, r,-r; 2·~ .,..., ~') TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW Bureau of Business Research The University of Texas Vol. XV, No. 12 January, 1942 DIS P 0 S I TI 0 N 0 F MILK PRODUCED ON FARMS IN SELECTED STATES,1939 •015P051TION EXPR£SS£0 AS PER.CENTAGE OF MILK. Pl2.0DUC.TION• USED IN MAKING FED TO CALVES FARM BUTTER·0.3;( 3 3 'l. WISCONSIN MINNESOTA • C> U It E AU OF C> U~ I N ES~ FED TO CALVES·2.2'1. 2. E:!I E.AR.CM • FED TO CALVES 1.S'l, AG,(Z.ICVLTV!l..E ­ UNIVE12.5 ITY·OF·TE>l.AS· ·T H E TEXAS BUSINESS REVIEW Business Review and Prospect Important as the achievements in war production have been to date, they will appear small indeed when, a year hence, they are compared with the accomplishments of 1942. The favorable showing will result not only from the vast expansion of plant capacity to be in· augurated during the present year, but also from the bringing into production of plants which have been under construction for a matter of several months, a year, or even longer, but which have not yet contributed to the supply of war materials. Not only will expendi· tures for war production advance on a progressively vaster scale, but with the unified control which has recently been put into effect, each dollar expended may be expected to produce greater results. Sharp and painful readjustments, falling on all groups from gr~at corporations to small individual business concerns, will characterize the economic life of the Nation this year. All classes of citizens will be subject to additional burdens of various types. The more effective the newly created War Production Board becomes in the per­formance of its functions, the sharper and the more painful will be the initial economic readjustments which must be made. The compensating factor will be that the sooner the necessary war equipment can be made avail­able, the more rapidly the war will be brought to a successful conclusion. TEXAS BUSINESS In Texas, the setting has already been established for an economic reorientation, the full magnitude of which is as yet, in all probability, but dimly visualized even by those who occupy favorable points of vantage. The scope and character of the problems confronting the Nation are such that Texas inevitably must occupy a leading place in their solution. It is only necessary to name a few of the strategic war materials, actual and especially potential-such as petroleum, ~agnesium, various fibers, food products, and vegetable oils-to see how Texas automatically appears in the center of the picture in war production. Fortunately for the State and the Nation, the development of industries based on these products will have a peace-time importance com­parable with their significance in the production of the instruments of war. In view of the epochal develop­ments of the past six weeks, the articles by Mr. Elmer H. Johnson on Texas resources and industry, which have appeared in the REVIEW for the past several years, take on new significance. The influence of the rising tempo of war production is already being felt in Texas to a marked extent, as is evi­denced by the following groups of index numl?ers: INDEXES OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY IN TEXAS (Average Month, 1929=100% ) Dec., i94i Dec., i94o Nov., i94i Employment _ 115.0 98.0 110.8 Pay Rolls -------------------------------­Miscellaneous Freight Carloadings 143.0 106.2 135.3 ,(Southwest District ) ---------------­Runs of Crude Oil to Stills ____ 99.6 212.5 68.2 203.9 88.2 229.9* Department Store Sales ----------------Consu mption of Elec tric Power ____ 120.5 174.2 108.9 141.2 113.0 162.3. COMPOSITE INDEX ----­-­ 132.9 107.0 126.3. *Revised. A rise of five per cent in the composite index from November to December is one of the sharpest on record, and the year-to-year margin of twenty-four per cent is also at the maximum. Of the factors composing the index, pay rolls, carloadings, and electric power con­sumption made the greatest gains over December, 1940. The pay-rolls index increased more than five per cent from November to December, and the gain over De­cember, 1940, was more than thirty-four per cent. The miscellaneous freight carloadings index rose more than thirteen per cent from November to December, and was more than forty-seven per cent above the year before; while the index of electric power consumption increased more than seven per cent from November to December, and was more than twenty-three per cent higher than in December, 1940. With the huge new defense industries rapidly com­ing into production, with the demand that agriculture increase its output to meet the war requirements for foods, fats, and fibers, and with pay rolls making new high records from month to month, further substantial increases in the indexes of Texas business during 1942 are definitely to be expected. FARM CASH INCOME Estimates of farm cash income in Texas during 1941 made in the September issue of the REVIEW have been borne out with considerable precision. At that time, it was estimated that farm cash income for the year, exclusive of government subsidies, would approximate 650 million dollars. The computed cash income as shown in the table below is 596 million dollars, and if to this is added ten per cent, which is the estimated under statement of the computations {see footnote with table), the actual farm cash income for the year is found to be approximately 655 million dollars. Assum­ing government subsidies to be about the a.verage of the two preceding years, the total spendsble mcome of the farmers and ranchmen of the State for 1941 was approximately 750 million dollars, or well above that For Other Texas Data, See Statistical Tables at the End of This Publication of 1929. For reasons briefly outlined in the September issue of the REVIEW, the rural population of Texas en­joyed an even greater buying power in comparison with 1929 than is indicated by the increase in cash income. INDEX OF AGRICULTURAL CASH INCOME IN TEXAS Average month 1928-'32=100% Dec•• Nov.,• Dec.,• Cumulative Income Districts 1941 1941 1940 Year 1941 Year 1940 (000 Omitted) 1-N ______206.5 1-S ________586.6 2 ________ 392.6 3 __________137.3 4 ______ __ _194.3 96.0 249.6 215.6 119.8 113.6 61.2 100.4 84.5 91.5 97.2 50,251 68,127 101,342 28,644 106,087 38,087 36,658 48,591 22,485 77,435 5 -·--­__117.0 6 _______ _____ 220.6 7 __________ l 06.5 8 ____ ______ 133.4 9 ____ _____ ___ _445.4 10 _____105.7 86.l 202.2 135.8 105.1 265.2 91.l 110.7 134.1 63.6 79.2 205.8 70.3 32,679 32,362 53,847 48,398 35,727 13,056 35,702 24,438 43,734 33,985 32,789 9,973 10--A _____190.4 234.9 110.5 25,339 22,034 STATE ____268.0 169.0 96.1 595,859 425,911 •Revieed. NoTE: Farm cash income as computed by this Bureau understates actual farm cash income by from 6 to 10 per cent. This situation results from the fact that means of securing complete local marketing!!!, especially by truck, have not yet been Cully developed. In addition, means have not yet been developed for computing cash income from all agricultural specialties of local importance in scattered areas throughout the State. Thia situation, however, does not impair the accuracy of the indexe3 to any appreci:ible extent. December farm cash income of 68 million dollars was almost three times that of the corresponding month of 1940. The major portion of this sharp rise in income is attributable to the marketings of cotton and cottonseed in Districts 1-S and 2, (the South High Plains and the area adjacent to it on the East). The total farm cash in· come from cotton and cottonseed in these two districts was more than 30 million dollars in December, 1941; whereas, in the corresponding month of 1940 it was . only 4.1 million. Another major factor contributing to the large December income was the income from livestock and livestock