The University of Texas Volume VII, Number 8 Entered as second-class matter on May 7, 1928, at the post office at Austin, September 28, 1933 Texas, under the Act of August 2~, 1912. Business Review and Prospect ,OPTIMISM engendered by almost five months of . sharply rising business activity following the in­ auguration of the Roosevelt administration has been . considerably dampened by the industrial recession of the past three weeks. Labor Day had been widely publicized as the date when from five to six million workers were to have been re­stored to their jobs under the NRA codes, and many observ­ers seemed to feel that this date would mark the resumption of the sharp upward trend of business after a brief, late­summer lull. Industrial activ­ity has continued to decline, however, during the past three weeks and has cast the first broad shadow of doubt upon the administration plan, and a more critical attitude is being taken toward certain features of the program. Recent slow­ing down in the rate of busi­ness decline and general confi­dence that the President will continue to select the best from the highly contradictory advice furnished him appears at the present writing to be gradually restoring the optimism whic;h prevailed during the spring and early summer months. This restoration of confidenci: has been helped along by Pr·~sident Roosevelt's recent an'.10unce­ment t h a t the go1:ernment stands ready to make available to business and industry up to one billion dollc-rs through the R. F. C. on favor­ able credit terms, which announcement, according to Standard Statistics Company, overshadowed all other recent financial and in,fostrial developments. The move was interpreted as am)ther step in emphasizing the ad­ministration's determi1iation to bring about inflation of ~the more orthodox type. The plan for R. F. C. loans Please Read A large number of subscriptions have already been received, but if the Bureau is to continue publishing the TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW more are required. To those of you who have been receiving the REVIEW regularly but have not sent in your subscription, we should like to say that if you are interested in receiving the only official information on a number of important lines of Texas business, we shall be glad to have you return the enclosed card filled out. The REVIEW will be sent next month to subscribers only. Contingent upon receipt of a suffi­cient number of subscriptions some feature of interest to Texas business will be emphasized each month by laying special stress upon some partic­ular ohase of Texas industry. Next month's issue will feature a discussion­of a sound cotton policy for the United States, if it is found possible to pub­lish the REVIEW. is presumably intended to supplement direct loans by banks. Since, however, under the plan banks are to make the loan initially and pass them on to the R. F. C. with their endorsement, it is difficult to envisage any new impetus toward expansion of business credits im­mediately. Long-term loans through community mort­ gage companies may, however, prove immediately helpful. Such limited adverse criti­cism of the administration pro­gram as exists continues to be centered mainly upon the A. A. A., both with respect to its current activities and its longer­time program. In this connection much en­couragement is to be derived from S e c r e t a r y Wallace's speech before the Grain Deal­ers' Association in Chicago in which the press reports him as stating : "If we persist in our high tariff policy or even in a half-way modification of it, and at the same time collect in full the money which is owed us abroad, it will take superhuman efforts of the agri­cultural adjustment administra­tion year after year to keep down acreage to a point which will afford a living price to American farmers." Hope was expre5sed by the Secretary "that we are merely tiding over a difficult situation and that. instead of retiring completely from the world market, our people will soon come to their senses sufficiently to be willing to make rational adjustments in the tariff and eventually even in the policy of lending money abroad. If we do not do these things, I know that we must be prepared to act much more radically than any person in this room is yet pre­pared to do." With reference to the tariff, war debts, and foreign loans, Secretary Wallace stated, "these three forces mean that for the time being our people are pro­foundly nationalistic and that as long as they are op­erating on this basis we should go at it whole-heartedly to put our internal economy on a nationalistic basis, reducing our crop land acreage by forty million acres." The significance of the processing taxes designed to produce funds for financing a permanent program to adjust crop and livestock production to domestic re­quirements is getting to be more generally understood. As a result, growing opposition to this part of the ad­ministration program is beginning to assert itself. The portion of the program which proposes to put cotton "on a nationalistic basis" was analyzed in the September 23 issue of the Texas Weekly in the clear and forceful manner characteristic of this publication. To the hypo­thetical question, "Have you any better plan to offer," the Texas Weekly replied, "Stabilize the dollar at about the present or a slightly lower parity, but stabilize it; reconvene the international economic conference for the purpose of stabilizing world currencies and lowering trade barriers; settle inter-governmental debts once and for all; and suspend the processing tax on cotton. . . . We do not believe