Show GENERAL BUSINESS conditions ARE GOOD march report of national city bank of new york city very interesting by courtesy of richfield commercial and savings bank the general course of business during the past month has been satisfactory reports come from here and there of disappointment that orders are not flowing in a larger stream that industry is not operating at capacity and that margins of profit are small such complaints always are heard except in boom times when the pressure of abnormal demands gives enough business for everybody the ordinary state of business is that in which competition exists with full industrial capacity a little ahead of consumption requirements and marginal producers having a rather difficult time profit margins change very readily as the markets swing from the position in which buyers have the upper hand to that in which sellers have it of course sellers like to have things their way but nothing is more certain than that thai under ordinary conditions they cannot have them just to their liking for very long if there is a congestion of orders so that competition exists for goods instead of orders prices go up and costs tend to follow with the result that unless business soon falls oft off the situation will get seriously out of balance and depression will take the place of prosperity p A lot of price and wage advances occurred in the spring of 1923 which for the good of all concerned had better not have taken place the confidence in good times which has been displayed of late is generally based upon the belief that conditions are more neally neaily right for a free full exchange of goods and services than they have been for a long time the principal condition for such exchanges is that the price relations shall be approximately those to which the people are accustomed in other words that what everybody has to sell shall command about the usual quantity of other things when this is the case there will be employment for all and the products will move into consumption that situation does not exist completely ely but great improvement has taken place in the last year and more is going on the prices most seriously out of line since 1920 have been those of farm products A year ago the mcnary haugen bill was the most conspicuous measure before the congress all and its provisions were intended to raise the prices of certain leading farni farm products to the prewar pre war parity with other products the price tables of the bureau of labor being adopted as the basis for the proposed operations the latest of these price tables which is for the month of january 1925 shows that its group of farm farin products now averages 63 percent above the 1913 price level while its entire list of commodities including farm products averages 60 percent above that level moreover the outlook for farm products is good it is possible now to sell wheat for delivery in september at about per bushel in chicago and the disparity between corn and livestock is being corrected |