products. Income from cattle and calves, totaling nearly 11 million dollars for the month, was almost double that from these sources in December, 1940; and income from eggs shipped out of the State, of more than three million dollars, was seventeen times as large as the $184,000 from this source during the preceding December. Most of these eggs were shipped in powdered form. Present indications point to a total of farm cash in­come in Texas during 1942 well in excess of that for the year just closed. A level of farm prices higher than the average for the past year is practically cer­tain; marketings of livestock and livestock products are expected to be larger than in 1941; and, although it is not possible to forecast the production of such cash crops as cotton and wheat this early in the season, it is not likely that the output of either of these crops will be less than the moderate production of 1941. On the contrary, the chances are that if we assume an equal acreage and average yield, production of these crops this year is likely to exceed that of the past year, and prices of both cotton and wheat are almost certain to average higher. F. A. BUECHEL What the War Production Program Means Careful and discriminating consideration of what the American war program means is one of the truly impor­tant things of current affairs; this program, in its wider implications and broader aspects, looms up as one of the really big trends that any people anywhere has ever witnessed. The program is something which cannot be gauged merely in dollars expended, important though that aspect is; it is something that cannot be appraised in terms familiar to economist o:· businessman or indus­trialist, in volume or kind or quality of production, important as these certainly are. This program of "full economic mobilization" is one involving the rapid accele­ration of industrial development in the United States, and it of necessity must be on a scale the magnitude of which hitherto generally has not been appreciated. To perform this task effectively-and it has to be done and it will be done-will require a new dispensation of the American industrial pattern, a new and broadened out­look of America's status in international affairs, and most of all the possibilities of the further industrializa­tion of the United States as based upon its natural resources and the potentialities of fuller economic inte­gration of its major economic regions. Full industrial integration and, consequently, a more optimum use of American natural resources can he achieved, once the broad implications of such a vast program are clearly perceived. AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION ENGENDGRED BY WORLD WAR II We are witnessing a new phase of industrial evolu­tion which may well be as truly revolutionary as was the Mechanical Revolution that grew up in England during the latter part of the 18th century, and which spread its transforming agencies and institutions to world-wide proportions during the 19th century. This industrial revolution taking place before our eyes is a cumulative development which reaches into new regions of the countries of the world and utilizes new resources on a scale never before seen, and its consequences are of an order of magnitude that enables it to reach directly into every portion of the globe, and to work therein its transforming developments. We are witnessing the rise of new aspects of human institutions--the crystallizatioJ! of new concepts-which are revolutionary in their present status and will be even more revolutionary in years to come. We are wit­nessing revolutionary changes in our concepts as to the basic importance of natural resources, or the vital significance of raw materials, or the life and death struggle of new technologies. Perhaps, too, we have begun to question the theoretical abstractions so subtly propounded that in too many cases they were taken for granted. . We shall have to appraise America anew-both as to its great advantages and the obstacles as well-obstacles of a tangible sort and those that are more subtle in character, that necessarily must be surmounted. We shall have to appraise anew America's place in world affairs­its position economically and otherwise, together with the responsibilities thus entailed and the potentialities and possibilities thus made apparent. To deal with the global aspects of a war, of the proportions this one is, necessarily means the attainment of a new level of outlook-one truly world-wide in actual grasp; to deal successfully with a thoroughly mechanized world war­on the land, in the water, in the air over large areas, and at long distances-means the acquisition of new attainments of technology on the one hand and new levels of organization required to meet external chal­lenges no less than internal ones, on the other. It is to some of the internal problems of the war pro­gram-and the consequences thereof-that this paper is particularly directed. It is much too early to consider the pattern of post-war readjustments; and it will be so until the essentials of these revolutionary changes occasioned by the war are more fully grasped and com· prehended. Anyway, the post-war readjustments will grow out of the gigantic war program and its conse­quences, based upon such essentials as raw ma­terials, the envolving industrial pattern and the eco­nomic position of the United States in world affairs. The status of the United States now and in the post-war world will be determined by the comparative position of the nation in the World's Power Belt, as outlined in a previous article in this series. The war program to date has wrought a greater degree of integration to the economy of the United States than could have been imagined only a few years back, al­though a fuller integration is likely to be required. It certainly would add tremendously to America's war effort. And this program is crystallizing potentialities (and deficits in materials as well) on a scale so wide and with implications so astounding that it is well to pause and consider what some of these developments mean now, and of what they inevitably will mean in the near future. As to deficits, it will come to be increasingly apparent that no nation at war has too much of any raw materials-or that no nation at was has ever enough of everything. To a nation at war there are few com­modities or materials that are not strategic. As Eugene S. Duffield and William F. Kerby wrote in The Wall Street Journal of December 26, 1941: Are the predicted shortages going to prove real? They are. Just as surely as the tires of 30 million automobiles are wearing out, the shortage of tires is approaching. Just as surely as war­ships are plying the Pacific and warplanes are patroling the Atlantic, the shortage of gasoline and oil is approaching. The average American is going to learn what it means to be rationed. Most Americans, apparently, cannot quite believe what is in store for them. They are misled by an apparent plenty in the midst of warnings as to the future. In a big industrial country there are always heavy stocks of raw materials and manufactured goods in process or in transit. These stocks will lessen the initial shock. They will give the average American an economic Indian Summer before the winter winds of a real war economy begin to bite. No one doubts the outstanding significance or the absolute necessity of industry to the United States, even though many aspects and implications of industry may as yet be perceived but dimly. But of the impact of modern industry upon the nation as a whole, and upon its numerous major economic regions, of the insatiable requirements industry has for an ever-increasing volume and variety of raw materials, not just a few, but a multitude of such raw materials-many of