconvenienced here and there by trans- po1-tatiou d ifficultis during the strike of the -railroad sh0pmen . . l'vierc hants' sales generally are ahead of last y ea r . The sales for J uly, w it h full returns at hand, rang ed from 20% increase t o 60% increase over the sales of July, 1918, according to the statements of about one- half of the houses reporting. Other houses not giv- ing percentages report a large increase in the amount of money from sales but practically the same number of transactions, and the same volume of merchandise as was sold in July a year ago. Only a few mer- chants report sales about the same as last year. Wholesale dealers and jobbers report that they are booking a large and increasing number of orders for future delivery. In some quarters it is said the retail merchants are becoming cautious over the price agi- tation and are buying on smaller orders but oftener. Geuer~tll,y, however, retailers are accepting the high pric~ and are buying to meeL anlicipated heavy de- mands of t heir customers this fall and winter. The difficulty of obtaining supplies of merchandise with which to fill orders is becoming more and more a perplexing _problem. It is frequently asserted in the rep~rts from wholesale houses that they have more orders than they can get merchandise to fill. Some houses report that arrivals of stocks are so slow they are able to unload from cars and distribute without the merchandise ever reaching their warehouses. Im- provement of supply in a few lines is expected to come soon, but a majority of manufacturrs are so far be- hind that it is admitted months will be . required to produce a supply which will be equal to the demands upon their factories. The Trade in Detail. It would be difficult at this time to say what par- ticular lines of merchandise are strongest, owing to the fact that all lines of seasonable merchandise are in active demand. Sales of dry goods are rmmi t1g large- ly in excess of any former season. Ready-to-wear garments for both men and women continue in strong demand. Furnishings for men, such as shirts, collars and t ies, are active. Silk garments a re becoming scarcer. O n all of these a rticles there is apparently no ou! look for lo_ ,v:~r pr ices_. _ .. Nlan 1:J.f~.Gtuners and job- be!~ in_ s hoes r:~_port a_. good .t r~de with the. adva.9-ce. cost of-. raw m~_!aj_ al 1!,~Q: laqor •~e~pjp-g ptic~ at: :the· top n otch. - In groceries and the food lines the situation is un- dergoing slight improvem ent only. The Government's action in disposing of surplus army and navy stocks of foods is giving the public an opportunity to buy these supplies a t prices somewhat below the regula r r etailers' prices. S iezing of hoarded supplies of sugar and put ting them. on the market is calculat~d to even up the_~pply .and .h.elp relieve the pTesent s hortage ; but me;rchants. offer little encouragement on sugar s~pply_ gr;_pri~es, a t least _ unt:il th_ e 19J9 crop. of beet sugar iS: reaef.y for ;h e market. Coffee continues high w it~ prosp~ct~. -of anotl'!~r ad~ance while canned goods a re ·m greatA_ eIDcl;_ng., w ith ~h1s y~ar•~ 9utpµt cont ract- ed Tor a nd · no · immediate prospect of lower prices.
image-container-1
image-container-2
image-container-3
About
Date: August 25, 1919
Part Of:
Collections within FRASER contain historical language, content, and descriptions that reflect the time period within which they were created and the views of their creators. Certain collections contain objectionable content—for example, discriminatory or biased language used to refer to racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.
Source Information
Digital Copy Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Rights
Metadata
Metadata (XML)
Metadata (JSON)
IIIF Presentation Manifest
View IIIF Manifest (JSON)