that Secretary of State Cordell Hull's point of view can be ignored indefinitely, and certainly he expects to see the international conference reconvened before many months. The view expressed by Secretary Wall ace (Chicago speech before the grain dealers asso­ ciation, September 20) indicates that he is entirely sym­ pathetic toward Secretary Hull's program, and there is reason to believe the President himself is sympathetic toward it and will be inclined to adopt it whenever there is sufficient public opinion to support it. Public opinion therefore is the important thing." Turning from these complex problems which continue to cloud the outlook of industry and commerce in their national and international relations to the business situa­ tion in Texas, it is gratifying to report that several business indexes show definite improvement along a number of lines: New passenger car registrations in the seventeen most populous counties of the State showed an increase of 11 per cent over July and 119 per cent over August 1932. Charters granted during August to new firms permitting them to do business in Texas indicated a slightly better than normal seasonal gain. Commercial failures were the smallest in number for any August since 1920 except in 1928, when there were 28 recorded, against 33 this year. September employment conditions in Texas show a marked improvement both over August 1933 and Sep­tember 1932. For the week ended September 16 a total of 911 establishments reported 71,250 employees against 68,24-3 for the same firms in August and 64,391 in Sep­tember 1932, showing a gain of 4.4 per cent and 10.7 per cent respectively. While the rate of pay has shown practically no change during the month, the increase in buying power represented by the sharp rise in number of workers should be material. Department and clothing store sales during August showed by far the greatest percentage improvement of · any August since the records of the Bureau began in 1927. Whereas since 1929 each succeeding August showed an average decline from that of the year before of about 19 per cent, sales in August this year were almost 25 per cent greater than in August 1932. More­over, the percentage increase in dollar sales in August over July, 26 per cent, was more than double the average increase between these two months in the previous three years. It is probable that the unusually good showing in re· tail sales may have been partly the result of the "buy now" propaganda in connection with the launching of the NRA program. Anticipation of higher retail prices may also have influenced the consumer to make his pur­ chases earlier in the season than usual. Even more important, however, was the substantial improvement which has taken place in employment and payrolls throughout the State and the higher prices which are being received for a number of the most important products of the State, especially cotton, oil, wool, and mohair. Added to the foregoing factors was doubtless a considerable deferred demand which awaited only en­ larged buying power to assert itself. F. A. BUECHEL. Financial A revival of radical inflation talk has featured the news releases from Washington during the past two weeks and has served to "hull" stock, grain, and cotton prices considerably. In the foreign exchange market, the dollar reached an all-time low price on September 22, being quoted at a discount of 35.5 per cent in terms of gold. Ne, official statement has as yet been made by the Administration with respect to inflation, and it would seem that the present talk is more in the nature of propaganda designed to raise prices through the threat of inflation. It is no secret that the Administration is very anxious to raise prices further, particularly farm commodity prices which have tended to lag during recent months. If the threat of inflation does not shortly accomplish definitely higher prices, it is quite probable that the President will make actual use of his inflationary pcwers before Congress convenes in January. Such a move by the President seems the more likely ii'. view of the rapid growth . of inflationary sentiment among the members of Congr.~ss. Should farm prices fail to improve materially durin~ the next three months, it is entirely possible that Congre~s will break away from Rooseveltian leadership and enaci its own inflation bills. Such a situation would almost Cf rtainly result in mone· tary chaos, which, by comparison, would render the banking debacle of last March a mere incident. Fear of just this development, during the past week, has caused a substantial flight from the doll.u which has taken the form of shifting funds from high-grade dollar bonds into high-grade foreign gold currency bonds. Many observers in Washington feel that the President will undertake currency tinkering only as a last resort. It is unofficially reported that the President frowns upon the issuance of fiat currency, and is not enthusiastic over a•t extensive open market purchasing campaign by the Federal Reserve banks. Instead. the Administration appears to be working on plan; designed to release deposits in all closed banks and in all banks now operat­ing on a restricted withdrawal basis. The total of such deposits is estimated at some $6,000,000,000. Could thi5 sum be released, it would add more to the purchasing power of the nation than any move yet undertaken. At the recent meeting of the American Bankers Associa­tion in Chicago, the Administration strongly urged the commercial banks to extend credits freely to business concerns operating under NRA codes. New credit and in considerable volume must soon be forthcoming