which we belatedly recognize now as having their sources over­seas-and of the absolute necessity for applying to in­dustry the very best and most effective technology pos­sible--these things perhaps are not as yet perceived as plainly as is to be desired. But, at least, no one now is "talking" of the desirability of having a moratorium placed on new inventions and discoveries. Certainly the rubber industry or the owners of America's passenger cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles do not feel that technology has been carried too far. There exists nowhere even a fairly good scientific analysis or thorough-going economic appraisal getting down to brass tacks of the potentialities, as to the broader scope or as to particular industries, of the United States for production operations. There exist studies based upon high-sounding theoretical considerations that serve but to remove the truth a few steps farther on. And the same thing can ~e said regarding the raw materials needed from elsewhere in the world in order that these potentialities may be effectively translated into action­into steel and concrete, airplanes or armaments, and the like. The long series of steps, complex in detail and requiring certain raw materials not present in the United States, involved in making modern alloy steels is a · case in point. Commercially minded industry itself has just taken things for granted, and especially those things out­side its own "special" bailiwick. Research-minded indus­tries have gone much farther; otherwise, we would indeed be much worse off as regards synthetic rubber or the new plastics and synthetic fibers, or the new sources of raw materials from petroleum and natural gas upon which a vast new synthetic organic chemical industry is being built. But the bigger problem-that of understanding the potentialities of the United States and of its many regions economically integrated, of perceiving the greater possi­ bilities of industry development and industrial integra­ tion in the light of American natural resources and raw material requirements, and the necessities engendered by the interdependence of major industries-still merits considerable economic analysis based upon the super­ imposition of institutional factors-advancing technology and more effective economic organization, to take but two--on America's vast natural resources and the com­binations thereof as required by modern industry. It will be necessary to differentiate in a thorough and dis­criminatincr manner between the so-called institutional approach to economic problems (and this approach is all important if we go to the. substantial bases beyon~ the grandiloquent concepts this approach so ofterr uti­lizes) and the "concrete" approach of the natural scien­tist and the technologist. It is not a question of either­or but of the pragmatic combination of the two, translated concretely in added productivity. Until there is a common understanding of the Ameri­can potential, as revealed by thorough-going s~i~n~i_fic studies and analyses, and of the stupendous possibilities of, as well as problems and difficulties concerned in translating these potentials into actual production, we shall see in the perspective of the future-a week hence, or months, or years-numerous bottlenecks and short­ages and discrepancies that might well have been avoided with reasonable foresight-but of foresight based not upon past performances, but upon the great challenges that must be met-or else. There are no precedents capable of supplying the full picture. The task ahead is so broad and so complex as to constitute its own prece­dents, as it were. Whatever industries or activities in the present look for precedents to guide them fully may be regarded, by this very attitude, as having concluded that their future is behind them. Specific industries being revolutionized are numer­ous-oil refining, the production of aluminum and mag­nesium, the synthetic organic chemicals industry; other industries playing vital parts in a vast expansion pro­gram include alloy steels, electricity, pulp and paper, and plastics. The preponderance of American develop­ments in these lines has come in the comparatively short time since World War I. These can be considered under three major group­ings: the new chemicals and new chemical raw materials, electricity, and the new metals, including alloy steels. The vital significance of these groups is not limited to the United States; they are of vital importance in indus­trial undertakings the world over-and doubly so in the nations engaged or which will be engaged in the war. But these three major groups nowhere stand isolated­instead they are all closely interrelated-so much so that any modification of one, or the appearance of difficulties in even a remote element in one of them in many cases reverberates throughout the entire field of new chemicals, new metals, and electricity. In fact, a bottleneck in one of the items of these major groups may prove to be a decisive factor in holding up a whole series in the vital lines of production. Consider, for instance, the fact that the American chemical industry grew out of the circum­stances of World War I and that its rapid expansion on an ever broadening front in the post-war decades made its progress appear little less than phenomenal. In the war program the chemical industry must be greatly ex­panded; its production very substantially accelerated. But, as Sydney B. Self wrote in The Wall Street Journal, January, 1942: "The chemical program this year will be limited more by available allotments of alloy steels and available electric power than by estimates of the nation's probable eventual requirements." TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST Where does Texas come in? At long last it is becom­ing so obvious as to be cruelly plain that happenings on the other side of the world can and do affect the life and business and well-being of people in Texas. And it is patent to the nation at large, as well as to Texas leadership, that Texas' natural resources and geo­graphic advantages occupy a vital part in the war pro­duction program. But how widely and how deeply, it may well be asked, have the potentialities of Texas been considered in translating the demands of the time into the actualities of materials and machines that will have to be forthcoming in the nation's all-out war effort. What, it may be asked, will be the reactions of thinking people in the future concerning the fact of the lack of informed interest in the basic aspects of Texas' capacity to produce. Above all things, complacency henceforth cannot be the order of the day, in any part of the United States, in any undertaking, or in any business. And, likewise, it is becoming sharply apparent that economic trends and industrial movements elsewhere in the United States are of vital importance to the people 0£ Texas­so vital that these trends and movements must be con­sidered as among the most "practical" of things that influence day to day happenings, as among the most significant and powerful of factors determining our entire economic life and all that that implies. We have been prone to consider industrial developments in the South, in the Southeast and in the Southwest, as merely geographic shifts of already established industries; that most of these developments began as such is not to he questioned-no more than is the case for the shifts of textile factories, and of the iron, and later the steel industry from England to eastern United States. And some of the developments of industry into the South remain as merely branches of industries preponderantly situated elsewhere, as for instance the Birmingham steel industry, at least until recently. