Show GENERAL BUSINESS C conditions 0 ND I 1 T I 1 ONS I 1 dy courtesy of 0 richfield commercial savings bank general business bus inezs is moving along in a reasonably satisfactory manner everybody is not pleased but the fundamental lund conditions are arc good A month ago we could report that a good crop of 0 the small grains had been harvested but the greatest grain crop that of corn had not matured and owing to its late start was in danger of frost the most notable development of the past month has been the maturing of 0 this crop now estimated at about bushels bushels it means much to the country although the farmers feeling of gratification is naturally tempered by the fact that the price of corn which atthe middle or of juno june was about aso 1 so per bushel has fallen tor for december or delivery to mow below 1 per bushel buOl lel it Is the first time since february 1 of 1917 that corn in chicago has sold under 1 per bushel the high point was 2 2 ag 30 in august 1917 the decline has been due to the falling off in ill tile the exports ot of meats and an d to tha bl big ig crop now in sight it is calculated to make the farmer feel that he ha has s contributed to ills his own undoing UZI d 0 ine it js ilot biot strange that lie he reds with some feeling of resentment of the v various efforts to sustain prices and curtail production in other lines lilies of textile mills running part time and labor orfa estolv i ing in favor of a six hour day obviously lie he is not getting fair and reciprocal service from the other industries dus tries with which he is exchanging products but the true remedy is not in reducing the production of foodstuffs but in ill increasing tho the production of 0 other things so that tho the prices of what the farmer buys will decline li likewise lowise the wheat crop is colloid cOll considerably sid erable under linder the expect expectation dOll of two months ago the winter crop est of the I 1 mississippi miss river was excellent in amount and quality but the acreage and yield was reduced in ill states cast of the river and the crop of spring planting in the northwest was below the early promise the goverline governments go vernine ants estimate for the total yield is now bushels the canadian crop however government estimate is 2 bushels which is 96 above last year being an average of bushels per acre against 9 4 last year and the quality is fine including tho the carryover carry over tile the amount available for export in the united states and canada is about the same as last year the foreign trade has been buying freely although the crop in this country is doing marketed slowly bradstreets Bradstreet reports deports bushels including the equivalent of flour exported in the twelve weeks ended september 23 3 against in the same weeks of last year these figures include old wheat but blit we have ii av e exported fully one halt half of all we ne can call spare in the year to july 1 1921 the developments of the mouth month fi have ave strengthened the general con victon that the boom period in prices is over and the country is settling down to conditions more normal than those which prevailed in tho the last half of 1919 and tile the early months of 1920 the day ot of competition among dealers for goods at any an price and among employers for laborers at any wage wag 0 has passed there is good buying power in the country yet but the keen edge is off tho the feeling is that from now on there will be enough of everything to go around and that most things will be cheaper rather than dearer all of which is good reasoning war conditions do not last always imports in the first seven months of this year were 3 against in the same banio months of last year the crops are largo large and the cost of living is lower than last year the arguments for wage increases babad ha sed on the cost ot of living works both and the argument of diminished lemand demand for goods and diminished employment is one of the most convincing in in the world it cannot be answered or put aside it looks everybody in tile taco face antil something is dono done about it it was said that as aa the tall fall opened the merchants would have to order goods to take caro care of the fall trade and the coming spring trade but there has been no rush to do so as 5 act ct cotton goods business started up rather sharply alter after labor caybut the moment prices stiffened up ill the demand weakened then came the slash of 33 13 1 3 per cent by the amoskeag company and cuts all along the line with the result that prices are more unsettled than before in woolen goods the manufacturers of cloth have cut prices 15 to no 20 per cent and important houses in ill the making up trades have ann that clothing will be lower underwear and knit goods are in an unset state it being claimed that the lower cost of materials do not compensate tor for recent wage increases the large manufacturers have made go io move inove for wa wage ge reductions ions and ish to avoid them the reductions thus far are arc coming out of raw materials and manufacturers profits the prospects are arc that merchants will avoid largo large commitments and rely upon stocking up frequently |