in order to finance the material increase in operating costs incident to the "shorter hours-higher wages" program. From the bankers viewpoint, much of this new credit would undoubtedly be poor risk which would either involve losses or tend to freeze and thus would endanger the solvency of the banks and the safety of deposits. To the Administration request, the Economic Policy Commission of the A. B. A. replied: "Even in these times each loan should be considered on its merits, and only granted when the credit of the borrower justifies it. . .. The objectives of the recovery campaign justify all the support that banks can rightfully give, but ... just so long as that support involves only good banking." This laudable pronouncement if adhered to. will l·onstitu~e an open im·itation for the fedt>ral gO\ernment to ,;tep 111 and supply the needed short term credit tu \RA members. The small banks, in particular. can be expected to cooperate \ery little in extending ne\\' credit during t.he next few months as theY are no\,. \·asth· concerned with achieving sufficient liq~idity tu qualif~-for deposit in­surance protection. Failure to qualify. theY feel. will irvolve loss of deposits to insured banks. On the other hand, large banks are greatly worried for fear many weak banks will be insured which will e\entualh imohe them in heaYy insurance losses. It is quite likeh· that qualification requirements will be made sufficiently lenient to permit practically all banks to come into the fold, thus realizing the fears of the larger banks. During the past month, the Resen·e banks haYe been purchasing securities in the open market at the rate of some S35,000,000 per week. Thus far. thi,; bu\·ing has not induced any expansion of member bank credit. but it has helped to pile up excess resen ·e balances which have now reached the huge total of more than s-;-oo.. 000,000. As might be expected. short term monn rates in the :\ew York market are at absurdh· low leYeb. The condition of the reporting men~ber banks in the Eleventh District changed but little during the month. Total deposits declined slighth and total loans increased somewhat. A material gain in liquidity was recorded, the reporting banks having paid off all indebtedness to the Reserve bank and increased their holdings of goYern­ment securities by Sl-1,000,000. J. C. DOLLEY. Petrolet1m The really significant feature in gauging the immediate future of the oil producing and refining industries is the share of the total purchasing power of the consumer which will be allocated to the purchase of petroleum products. If total purchasing power can be substantial!y increased, which depends fundamentally upon increased business transactions, it seems fair to assume that the sales of petroleum products will increase at least relative to those of most other commodities. While it does not fellow that the converse of this statement may be true, it certainly is a factor to be considered. National consumption of gasoline in the first half of 1933 was somewhat less than for the similar period of 1932: for the first three months, 4.5 per cent lower than a year ago; for the April-June quarter, 1.1 per cent lower. The committee on refinery statistics of the A.P.I. has estimated that aggregate demand for motor fuel dur­ing the final six months of 1933 will be nearly 3 per cent greater than the last six months of 1932. One factor considered of primary importance by the committee in making this estimate is the recent sharp advance in automobile sales and the expectation that this 'rPnd will continue. It has been stated, too, that the movement toward shorter working hours and the five-day week should aid the consumption of gasoline. Both of these assumptions are obviously dependent upon an increased purchasing power expended for automobiles and petro­leum products-which is but another way of saying that the oil industry and the automobile industn are depend­ent fundamentally upon general business trends and developments. :\Ioreover. it is to be expected. and the indications are, that as business. reco\·en· does tend to become more evident, the oil industn wiil be in a posi­tion to contribute its full share-and a Yer~· significant share it is-in such recoYerY. Considerable actiYitY in . the rnrious phases of the 1,il industry may reasonably be expected in the rnrious portions of the State in the near future. a full discussion of which inrnlws a critical examination of long-range policies dealing with one of the mo:'t important natural resources of the Stale and of the Southwest as well as one of the fundamental industries of this section of the ccuntry. Sev~ral forms of recent de\·elopments in Yarious phases of the oil industry are worthv of brief considera­tion here. For instance, the dominant position of the Gulf Coast section in the refining indu:::tn and ;n the oil industry as a whole is one that is cor~rnrnncling more and more national recognition. It is said that the Plan­ning and Coordinating Committee at \\·a~hin!rton has recommended the Gulf Coast section be take;1 as the base in establishing prices for a considerable share of the prices of petroleum products in Eastern United States. For example, a base price for gasoline in the Gulf Coast region would be established by the Govern· ment, according to this plan. Prices at Atlantic Coast refineries and ocean terminals would be determined by adding to the Gulf Coast base the cost of water transpor· tation. For points interior in the Eastern market, rail costs would be added to the Atlantic Coast prices. The implications of this plan are clearly of great importance in determining