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION COMES INTO THE SOUTH But for certain other industries the analogy no longer holds; in others a remarkable change is now in progress. The oil and natural gas industries of the Southwest (including California) constitute preponderantly the oil and gas industries of the nation at large. The pulp and paper industry of the South is preponderantly the pulp and paper industry of the United States. In the chemical industry the develoments have not gone as far-not as yet. But when and if the potentialities of the Soutli­west's great oil and natural gas resources are properly appreciated, not only as fuel and energy bases for a vastly expanded chemical industry in the Southwest, but also for their potentialities in furnishing hydro· carbons as raw materials for new and rapidly growing synthetic organic chemicals industry, then the picture will indeed be a greatly transformed one. , We must consider the fact that much of the industrial development that is so vital in today's hour of need has come since 1914-18--in the two decades following World War I. And, that nowhere in the United States have these developments been relatively, perhaps actu· ally, more important or more revolutionary, industrially considered, than in Southeastern United States and the Southwest. These industries, let it be re-emphasized, are industries of national import; they are industries which go a long way in supplying the national market, vast though that demand is. Furthermore, these industries in the South, in the Southeast and in the Southwest, are newly established industries; they are so new that suffi­cient time has not elapsed to allow a broader apprecia­tion of their possibilities in these regions, or of the potentialities of further vast expansion of these and other industries, which the Southeast and the Southwest possess owing to their natural resources awaiting higher levels of utilization. The pulp and paper industry in the Southeast, particu­ larly, has its counterpart in Arkansas and Louisiana and eastern Texas. The rapid expansion of Kraft pulp and paper in the Southeast in the 1920's was succeeded by startling innovations in the 1930's that have affected the Southwest as well as the Southeast, and stand to affect these regions still more. The spectacular development of the oil and natural gas industry so fundamentally important in the South­ west in the 1920's and 30's had its effects upon the Southeast owing to the pipeline transfer of natural gas and the coastwise transportation of fuel oils, particu­ larly; but the Southeast had almost as spectacular a development in its hydroelectric power program, of which T.V.A. is the outstanding example. The basic significance of oil and natural gas to the economy of Texas is generally appreciated, .but the appreciation looks to the accomplishments of the past rather than to the challenges of the future. The significance of Texas and Southwestern oil and natural gas in the national economy is not generally appreciated, and particularly so outside the Southwest. Texas and Southwestern oil and natural gas will however get more attention and consideration in the future-because of the essential re­ quirement of these resources in the war program. It might be noted that German controlled continental Europe (west of the Russian battle line) embraces in­ dustrial control of one of the world's great aggregations of mineral resources; this large territory is not, how· ever, important in oil production. And because it has little oil, the essential needs of the German war machine sought to conquer the great Russian oil reserves; the great reserves of Iran and Iraq now constitute one of the greatest prizes the German war machine could hope to secure. · The vast development of the aluminum industry in the Southeast in the late 1920's and 1930's has its counter­ part in the current vast magnesium expansion in the Southwest. The remaking of the textile map of the Southeast due to the rise of the synthetic fiber industries in the late 1920's and their rapid growth through the 30's had its counterpart in the gigantic development of the heavy chemicals in the Southwest during the 1930's. The development of electro-chemicals and particularly the ferroalloys using T.V.A. power has its southwestern counterpart in the development of a steel industry in the Southeast. The installation of powder and explosives plants in the Southeast has its counterparts in the Southwest, and the Southwest has also an important airplane industry. And the same sort of analogy applies to shipbuilding activities particularly along the Gulf Coast from the Houston Ship Channel to Mobile, Alabama. The larger point however is that all of these indus­tries are no longer local undertakings-they have grown to be national in scope of their importance and today vital to the nation at large in its war program. They will have fully as important a part to play in the post­war period. Nor is this all. In the light of the larger trends, with the background of wider movements national in scope, and with the aid of technology that knows no boundaries, political or otherwise, the potentialities of the natural resources of the Southeast as well as the Southwest must he reappraised-which means that they must he scien­tifically evaluated in relation to what they can contribute to the national need, now and later. OIL AND NATURAL GAS FUNDAMENTAL IN TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST Oil and natural gas from Texas and the Southwest are vital today to the nation at large, and they are vital beyond our national boundaries; but to Texas and the Southwest oil and natural gas are fundamental-so fundamental and so basic that were their true significance more widely comprehended, we most assuredly would witness a new appreciation paid them. For instance, physical waste in oil and natural gas has bee ngiven wide consideration; of chemical waste of these vital materials we have hardly heard the word! Higher chemical utilization of these hydro-carbons stands as one of the greater challenges of today--challenges which cannot be neglected, for any length of time. The strategic nature of oil and natural gas is indi­cated in the following quotation from an article by Sydney B. Self entitled "Chemicals in War: Industry Gets Ready for Its Biggest Task; Will Add New Plants. Its Products More Important to Arms Than Ever Be­fore-Mass Output Developed. Synthetic Rubber First Job," in The Wall Street Journal, January 21, 1942: One of the biggest jobs that must be done this year is to build plants to make more T.N.T. Powder is used to propel shells, but the shells and bombs dropped by planes need a high explosive charge of T.N.T. or even more lethal compounds. The hulk of the powder and explosives compound program is being run by du Pont, Hercules Powder and Atlas. Our 125,000 new planes to he effective weapons must have a plentiful supply of T.N.T. for bombs and probably the British and Russians will want large amounts too. So the requirements have gone up by leaps and bounds. Something like 2 million pounds of T.N.T. production at least will he needed daily, to the tune of 700,000,000 pounds or 350,000 tons a year. Probably the needs of the complete program will be several times this. T.N.T. is tri-nitro-toluol made from toluol and nitric acid. About 10 pounds of T.N.T. can he made from a gallon of toluol, so we need at least 70 million gallons annually right away and will probably need 300 or 400 million gallons annually before we are through. BURDEN ON 0JL INDUSTRY The burden of this production will fall on the oil industry, with Shell, Texas Corp. and Humble among the leaders. Petroleum and its gases more than ever before are carrying a major share of the war munitions load. Not only is it going into high octane gasoline, into the new synthetic rubber, and into industrial alcohol, but into raw materials for explosives which used to be made from coal tar. In the last war, all of the ammonia for powder and all the toluol came from coal. In this war all of the new plants are using petroleum products to make both ammonia and toluol. If it were not for our large oil reserves and our well developed chemical oil cracking processes, we would be unable to make the huge amounts of these materials we need. If all our organic chemicals had to come from coal laboriously mined instead of from gas or petroleum pumped from the ground, many more workers would be required. The new chemical program getting under way this year to the tune of $1 billion will all have to be financed with government funds. CONSERVATION, AN ESSENTIAL TODAY AND TOMORROW In the war production program conservation looms up as one of the over-all factors in practically every situa­tion. Two large developments already underway have to do with natural gas. At the large McKamie gas field in Lafayette County, Arkansas, Carter Oil Co. (sub­sidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey) is building a desulphurization plant which will process sour gas; the "cleaned" gas will be used for fuel, the by-products thus secured will be processed by Freeport Sulphur Co. This will be one of the first units of what may become a widespread program to utilize commercially what is CEMENT (In Thousands of Barrels) Dee., Dec., Nov., Year Year 1941 1940 1941 1941 1940 Texas Plants Production __ 829 602 779 9,679 7,374 Shipments __ 844 592 850 9,843 7,383 Stocks _ __ ____ 739 892 754 United States Production _13,810 11,147 14,931 164,029 130,349 Shipments __ll,511 8,192 13,724 135,597 130,404 Stocks _ __19,937 23,305 17,624 Capacity Operated ___ 64.8% 50.9% 72.7% Non : From U.S. Departmeat of Interior, Bureau of Mi.Dee. now waste gas-"sour" gas now burned in flares over field after field. Another phase of conservation is that reported to be practiced by Dow Chemical at Freeport. Sydney B. Self in Barron's, September 15, 1941, wrote of this situa­tion as follows: It has been said that one of the chief reasons why Dow Chemical Co. located its great sea water magnesium plant in Texas near the oil and gas fields was because of its interest in ethylene. Dow has always been a leader in resourcefulness in chemical research and has built its whole success on changing unprofitable materials into something more desirable, and on using all of its by-products to the fullest advantages. One of the features of its magnesium process is said to he the fact that natural gas is used as a fuel, but before it is burned Dow ex· tracts the ethylene and butadiene and other materials, so that the remainder burned costs nothing. Both butadiene and ethylene can be produced from natural gas. Butadiene, a hydro-carbon, is one of the essentials in making synthetic rubber of the buna-type. Buna-S, one of the synthetic rubbers well suited to the making of tires, is made from polymerizing butadiene and styrene. Butadiene can be made from natural gases or petroleum gases. Styrene can be made by combining ethylene (derivable from petroleum gases, or from natural gas) and benzene (which can be made from benzol, a cheap and abundant coal tar derivative). The importance of chemical raw materials from pe· troleum or natural gas can be illustrated in other developments. As Self summarizes in the article of September 15 quoted from above: Future uses for ethylene built up out of petroleum molecules provide the reason why it is believed that some day Dow's Free· port, Texas, plant may be bigger than its l\lidland, Mich., plant, now the biggest single chemical plant in the world. This is also the reason why Union Carbide has located one of its major developments at Texas City, Texas. Increasing interest in ethylene and in petroleum as a starting point will undoubtedly be shown by an increasing number of leading chemical companies over the coming year. ELMER H. JOHNSON. COMMODITY PRICES D~c. , Dec., Nov., 1941 1940 1941 Wholesale Prices: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (1926=100%) -------­ 93.6 80.0 92.5 Farm Prices : U.S. Dep't of Agriculture (1910­ 14=100%) -­------------------­ 143.o• 101.0 135.0 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (1926=100%) --------­ 94.7 69.7 90.6 Retail Prices: Food (U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta­ tistics, 1935-39= 100%) ---­--­-­Department Stores (Fairchild's 113.1° 97.3 113.1 Publications, =100%) January 1931 108.3 93.9 107.5 •Preliminarr. Cotton Vital in the Economy During 1942 Collon is due to play an increasingly important role during the year ahead. It is to do that because of a num­ber of important reasons: ( 1) cotton can he and should he a very strong brake against run-away inflation­cotton has a very wide range of civilian as well as war uses and is capable of being substituted for many other commodities of which there is a shortage either now or potentially; (2) there is a burdensome surplus of cotton in the United States that has been a threat to the cotton growers for years which can and should be fed into the market with the doubly laudable purposes of supplying the Government and the civilian population a large volume of goods at reasonable prices and to remove the surplus now hanging over the market; (3) cotton manu­facturing, the clothing industry which goes with it, and the distribution of cotton goods are together the greatest source of employment in the United States and the world. In the South, in particular, where many small enterprises , are being closed because they are unable to handle war contracts, the high rate of employment in the cotton textile industry and the clothing industry is invaluable as a stabilizing influence. (4) The use of a substantial portion of the Government-owned cotton on Lease Lend to our allies in the war will be an important factor in winning the war by supplying them with essential war materials and civilian employment and goods. It will tend to hold down foreign prices of raw cotton in foreign markets and thus tend to prevent over-stimulation of pro­duction of raw colton in foreign countries. The Commodity Credit Corporation through its owner­ship and control of a large share of the supply of cotton in the United States is in a strategic position relative to cotton in the months ahead. On January 13 it an­nounced that it would make its holdings of about 5,250,­000 bales available to the market on the basis of nineteen cents for M. 15/ 16 in warehouses at main Carolina mill points. This price was slightly under the market for that cotton on the day the announcement was made. This price is high enough to pay the farmers well at present general price levels and the market for goods is probably strong enough to take all the mills can manufacture run­ning at maximum capacity. It is both patriotic and sound economics to feed the cotton surplus into the market during the war emergency. Present prices of cotton are high enough to stimulate a substantial increase in cotton acreage under favorable weather conditions. In this connection, the importance of cottonseed both as a food and feed crop will doubtless not be undervalued as it has been in recent years in arriving a.t cotton policies. The fact is, the cotton policy ?f the Umted States would have been sounder in the past if a pro-rata part of the subsidy had been allotted to cottonseed. A. B. Cox COTTON BALANCE SHEET FOR THE UNITED STATES AS OF JANUARY 1 (In Thousands of Running Balts Except as Noted) 1932-1933 1933-1934 1934-1935 1935-1936 1936-1937 1937-1938 1938-1939 1939-1940 1940-1941 1941-1942 •In 500-lb. Bales. tNot l!vailable. The cotton year be&in1 AuJUll I. Govern. ment Imports Estimate Consump· Export•Carryover to as or -~ tion to