gasoline prices, or the prices of any other petroleum products considered in this plan. Demands for several forms of oil products such as fuels and kerosene are approaching their seasonal . maximum. Marine demand for fuel and Diesel engines has increased in recent months. Industrial domestic · demand for such products is obviously closely tied up with general industrial recovery. There are possibilities that demand for domestic heating in the Eastern market may be even greater than was the case during last season. Gasoline sales, as reported by the State Comptroller, on the basis of taxes collected, amounted to 65,700,000 gallons in July, as compared with 71,666,000 gallons in June and 66,436,000 gallons in Julye a year ago. Cotton Situation World cotton prices have advanced about 30 per cent over this time last year. The major factors in this im· provement have been the great increase in consumption on the one side and the decreased production on the other. World consumption of all cotton during the past year was approximately 25,000,000 bales according to the New York Cotton Exchange Service, and the produc· tion for the same period according to the same author· ity was 22,874,000 bales. The world's supply of all cotton was reduced during the past year about 2,125,000 bales. The outlook for cotton f~r the year 1933-34 is still uncertain; however, some definite indications on supply are available. It is quite certain United States produc· tion will be 300,000 bales less than last year according to the Government estimate. On the other hand, indica­tions point to an increase in foreign production of per­haps a million bales or even more. In fact, there is a prospective increase in every cotton growing country with the exception of Russia. The world's indicated crop is . approximately 24,000,000 bales. Consumption to date seems to be at about the average rate of last year. The American cotton situation is much improved over last year. The world's carry-over was reduced 1,592,000 bales from 13,228,000 bales last year to 11,736,000 bales August 1, 1933. Heavy discounts of American money in terms of most foreign currencies is drawing American cotton to foreign markets at an unprecedented rate. The fact is, exports of American cotton during August were 531,000 bales, the greatest for any August on record. SPINNERS Advances in prices so far have not MARGIN lowered the spinners' ratio margin as they normally do. The ratio margin for August was 170 per cent compared with 155 in July and 178 in August last year. The average pence margin for August was 3.95d compared with 3. 75d for July and 3.8ld for August last year. It is significant to note that the margin widened largely because of the de­cline in the price of cotton during the month from 6.03d to 5.63d, whereas yarn declined from 9.8ld to only 9.62d. AMERICAN COTTON According to official figures BALANCE SHEET the indicated supply of cotton in the United States September 1 was 19,480,000 bales compared with 20,171,000 Sep­ tember 1 last year. The indicated supply this year is therefore 691,000 bales less than on September 1, 1932. During the past seven years the average change in price as a result of change of 100,000 bales in supply in Sep· tember has been 23.62 points. Based on these figures alone, the price is entitled to advance 163 points over the price September 8 a year ago, which was 7.92 cents. Stocks in European ports and afloat to Europe are 315,­ 000 bales more than last year, or the net advance in the price on these combined items should be 89 points. The price last year on this date was 7.92 cents. The gold price now, with the same price level as last year, should be at least 8.81 cents. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics index, the dollar has depreciated 6.6 per cent in buying power in the United States since September 1932, which should raise the price 58 points to 9.40 cents. The spinners margin is 170, which would raise the price another 75 points to 10.15 cents. When prices are calculated by means of the ratio of average percent­ age change in price due to · 1 per cent change in supply the price should be 9 cents. The Bureau supply-price correlation charts indicate a price of about 9 cents. The above calculations do not take into account the depreciated value of the dollar as shown by the value of the French franc. If the dollar were worth no more in the United States than in France, the dollar price of cotton should be above 13 cents. ( COTTON BAROMETER Income from cotton is the ' OF TEXAS BUSINESS biggest factor in setting the pace for Texas business. Bear in mind the cotton income of Texas is not evenly distributed over the State. Indeed, there are large areas in Texas where cotton as a source of income is negligible. Cotton predominates in all regions of the State possessing deep, rich soils, except the high plains in the northern Panhandle. The Black Prairies re­git.ns of north and central Texas, including such wide· ly separated cities as Paris, Gainesville, Greenville, Fort Worth, Dallas, Cleburne, Waxahachie, Corsicana, Waco, Taylor, Georgetown, Austin, Lockhart, Seguin, and Santonio outline in a general way the major cot­What, then, is the business outlook for the regions ton region of Texas. Other important cotton-growing regions are: Coastal Black Prairies and the Interior Coastal Plains extending from Houston to below Cor­pus Christi and including such other cities as Robs­town, Kenedy, Cuero, Yoakum, Victoria, Gonzales, Rich­mond, La Grange and Brenham; the East Texas Red Lands region centered around Longview, Marshall, Tyler and Palestine; the Abilene-Haskell Plains