to Balance Aug. l Jan. l Dec. I• Total Jan. l Jan. I Total Jan. l 9,682 38 12,727 22,447 2,342 4,246 6,588 15,859 8,176 55 13,177 21,408 2,415 4,180 6,595 14,8137,746 49 9,731 17,526 2,134 2,399 4,533 12,993 7,138 42 10,734 17,914 2,424 3,461 5,885 12,029 5,397 57 12,407 17,861 2,897 3,177 6,074 11,787 4,498 40 18,746 23,284 2,644 3,185 5,836 17,448 11,533 65 12,008 23,606 2,799 1,902 4,701 18,905 13,033 57 11,792 24,882 3,310 3,134 6,444 18,438 10,596 48 12,686 23,330 3,579 601 4,185 19,14012,367 t 10,976 23,343 4,441 4,441 18,902 EMPLOYMENT AND PAY ROLLS IN TEXAS December, 1941 Estimated Number of Percentage Change Estimated Amount of Percentace Chance Workers Employed• from from Weekly Pay RolJ from from November December November Decem ber November December November December 1941(l) 1941 G!) 1941 1940 1941(1) 1941 (2) 1941 1940 MANUFACTURING All Manufacturing lndustries-155,501 156,319 + 0.5 + 11.7 3,476,491 3,580,119 + 3.0 +29.6 Food Products Baking 7,002 7,058 + 0.8 +13.l 161,438 161,889 + 0.3 +21.8 Carbonated Beverages 3,099 2,981 3.8 + 12.4 77,524 77,048 0.6 +26.6 Confectionery 1,115 1,223 + 9.7 +28.5 11,176 13,307 +19.0 +42.6 Flour Milling 1,891 1,935 + 2.3 + 3.8 34,414 36,924 + 7.3 + 13.8 Ice Cream _ 1,015 980 3.5 +27.6 19,858 19,488 1.9 +25.5 Meat Packing 5,419 5,434 + 0.3 + 11.9 130,308 131,976 + 1.3 +25.5 Textiles Cotton Textile Mills 6,932 6,974 + 0.6 + 9.6 119,498 120,827 + 1.1 +34.4 Men's Work Oothing -----3,973 4,068 + 2.4 +10.9 53,557 56,084 + 4.7 +46.7 Forest Products Furniture ___ 2,410 2,377 1.4 +15.9 46,779 49,012 + 4.8 +36.5 Planing Mills 2,217 2,174 1.9 -7.5 54,536 58,184 + 6.7 + 18.l Saw Mills 17,469 17,485 + 0.1 + 4.2 247,529 244,050 1.4 + 19.5 Paper Boxes 710 720 + 1.4 +18.5 14,510 15,121 + 4.2 +50.3 Printing and Publishing Commercial Printing 2,496 2,586 + 3.6 + 9.8 55,105 59,708 + 8.4 +10.6 Newspaper Publishing 4,798 5,123 + 6.8 + 0.7 120,322 138,493 +15.l + 2.8 Chemical Products Cotton Oil Mills 4,144 4,032 2.7 + 0.4 45,575 42,902 5.9 +13.0 Petroleum Refining 21,630 21,786 + 0.7 + 9.2 824,891 860,574 + 4.3 +25.4 Stone and Clay Products Brick and Tile 2,130 2,170 + 1.9 + 4.9 30,282 29.830 1.5 +16.9 Cement _ 1,395 1,239 -11.2 +42.0 41,259 39;232 4.9 +50.2 Iron and Steel Products Foundries and Machine Shops_ 15,227 15,193 0.2 +37.1 496,983 506,914 + 2.0 +64.8 Structural and Ornamental Iron__ 2,628 2,657 + 1.1 +20.8 55,814 58,427 + 4.7 +36.9 NONMANUFACTURING Crude Petroleum Production _ 30,521 30,406 -0.4 + 2.7 1,128,395 1,128,395 + (I) +17.1 (0 (0 (<) (0 Quarrying -0.7 +31.3 -1.2 +55.1 (<) (0 (<) (<) Public Utilities -0.1 + 9.3 + 1.1 + 14.8 Retail Trade 209,093 244,633 +17.0 + 8.3 3,913,793 4,374,669 + 11.8 + 8.6 Wholesale Trade 67,000 66,648 0.5 + 9.6 2,034,040 2,071,145 + 1.8 + 7.3 Dyeing and Cleaning ----2,782 2,696 3.1 +15.9 40,890 39,777 -2.7 + 26.l Hotels 15,655 15,728 + 0.5 + 5.8 193,037 193,037 +m + 9.8 Power Laundries 11,865 11,724 -1.2 +14.4 147,550 147,728 + 0.1 +15.4 CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT AND PAYROLLS IN SELECTED CITIES Employment Pay Rolls Employment Pay RolJs Pere en tage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Nov., 1941 Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Dec., 1940 to to to to to to to to Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Abilene ___ -2.1 + 13.4 -2.3 +23.4 Galveston __ + 1.1 -12.8 + 0.1 -10.3 Amarillo -1.6 + 10.l + 1.8 +24.6 Houston + 3.4 + 18.0 + 6.5 + 27.8 Austin ---­+ 9.9 + 16.0 + 2.5 + 8.6 Port Arthur _ 0.3 + 3.6 + 2.2 + 21.0 Beaumont __ + 10.8 + 90.7 + 14.6 +134.3 San Antonio __ + 3.1 + 5.1 + 3.3 + 15.0 Dallas + 6.4 + 9.4 + 3.7 +23.2 Sherman ___ 1.5 + 3.5 1.3 + 14.8 EI Paso ___ + 2.8 + 16.7 + 2.7 +20.1 Waco ____ + 5.5 + 16.3 + 2.7 + 15.6 Fort Worth + 2.8 +16.4 + 4.2 +29.3 Wichita Falls _ + 2.6 + 12.6 + 0.4 + 34.8 STATE __ + 3.8 +17.2 + 5.7 +34.4 ESTIMATED NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN NONAGRICULTURAL BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHMENTs<•> 1940(1) 1941(1) 1940n> 1941 January 944,000 1,052,000 July 983,000 1,101,000n> February 943,000 1,092,000 August 988,000 1113 ooon> March ------­965,000 1,086,000 September 1,009,000 l'.134'.ooom 963,000 1,097,000 October _________l,022,000 1141 ooom April ---------­ May 983,000 1,077,000 November 1,048,000 1;151:00000 June 982,000 1,084,000 December 1,084,000 •Does not include proprietors, firm memb ers, officers of corporations, or other principal e:r:ecutives. Factory employment excludes also oflice, ules, technical and pofessional personnel. Subj ec t to revision. (3>Les1 than 1/ 20 of one per cent. <•>Not available. (5>Dased on unweighted figures. <0' Not including self-employed persons, casual workers, or domestic 1e"ant1, and ei:clusive of military and maritime penonnel. Theu &gurea are f\lnalabecl bJ the Bureau of Labor Stati1tic1, U.S. Department of Labor. Prepaied from reporll from representative Te:u1 eatabli1hmeDta to the B111ea11 of B111illc11 Raearch coopentins with tho B111e111 of Laber StaliltiCI. BUILDING PERMITS December, 1941 December, 1940 November, 1941 Abilene s 50,140 $ 74,855 s 218,876 Amarillo 161,200 244,114 281,140 Aus Li 330,012 646,754 433,637 BeaumonL 106,868 83,361 134,611 Big Spring 12,725 16,575 11,181 Coleman ----- 582 8,400 9,750 Corpus Christi ------------­ 163,012 247,070 302,119 Corsicana_ 11,625 3,331 3,500 Dallas_______ ___:_________ 1,501,276 2,959,276 1,706,197 Dei l!io 3,495 1,660 3,701 Dento 7,350 5,425 9,370 El Paso __ 190,556 134,050 204,142 Fort Worth__ 14,553,725(1) 186,681 311,086 Galveston 61,725* 40,958 901,161 Graham ----------1,950 2,952 3,730 Harlingen 37,600 45,760 18,005 Houston____ 1,045,155 3,155,628 1,178,341 Jacksonville 2,000 1,100 7,960 7,000 25,000 4,000 Kilgore --------------------- Longview 10,245 20,150 7,075 Lubboc 156,994 398,776 568,486 Lufkin 7,925:1: t 76,164:1: McAlle 16,500 8,285 7,785 Marshall 63,864 25,917 23,172 Midland _______ 97,925 50,325 41,250:1: New Braunfels -----------4,595 130 7,215 Pampa 24,700 63,550 33,175 Paris 15,050 6,865 89,050 Plainview ---------- 6,450 3,000 12,074 Port Arthur 30,971 49,852 58,513 San Angelo 40,369:1: 71,134:1: t San Antonio 412,533 199,404 395,672 Sherman. 37,672 16,781 21,201 Snyder ____ 8,350 14,480° 11,600 Sweetwater 31,360 1,580 10,130 Temple _______ -----2,850:1: t t Tyler_ 147,956 174,612 54,918 Waco_____ 64,257 80,867 107,093 Wichita Falls 866,136 887,829° 127,425 TOTAL_ s 20,243,554 $ 7,318,341 $ 9,885,853 •Does not include Public Works. tNot available. lNot incJuded in total, O>Jncludes bomber plant of $14,136,000. NoTa.-Compiled from report• from Te:uo chamben of commerce to tho B•rea11 of B111ine• Rnem:h. PETROLEUM PANMA.NO\.t Daily Average Production (In Barrels) Dec., 1941 Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Coastal Texas• 302,250 237,000 302,250 East Central Texas ___ 87,470 81,550 86,700 East Texas ------------383,480 356,600 386,750 North Texas----------140,350 137,000 140,350 Panhandle -----------92,300 77,950 84,900 Southwest Texas ____ 224,240 189,900 226,200 West Texas _____ 300,890 209,050 297,200 STATE ----------1,530,980 1,289,050 1,526,050 UNITED STATES __ 4,130,100 3,549,550 4,151,600 •Includes Conroe. NoTi:: From American Petroleum Institute. See accompanying map showing the oil producini districts of Texu. Gasoline sales as indicated by taxes collected by the State Comptroller were: November, 1941, 132,176,000 gallons; November, 1940, 113,448,000 gallons; October, 1941, 130,895,000 gallons. · Year 1941 Year 1940 $ 1,100,925 s 672,079 2,757,478 2,589,856 5,414,259 7,362,969 t 1,540,030:1: 191,597 296,381 181,641 239,130 12,062,331 8,099,857 165,042 169,570 17,264,570 16,220,813 88,976 96,620 337,449 313,093 3,088,363 3,057,179 19,680,171 4,850,672 5,255,587 2,083,922 101,840 90,987 420,545 401,041 19,215,441 24,073,888 98,736 145,297 t t 185,835 464,242 3,684,216 4,429,857 529,483:1: t 199,911 325,293 492,989 360,137 638,275:1: t t t 318,715 718,336 348,163:1: t t 96,876:1: 1,178,308 1,127,851 t 1,150,734:1: t 8,032,162:1: 406,288 435,234 t t 195,970 132,025 t t 901,118 972,391 2,849,309 2,562,982 3,529,597 2,186,145 $101,367,207 s 84,477,847 DECEMBER RETAIL SALES .OF INDEPENDENT STORES IN TEXAS Percentage Changee No. of Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Year 1941 Firms from from from Reporting Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Year 1940 TEXAS 983 + 14 +36 + I6 STORES GROUPED BY LINE OF GOODS CARRIED: APPAREL 104 + 25 + 55 +I7 Family Clothing Stores -------25 + 27 +38 + 22 Men's and Boys' Clothing Stores --------------------36 + 27 +66 + I7 Shoe Stores -----------------------------------I3 +28 +30 +I7 Women's Specialty Shops -------------30 + 2I + so +I6 -I6 AUTOMOTIVE* -----------------------------57 + 7 +I8 Motor Vehicle Dealers ---------------------------­54 -I7 + 5 +I8 COUNTRY GENERAL ----------------------------------------­97 +23 +I2 +I5 DEPARTMENT STORES ------------------------­52 + I7 + 60 +I5 DRUG STORES -----------------------------------------------I27 + IO +38 +ll DRY GOODS AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE___________ ___ 2I + I9 +36 +I3 FILLING STATIONS ____ ---------------39 +I6 -7 +I3 FLORISTS ------------------------------23 -4 + 53 + 3 FOOD• ---------------------------------157 +25 + 8 +I2 Groct:ry Stores ___ _ _ ___ SI +26 +I3 +I3 Grocery and Meat Stores ---------------------·----------------100 +24 + s + IO _ (l) FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD*----------------------------53 +32 + IS Furniture Stores ____ 44 +m +3I + I4 JEWELRY ------------------------------------------------­24 +23 +I98 + 28 LUMBER, BUILDING, AND HARDWARE*--------------------­187 + 28 -5 +23 Farm lmplt:ment Dealers -----------------------------------9 + S4 + I +29 Hardware Stores ____ -------------------------S6 +34 +30 +23 Lumber and Building Material Dealers______________________ _ I20 + 24 -17 +22 RESTAURANTS _____ 28 +I4 + 4 +I4 ALL OTHER STORES I4 + 20 +3I +I3 TEXAS STORES GROUPED ACCORDING TO POPU­LATION OF CITY: All Stores in Cities of-Over 100,000 Population ---------------­I52 +I4 + 49 +IS S0,000-100,000 Population ------------------------------12S -I +24 +20 2,S00-50,000 Population _ ------------------------4S9 +22 +30 +I6 Less than 2,SOO Population ----------------247 +28 + I2 +I6 •Group total includes kinds of business other than the classifications listed. (llChange of less than .5%. NoT& : Prepared from reports of independent retail 1torea to the Bureau of But1ineH Reaearch coOperating with tho United Statet Bureau of the Cen1ua.. DECEMBER, I94I, CARLOAD MOVEMENT OF POULTRY AND EGGS Shipments from Texas Stations Cars of Poultry Live Dressed Cara of Ecp Shell Eu Deatinatlo11• Chickens Turkeys Chickens Turkeys Shell Frozen Dried Equivalentt Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 TOTAL ---------------------I I I7 43 29 38 4SO S93 10 5 46 3I 9I I 830 75 Intrastate -----------0 0 0 0 0 0 2 I6 4 0 0 2 I2 0 IOO 4 Interstate ------------------I I I7 43 29 38 448 577 6 5 46 29 79 1 730 71 Receipts at Texas Stations Origin TOTAL ------------------------------0 0 0 0 0 11 2 6 I55 44 I 4 I2 0 253 52 Intrastate ---------------------0 0 0 0 0 8 I 6 2 I 0 0 I2 0 98 I Interstate -------------------------0 0 0 0 0 3 I 0 Ia3 43 I 4 0 0 ISS 5I •The destination above is the first destination as shown by the original way bi1I. Changes in destination brought about by diYersion orders are not 1hown. tPowdered eggs and frozen eggs are converted to a shell egg eq~ivalent on tho following basis: l rail carload of powdered e1p -8 carloads of ah.ell 4p, and I carload of frozen eggs = 2 carloads of shell eggs. Non: These data are furnished to the Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A., by n i1road of&.cials through agents at all 1t1tion1 which oricinate and receiYI earload 1bipmenta of poultry and egg1. The d4ta are compiled by the Bureau of Busincu Reaearch. DECEMBER RETAIL SALES OF INDEPENDENT TEXAS CHARTERS STORES IN TEXAS Dec., Dec., Nov., Year Year 1941 1940 1941 1941 1940Number Percentage Change of in Dollar Sa les Domestic Corporations: Firms Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Year 1941 Capitalization :• ___$I,658 $I,392 $926 $12,552 $24,138 polling from from from Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Year 1940 Number ------63 81 77 835 I,282 TOTAL TEXAS ---------983 +I4 +36 +I6 Classification of new corporations: TEXAS STORES GROUPED BY PRODUCING Banking-Finance 2 4 I 39 43 Manufacturing __ IO AREAS: 16 9 117 230 Merchandising ___ 6 15 District I-N ---------­S2 + s +20 +11 I4 I76 346 District I-S -----------­I6 +22 +20 + I7 Oil ----------------------12 7 8 94 168 Public Service __ __ 1 District 2 --------------------73 +so +23 +27 3 I IO 21 Real Estate Build-Abilene ------------------­IO +62 +49 +46 ing -----------------13 9 26 IS7 119 All Others ---------­63 +4S +IS +22 Transportation _____ 2 District 3 ----------------­32 +I4 +38 +I4 8 0 26 64 All Others ---------22 18 District 4 --------------­228 +u +45 + I5 18 22I 292 Dallas ------------------30 + I3 +50 +I3 Number capitalized at Denison ---------------­IO +I9 -48 + 9 less than $5,000 ____ 28 27 24 322 S33 -(1) Denton -----------12 + 6 +43 Number capitalized at Fort Worth ________ 28 +I2 +62 +I9 $100,000 or more 5 2 3 24 33Sherman -----------­I8 + I4 +I9 +13 Foreign Corpora- Waco -----------­27 + I +29 +I5 tions: (Number) _ 23 3S 33 200 267 All Others -------I04 +11 +24 + I5 District S ---------­99 +I7 +33 +25 •In thousands. Tyler -------------­I3 + 7 +52 + s NoTE: Compiled from records of the Secretary of State. All Others ---------­86 +2I +28 +27 District 6 --------------­4I -IS +IO +24 El Paso ----------­28 +IO +26 -17 All Others --------­I3 +I6 + 6 + s District 7 --------------S8 +27 +32 +I9 San Angelo ------­I3 +22 +38 +26 All Others ---------44 +30 +27 +I7 District 8 _________ I68 +I6 +3I +I9 Austin ---------------­IS + 3 +I2 +I6 TEXAS COMMERCIAL FAILURES Corpus Christi --------­I2 +2S +I9 +26 Dec,, Dec., Nov.,• Year Year San Antonio ---------­47 +18 +39 +20 1941 1940 1941 1941 1940 All Others ---------94 +18 +20 +I6 Number ---·--·-· I3 19 16 252 287District 9 ------------­I29 +I9 +45 +I4 Liabilitiest _ ___$170 $I79 $I,44S $S,472 $6,952Beaumont -------------­20 +I8 +42 +22 Assetst ------------134 128 709 2,699 6,178Galveston --------­IS + 9 +26 +22 Average Liabili-Houston ---------------­47 + I2 +47 + I2 ties per Fail-Port Arthur -----------­11 +37 +56 +36 uret ---------13 9 90 22 24 All Others -----------36 +28 +25 + I5 District IO ---------------­36 +29 +27 +25 •Revised. District IO-A --------------­SI +I4 +I5 + I7 tin thousands. Brownsville ------------­I3 + 8 +I2 +11 Nou: From Du.n a11d Bradatreet, lac. All Others -----------------38 +IS +I6 + I9 mcbange of leoo than .5%. Non: Prepared from report• of independent retail atore1 to the Bureau of Buaineee Reaearch, coOperatin& with the U.S. Bureau of the Census. LUMBER PERCENTAGE CHANGES IN CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRIC POWER(In Board Feet) Dec., 1941 Dec., 1940 Nov., 1941 Dec., 1941 Dec., 1941 Year 1941 from fro m fro m Southern Pine Mills: Dec ., 1940 Nov., 1941 Year 1940 Average weekly production, Commercial ---------·----·-----·-+ 13.0 4.8 + 15.5 per unit --------------293,585 304,935 309,318 Industrial ---··---------------· + 31.8 + 0.7 + 17.3 Average weekly shipments, Residential -----·-·-----·--------+ 8.8 0.2 +I0.9 per unit -------------284,992 3I9,236 308,746 All Others ---·----------·------+ 26.7 + 1.3 + 9.0 Average unfilled orders per TOTAL ···--------·----------·-· +21.9 0.7 + 14.6 unit, end of month______ I,23I,622 965,299 I,169,958 Prepared from reports