region includ­ing such cities as Brady, Coleman, Ballinger, Abilene, Sweetwater, Stamford, Seymour, Vernon and Quanah; the High Plains region centered around Lubbock but including such towns as Lamesa, Post, Slaton, Crosbyton and Littlefield; and the Red River Rolling Plains.region, including such towns as Childress, Memphis, and Sham­rock. In addition to the regions outlined there are other smaller regions and cities largely dependent on cotton such as the alluvial areas represented by such cities as Navasota, Bryan and Hearne. Other important centers dependent largely on cotton are Clarksville, Wichita Falls, Brownwood, Snyder and Galveston. The areas and towns mentioned above not only receive a major portion of their income from cotton production or the processing and handling of it, but the prospects for cotton dominate their business outlook as well. and cities mentioned insofar as they depend on cotton? The income from Texas cotton operations this year bids fair to be approximately $84,000,000 or 56 per cent more than last year in dollars. This calculation is based on the last Government report which indicated a crop for Texas this year of 3,815,000 bales of 500 pounds gross. The price used is 9 cents per pound, which is one cent under the recently announced Federal loan value of cotton to the farmers. This would make the total value of the lint about 81 70,000,000. In addition to this the Federal Government is paying or has paid about $44,000,000 to Texas cotton farmers to plow up growing cotton. Cottonseed are now worth an average price at the gin of about SU a ton or a gross value of about $20,000,000, not including resen'es held for plant­ing seed. A conservatively calculated value of the cot­ton crop for Texas this year is therefore about $234,­000,000. Based on the same method of calculation and an average price of 6 cents per pound, the crop last year was worth to Texas approximately $150,000,000. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the buying power of the dollar has decreased 6.6 per cent from September last year. Taken together, these figures indi­cate that the buying power received from cotton in Texas this year will be approximately 50 per cent more than last year. A. B. Cox. Livestock Total shipments of livestock to Fort Worth and inter­state points during August amounted to 3,196 cars or slightly less than the 3,248 cars shipped during the corresponding month last year. Decreases were registered for cattle, calves and sheep: cattle dropped from 1,870 during August 1932 to 1,629 in August this year; calves from 612 to 496; and sheep from 491 to 402 carloads. On the other hand, hog shipments jumped from 275 in August 1932 to 668 in August 1933, an increase of 143 per cent. For the first eight months of the year total shipments of 36,471 cars to Fort Worth and interstate points repre­swted an increase of about 10 per cent over the 33,784 cars during the corresponding period of 1932. Shipments of all classes of animals except sheep showed an increase. The only class, however, to show a marked increase was hogs, of which 5,013 cars were shipped against 2,260 during the corresponding period last year. Fort Worth received about the same number of Texas cattle and calves this August as last, about half as many sheep and about three times as many hogs. The increasing propor­tion of truck shipments to the Fort Worth market noted in previous issues of the REVIEW continued during August. Los Angeles doubled her purchases of Texas cattle and calves and slightly increased her purchases of Texas hogs while large shipments of sheep were made to Colo· rado, Missouri and Nebraska whereas last year none was t-shipped to these states except to the Kansas City and St. Joseph markets. New Mexico practically trebled her receipts of Texas cattle, calves and sheep. While the total number of livestock shipped from the State in August did not differ much from that of last year, there were some marked changes in the origin of these shipments. As in July, large increases occurred in both the northern and southern portions of the Pan­handle region, particularly in the number of hogs of which practically twice as many were shipped as in August last year. Increased shipments from these dis­tricts were offset by decreases in other districts, a number of which received more than were shipped out whereas ordinarily the reverse is true. Part of the abnormalities of the current August live­stcck movements sketched above may be accounted for by the extreme drouth which prevailed in a number of large livestock sections of the State, which greatly reduced the supply of feed and condition of range and pasture. The sharp rise in the prices of feed without a corresponding increase in prices of livestock made it necessary to market the animals as rapidly as possible. Contributing to the unusually large shipments, par· ticularly of hogs, was the government bonus for the de­struction of pigs and sows. In Texas this situation is especially unfortunate since great effort has been put forth by farm leaders to introduce good breeds of hogs in order to develop a balanced system of crop and livestock farming. Even under normal conditions it is difficult to induce a sufficiently large number of farmers to increase the production of feed crops and to gradually increase feeding operations in competition with cash crops such as cotton and wheat. Artificial price stimula­tion of these cash crops without a corresponding increase in the price of livestock and livestock products may in a few months undo the work which-leaders of the "feeder­breeder" movement have been carrying on for several years. The disparity between feed and livestock prices piesents a much greater problem in Texas where there j,, a greater range of alternative opportunities for farmers and where livestock feeding has not yet become definitely established in a large way, than in the Corn Belt where there is a more limited choice of profitable enterprises and where livestock enterprises have been long estab­lished. According to press reports on recent statements of the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, the nationalistic policy upon which the country appears to be launched at least temporarily calls for a reduction of 40,000,000 acres or more of crop land in the United States. Of this total cotton is to be reduced about 15,000,000 acres, of which the pro rata share for Texas would be about 5,000,000 acres. Release of this land from cotton production AUGUST CARLOAD MOVEMENT OF POULTRY AND EGGS Shipments from Texas Stations Caro of Poultry Live Dressed Can of Eggs Chickens Turkeys Chickens Turkeys !?ZZ 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 37 61 2 28 55 Intrastate -----------------­ TOTAL ----------------2 3 5 3 1 14 Interstate ---------------2 3 32 58 2 27 41 New York ·-----·---2 21 32 1 5 1 Illinois ~---·------------­ 1 1 1 3 4 Massachusetts ________ 1 New Jersey ________----3 1 Pennsylvania __ __ ___ 7 12 3 Louisiana --------------3 3 4 11 Connecticut ____________ 1 4 Missouri -------------­ 2 3 Georgia ------------____ 4 7 California ______ __ __ ____ 2 1 1 3 Alabama _________ _ ___ _ 1 1 Florida -----------------­ 1 1 Rhode Island ____ _ _ 1 Ohio ----------------------­1 Maryla.nd ----------__ _ 1 Mississippi __ ____ ----2 1 Colorado ------------· 1 North Carolina _____ 3 Iowa -----·------------------1 Kentucky ___________ _ 1 Kansas ----------------___ _ ] Receipts at Texas Stations TOTAL 1 11 33 Intrastate -----------------1 1 12 Interstate ____________ ---­ 10 21 Kansas -------------------6 10 Missouri -----------___ _ 3 7 Oklahoma 3 California ----------____ 1 Wisconsin _ ______ _ __ _ 1 NOTE : These data are furnished the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Division of Crop and Livestock Estimates, by railway officials through age nts at all stations which originate and receive carload shipments of poultry and cges. The data are compiled by the Bureau of Business Research. implies a practically corresponding increase in acreage for feed crops, hay and pasture which in turn suggests a sharp expansion of the varfous branches of the livestock industry. Since the marketing of Texas feed through livestock has encountered serious difficulties under the giadual expansion of feed crop production which has hitherto prevailed, it seems obvious that the problem would become much greated with the product of five million additional acres to be marketed in this way. Moreover, as pointed out above, the present disparity between prices of feed and livestock products tends to restrict rather than expand livestock enterprises whether il be dairy, poultry or beef production. The foregoing considerations also have an important bearing upon further development of such industries as meat packing, dairy manufacturing, and poultry shipping and dressing plants which are based upon livestock enter­prises conducted on the basis of low costs of production. In these fields there is an urgent need for expansion, and therefore unusual effort must be made to counteract the forces now operating which tend to retard these develop­ments. F. A. BUECHEL. BUILD! G PERMITS August July August 1933 1933 1932 Abilene -------­--------------­----­---$ 8,585 16,615 $ 2,490 Amarillo ------------------­---­-----­ 22,714 35,233 35,675 Austin -----------------------------­ 95,145 138,514 72,654 Beaumont -------------­--­------­ 12,114 40,269 19,696 Brownsville ------------------------­ 3,000 975 3,397 Brownwood ----­------­----------­ ] ,800 1,468 7,200 Cleburne -------­--------------------­ 2,724 4,025 Corpus Christi ------------------­ 18,360 11,633 14,098 Corsicana ------­----------­-----­ 1,465 9,200 10,345 Dallas -------------­---------------­ 272,573 267,24·2 255,339 Del Rio -------­-----------------------­ 1,345 2,620 3,485 Denison ----------------­-----­-----­ 5,400 5,000 3,840 El Paso ------------­--------­-----------­ 22,295 22,944 93,001 Fort Worth --­------­--------­ 105,351 473,140 78,480 Galveston --------------------------­ 29,636 54,940 36,562 Harlingen ------·-------­-----------­ 12,200 20,170 6,025 Houston -------------­-------------­ 235,655 1,032,329 183,480 ]acksonvill e ------------------------­ 800 1,838 3,600 Laredo ---------------­-----------------­ 2,500 1,500 5,000 Longview ----------------------------­ 39,900 52,000 48,784 Lubbock -------------­----­------------­ 11,487 82,055 3,397 McAllen __ ______ -----­----­---------­ 825 1,115 200 Marshall --------­---------­---------­ 5,134 12,548 6,310 Paris -------------------­--------------­ 4,115 5,375 7,065 Plainvicw ---------­--­-------------­ 15,000 95,000 Port Arthur ----------------------­ 15,247 7,299 8,349 Ranger ---­-­·-··-------­--------­---­ 500 San Angelo -----­---­-------------­ 9,225 15,920 . 4,330 San Antonio ----------­------­----­ 92,880 78,165 122,643 Sherman ----­·----------------------­ 5,372 4,274 5,745 Snyder -----­--------------------------­- 350 1,950 500 Sweetwater ------------------­---­-­ 80 600 4.,275 Temple --­------------­---------­--­---­ 24.,050 14,000 9,930 Texarkana ---------­--------------­ 3,335 2,290 1,072 Tyler -------­---------­----------------­ 36,112 49,051 72,104 Waco ------­------­--------------------­ 32,923 23,033 26,738 Wichita Falls ---------------------­- 21,553 7,652 76,478 TOTAL ------------------------------Sl,156,250 $2,507,957 $1,331,812 Non~: Reporred to the Bureau of Business Research by the Chamber of Com· merce. COTTO 1 '.\1AN FA T URI ' G I TEXA PETROLE .\I August July ..\ugusl Daily Average Production 1933 1933• 1932 Bales of Cotton Used __ __ _____ _ 6,423 7,102 4,817 In Barrels) Yards of Cloth : Augusl Julr Augus t Produced ------------------------6,520,000 6,958,000 4,604,000 1933 19331 1932 Sold -----------------------------3,882,000 5,932,000 7,513,000 Panhandle ------------50.350 50.200 53,980 Unfilled Orders -------------7,690,000 9,648,000 9,641,000 ,'forth Texas -----------52;470 so;300 49,860 Active Spindles ---------------162,584 167,346 139,426 West Central Texa --------21,880 21,750 24,590 Spindle Hours ______________________ 51,326,000 53,558,000 42,311,000 West Texas ---------------160,930 159,550 173,620 East Central Texas ------------58,740 58,250 56,640 *Revised. East Texa -----------596,360 557,050 328,000 Norr: Reported to the Bureau of Businc~s Research by Texas Cotton ~1ills. Southwest Texa --------51,670 51,850 54640 Coa tal Texas -----------214,490 202,200 12~280STOCK PRICES TATE _______________l,206,890 1,151,150 865,610 August July August : ITED TATES ________2,742,620 2,650,150 2.133,630 1933 1933 1932 linports -------------159,314 155,107 91,686Standard Indexes of the !Revised . Securities Markets ~OTE: From American Petroleum Institute. 421 Stocks Combined -----------------75.1 80.4 53.3 351 Industrials --------------------------78.8 83.5 51.5 ew Development in Texas 33 Rails -----------------------------49.4 52.6 29.2 August July Augu..!t 37 Utilities -----------------------------------87.1 97.5 84.2 19331 1933; 1932 Non :: From Standard Statistici; Co., Inc. Permits for New Well _____ 1,261 918 905 "' Well s Completed --------­642 404 1,011 LUMBER Oil Wells ----------------­464 263 828 Gas Well ----------­14 10 17 On Board Feet) Initial Production (In Thou. sand of Barrels) ----------2,148 960 5.286 August J uly August 1933 1933 1932 ffive weeks. Average Weekly l Revised. Production per Unit___ ___________ 250,589 256,786 163,615 !\on: From The Oil Weekly. Average Weekly Shipments per nit..___________ __ 246, 777 265,808 218,045 CEME iT Average Unfilled Orders (In Barrels) per Unit, End of Month ____626,062* 717.088~ 592,344~ August J11ly Aug·ust 1933 1933 1932 •On September 2, 1933. tOn July 29. 1933. !On Augu!t 2i. 1932. NOTE : i'""rom Southern Pine A.!isociation. Texas Mills Production ___________153,000 274,000 325 000 Shipments ____________198,000 RETAIL DEPARTME T STORE SALES . 237,000 386,000 Stocks _____________719,000 765,000 605,000 Number .Percentage Change in Dollar Sales :\'on: From U. . Dcparlment of Commerce, Bureau of CenSIU. of August August Year-to-date Stores 1933 from 1933 from 1933 from CO 1MERCIAL FAIL RES Report-August July Year-to·date in& 1932 1933 1932 August Jul y Augu.!t Abilene -----------------------------3 + 26.5 + 16.9 + 5.1 1933 1933* 1932 Austin --------------------------------6 + 20.3 24.7 -7.7 1umber -------------33 41 70 Beaumont ------------------------5 + 9.1 + .8.7 -7.7 Average Weekly umber 8 8 17 Corsicana ------------------------3 + 4.3 + 16.6 -15.5 Liabilities ------765,000 732,000 1,410,000 Dallas -------------------------8 + 37.6 + 40.9 -3.4 Average Liabilities El Paso ----------------------------3 + 3.1 + 33.3 -11.9 per Failure ---------23,182 17,844' 20,143Fort Worth ------------------------5 + 31.9 + 20.6 -4.4 Assets ----------418,000 387,000 396,000Galveston ------------------------5 + 9.9 + 17.3 -19.4 *Five weeks. Houston ---------------------------9 + 32.6 + 24.2 + 3.8 Aon : From Dun & Brad.street, Inc. Lubbock -------------------------3 + 21.8 -17.3 -0.8 Port Arthur ----------------------4 + 38.3 + 1.3 + 15.4 BANK! 1G TATI TIC DALLAS RE ER E DI TRICT San Angelo --------------------3 + 14.0 + 2.2 + 4.3 San Antonio -----·------------------5 + 14.9 + 28.1 -12.2 (In Millions of Dollars) Tyler ----------------------------------3 + 24.2 + 9.8 -12.5 Augu.st July AugustWaco ----------------------------------4 + 25.l + 34.3 -12.0 1933 1933 1932 Wichita Falls ---------------------3 + 35.6 + 26.5 + 4.5 Debits _______------------------------$382 3544• $466* All Others ________________________ 18 + 2.1 + 4.9 -19.5 ST ATE ____________ ______________ 90 Condition of repor·ting member banks on A~;3;o. Aug. 2. Aug. 31, + 24.5 + 26.2 5.6 1933 1932 Department Stores (Annual Deposits (total) ---------------333 335 345 Volume o er 500,000) .... 18 + 26.0 27.0 4.6 Time ------------------______ 125 Ir 125 Departmen tores (Annual Demand ---------------------208 208 220 Volume nder $500,000). 35 + 13.4 + 8.2 7.5 Borrowings from Federal Reserve _____ _ 1 3 Dry Good and Apparel Loans (total) ---------------207 205 236 Stores ----------------------12 -13.0 + 2.0 -22.3 On Securities -----------60 60 73 Women's pecialty Shops .._13 + 40.8 + 45.2 -5.4 All Other 147 145 163 Men's othing Stores _______ l2 + 20.4 + 36.5 -2.2 Government Securiti€S Owned______ 120 106 a3 Nor£: R orted to tbe Bureau of Business Research by Texas Department *Five weeb. Store5. 2\0TE: From f ederal Reserve Board. TEXAS CHARTERS COMMODITY PRICES August July August August July August1933 1933* 1932 1933 1933 1932 Capitalization -······---··---------$2,265,000 $2,930,000 $2,944,000 Wholesale Prices: Number ------------------------------141 134 138 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statis-Classification of New tics (1926 = 100) ----------------------69.5 68.9 65. 2 Corporations: . { 102.7 103.4 94.2 The Annalist (1913 = 100 ) ________ • Oil -----------------------------------30 33 28 74_8 74.0*t Public Service -----------------1 Dun's -----------______.:_ ________________________ $160.26 $156.13 $134.10 Manufacturing ----------------17 25 25 Bradstreet's _______________________________ $ 8.99 9.01 $ 7.17 Banking-Finance 12 7 12 Farm Prices:Real Estate-Building ______ 10 15 10 U. S. Department of Agricul-Transportation ----------------2 2 2 ture (1910-1914 = 100 ) ----------72.0 76.0 59.0 Merchandising ------------------41 36 38 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statis- General ----------------------------28 16 23 tics (1926 = 100) ---------------------57.6 60.l 49.1 Foreign Permits ----------------20 25 18 Retail Prices: Number Capitalized at less than $5,000_________________ 57 53 36 Department Stores (Fairchild's Number Capitalized at Publications) (Jan.1931=100! 82.5 76.1 73.6 $100,000 or more____________ 5 6 4 *On gold basis based on exchange quotations for France, Switzerland, Holland, •Revised and Belgium. NOTE: Compiled from .records of the Secretary of State. tRevised. COTTON BALANCE SHEET IN THE UNITED STATES AS OF SEPTEMBER 1 (In Thousands of Running Bales) Government Carryover Imports Estimate as of Consumption Exports Balance Aug. l to Sept. l* Sept. l* Total to Sept. 1 to Sept. 1 Total Sept. 1 1926-1927 ---------------------------------------------------3,543 13 ' 15,166 18,722 500 385 885 17,837 1927-1928 --------------------------------------------------------3,762 28 12,692 16,482 635 322 957 15,525 1928-1929 --------------------------------------------------------2,536 25 14,439· 17,000 526 253 779 16,221 1929--1930 ----------------------------------------------------------2,313 25 14,825 17,163 559 226 785 16,378 4,530 353 1930-1931 --------------------------------------------------------6 14.,340 18,876 366 718 18,158 1931-1932 ----------------------------------------------------------6,369 7 15,685 22,061 426 211 637 21,424 1932-19•33 ------------------------------------------------------9,682 7 11,310 20,999 403 425 828 20,171 1933-1934 --------------------------------------------------------8,176 10 12,414-20,600 589 531 1,120 19,480 *In 500-pound bales. The cotton year begins August 1. SEPTEMBER EMPLOYME T IN TEXAS CLASSIFIED BY CITIES Payrolls ending September 16 Average Weekly Number Workers Per Cent Change Wage per Worker of Estab-Sept. Aug. Sept. From From Sept. Aug. lishments 1933 1933 1932 Aug.1933 Scpt.1932 1933 1933 Amarillo_______________________ _ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 372 363 344 + 2.5 + 8.1 Austin·------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------··--------29 693 629 629 + 10.2 + 10.2 Beaumon t._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 35 1,003 909 932 + 10.3 + 7.6 Dallas·------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------109 10,583 10,067 10,699 +5.1 -1.1 El Paso.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------39 1,234 1,204 1,220 + 2.5 + 1.1 Fort Worth·-------------------------------------------·------------------------------------------------------------------40 6,515 5,936 5,438 + 9.8 + 19.8 Galveston _________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------------25 1,104 1,070 1,392 +3.2 -20.7 Houston....--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------·-· 76 10,775 10,143 9,459 +6.2 + 13.9 Port Arthur..:.!____________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________ 10 6,050 5,558 4,548 + 8.9 + 33.0 San Angelo .·--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 210 201 195 +4.5 + 7.7 an Antonio_____________________________________________________ ~--------------------------------------------------76 3,495 3,074 3,528 + 13.7 -0.9 Waco·-----------------------------------------------------------------------·-----------------------------------------------· 22 1,147 988 966 + 16.l + 18.7 Wichita Falls_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 29 627 632 565 -0.8 + 11.0 Miscellaneous._________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________ 398 27,442 27,469 24,476 -0.1 + 12.1 STATE·---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------911 71,250 68,243 64,391 + 4.4 + 10.7 AUGUST SHIPMENTS OF LIVESTOCK CONVERTED TO A RAIL CAR BASISi Cattle Calveo Hogs Sheep Total 1933 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 Total Interstate Plus Fort Wortht___ __________:______ 1,629 1,870 496 612 668 275 402 491 3,195 3,248 Total Intrastate Omitting Fort Worth____________ 570 800 153 187 18 51 60 71 801 1,109 TOTAL SHIPME TS -------------------------------------2,199 2,670 649 799 686 326 462 562 3,996 4,357 TEXAS CAR-Lon SHIPMENTS OF LIVESTOCK JA UARY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 1 Cattle Calves Hogs Sheep Total 1933 1932 1933 1932 1_933 1932 1933 1932 1933 1932 Total Interstate Plus Fort Wortht ____________________ 22,299 22,080 4,658 4,070 5,018 2,260 4,496 5,374 36,47.l 33,784 Total Intrastate Omitting Fort Worth___________ 4,695 4,343 1,404 1,563 280 264 525 691 6,904'. 6,861 TOTAL SHIPMENTS --··-----------------------------------26,994 26,423 6,062 5,633 5,298 2,524 5,021 6,065 43,375 40,64.5 tForl Worth shipments are combined wi1h interstate forwardings in order ihat the bulk of market disappearance for the month may be shown. !Rail -Car Basis : Cattle, 30 head per car ; calves, 60 ; swine, 80; and sheep, 250. NOTE: These data are furnished the United States Bureau of Agricultural Economics by railway officials through more than 1,500 station agents, representing eTUf Jivestock shipping point in the State, The data are compiled by the Bureau of Business Research.