from 10 electric power companies to the Bureau of Buaf. ness Research. Non : From Southern Pine A11ociation. DECEMBER CREDIT RATIOS IN TEXAS DEPARTMENT AND APPAREL STORES (Expressed in Per Cent) Number of Ratio of Credit sa1.. Ratio of Collection1 to Ratio of Credit Solari .. Storea Reportinc to Net Sales 1941 1940 Out1tandinp 1941 1940 to Credit S•les 1941 1940 All Stores -----­·---­-­ 55 58.9 62.2 41.8 39.5 0.7 0.8 Stores Grouped by Cities: Au~ 5 50.9 55.7 52.7 48.l 0.8 0.7 Beaumont ---­------------­- 3 59.l 62.9 46.0 44.3 0.5 0.9 Bryan -----------------­----------­Dallas 3 8 52.2 66.6 57.7 69.2 36.0 58.0 40.0 37.9 2.1 0.5 2.3 0.5 Fort Worth 6 57.6 62.2 41.4 36.2 0.7 0.6 Houston 6 59.0 60.3 41.l 41.4 0.9 0.9 San Antonio wa~o 4 4 50.l 53.0 55.l 54.4 47.0 42.5 45.8 35.0 1.0 1.3 0.9 1.1 All Others 16 53.3 56.5 43.8 40.2 0.9 0.9 Stores Grouped According to Type of Store: Department Stores (Annual Volume Over $500,000) 15 57.5 61.0 42.8 40.4 0.8 0.7 Department Stores (Annual Volume under $500,000) 9 53.5 54~2 46.5 37.6 1.0 1.1 Dry-Goods-Apparel Stores 3 56.0 58.5 49.3 46.7 1.3 1.4 Women's Specialty Shops 15 66.2 68.5 37.7 36.5 0.4 0.5 Men's Clothing Stores 13 58.7 63.7 42.6 40.3 0.9 0.8 Stores Grouped According to Volume of Net Sales During 1940: Over $2,500,000 8 59.9 64.l 40.5 42.4 0.7 0.6 $2,500,000 down to $1,000,000 7 58.0 60.3 43.9 42.3 0.8 0.9 $1,000,000 down to $500,000 9 51.7 54.2 43.7 40.7 0.9 0.9 $500,000 down to $100,000 25 51.3 53.9 45.3 42.8 1.0 1.1 Less than $100,000 6 52.0 57.l 42.7 42.9 1.9 1.8 Non: The ratios shown in the order in which they appear from left to right are obtained by the following computations: (l) Credit Sales divided by Net Sales. (2) Collections during the month divided by the total accounts unpaid on the first of the month. (3) Salaries of the Credit department divided by Credit Sale1. The data are reported to the Bureau of Bu1inen Re1earch by Texas retail atoree. DECEMBER SHIPMENTS OF LIVE STOCK CONVERTED TO A RAIL-CAR BASIS• Cattle 1941 1940 Calvea 1941 1940 Hoes 1941 1940 Sheep 1941 1940 Total 1941 1940 Total Interstate Plus Fort Worth1f_________ 3,764 2,509 1,174 899 674 708 336 192 5,948 4,308 Total Intrastate Omitting Fort Worth. _ ___ 346 308 104 93 70 22 46 23 566 446 TOT AL SHIPMENTS -----­ - - -­ 4,110 2,817 1,278 992 744 730 382 215 6,514 4,754 TEXAS CAR-LOT11 SHIPMENTS OF LIVE STOCK FOR YEAR 1941 Cattle Calves Hos• Sheep Total 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 1941 1940 Total Interstate Plus Fort Worth1f____ _ __ 43,591 47,214 12,748 13,678 9,503 8,359 9,125 11,462 74,967 80,713 Total Intrastate Omitting Fort Worth. ____ 5,937 5,134 1,596 1,146 195 239 l,126 1,000 8,854 7,519 TOTAL SHIPMENTS___ _ _______________ 49,528 52,348 14,344 14,824 9,698 8,598 10,251 12,462 83,821 88,232 •Rail·car Basis: Cattle, 30 bend per car; calves. 60; hogs, 80; and 1heep. 250. tfFort Worth shipments are combined with interstate forwardings in order that the bulk of market diuppearance for the month may be 1hown. Non:: These data are furnished the Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A. by railway officials through more than 1,500 etation agenta, repreeentlnc ,,._, Uve 1toek abippinc point in the State. Tho data are compiled by tho Burea" of Bu1in"' Reoearcb. BANKING STATISTICS (In Millions of Dollars) December, 1941 December, 1940 November, 1941 Dal'la1 United Dallas United Dallas United District Statel District States District State11 DEBITS to individual accounts $ 1,395 $50,364 $ 1,250" $51,424" $ 1,511" $55,550. Condition of reporting member banks on- December 31, 1941 December 31, 1940 December 3, 1941 ASSETS: Loans and investments-total 687 30,085 581 25,527 678 29,691 Loans-total ------------­ 374 11,370 318 9,390 362 11,259 Commercial, industrial, and agricultural loans 256 6,728 219 5,018 250 6,593 Open market paper 2 423 1 301 2 428 Loans to brokers and dealers in securities 11 537 5 584 5 548 Other loans for purchasing or carrying securities 16 422 14 465 14 427 Real estate loans 22 1,258 23 1,230 23 1,256 Loans to banks 35 37 38 Other loans 67 1,967 56 1,755 68 1,969 Treasury Bills _ 35 883 27 611 44 990 Treasury Notes 39 2,535 38 2,129 43 2,522 U.S. Bonds --------------­- 138 8,667 99 6,979 126 8,348 Obligations fully guaranteed by U.S. Gov't 40 2,964 40 2,743 40 2,922 Other securities -----------­- --­ 61 3,666 59 3,675 63 3,650 Reserve with Federal Reserve Bank 190 9,825 150 11,797 194 10,575 Cash in vault-­----­-----­--------------------­ 15 555 12 535 14 554 Balances with domestic banks 288 3,255 282 3,462 295 3,344 Other assets-net 32 1,153 30 1,211 32 1,214 LIABILITIES: Demand deposits-adjusted Time deposits -----­U.S. Government deposits 602 133 44 23,650 5,348 1,495 508 136 30 22,299 5,432 474 620 134 32 24,324 5,390 846 Inter-bank deposits: Domestic banks 334 9,040 287 9,065 327 9,405 Foreign banks Borrowings __ 1 656 1 1 692 1 655 3 Other liabilities 6 770 4 748 6 828 Capital account 92 3,913 89 3,822 93 3,927 •Five weeks. NotE: From Federal Re1erve Board. ANNOUNCEMENT PROGRESS REPORT No. 1-"FAMILY EXPENDITURES AND PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION IN NINE TEXAS CoMMUNITIEs" By F. A. BUECHEL and EnwARD R. DEDEKE The first of a series of studies relating to family ex· hart, Lubbock, Marshall, Midland, and New Braunfels, and includes widely scattered communities. penditures, per capita consumption, and consumer habits The second study "Family Expendtiures in Twenty. and preferences is now ready for distribution. This one Texas Communities" will be completed and ready for distribution within the next two weeks. A third study relating to consumer reactions in local retail dis­report entitled, "Family Expenditures and Per Capita Consumption in Nine Texas Communities" is based on tribution is in preparation and the release date will be surveys made by the Bureau of Business Research in announced later. The price of the entire series is one Austin, Brownwood, Gladewater, Goose Creek, Lock-dollar. A Monthly Summary of Business and Economic Conditions in Texas and the Southwest Bureau of Business Research, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas Entered H aecond clau matter on May 7, 1928, at the po1t office at An1tin, Texas, u·nder Act ef AuJUlt .i'4, 1912 TEN CENTS PER COPY ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR POSTAL RECEIPTS Abilene -------------------­ Amarillo Austin ------------------­ Beaumont Big Spring ----------------­ Brownwood . Childress -------------------­ Coleman __ Corpus Christi -----------­ Corsicana Dallas __ Del Rio Denison Denton ----------------­El Paso -------------0------­ Fort Worth Galveston ___ Gladewater ---------------­ Graham Harlingen . Houston --------­Jacksonville ----------­ Kenedy ------- Kil gore -----------------­ Lufkin ------- Longview ---------------­ Lubbock -----­ McAllen ----------------­ Marshall --------------­ Pampa __ Paris __ _ Plainview ____ -------------­Port Arthur San Angelo -------· San Antonio Sherman Sweetwater Temple --------------------· Tyler -------------------­ Waco Wichita Falls ---------------­ TOTAL ----------------­ •Not included in total. tNot available. tEieven months. Non: Compiled from reports from Texa1 chambers of Dec., 1941 Dec•• 1940 $ 44,398 $ 25,181 51,293 47,412 102,435 88,470 45,295 40,010 10,809 9,336 25,109. t 2,000 5,680 4,860 3,716 64,766 45,742 10,156 9,431 546,411 498,521 5,672 5,484 11,248 10,291 10,808 10,265 103,224 82,244 255,389 214,432 60,464 46,140 4,221 4,354 3,661 3,677 10,494 9,862 410,011 359,717 4,476 3,920 1,817 1,563 9,307° 8,888. 7,147 6,577 14,498 13,774 32,783 27,624 8,017 8,279 10,377 10,362 11,328 10,698 10,044 8,366 7,181 6,352 28,449 25,354 23,208 18,324 249,538 203,790 12,869 11,793 7,461 6,697 10,539• t 23,934 22,032 50,719 44,103 52,042 34,627 $ 2,313,503 $ 1,984,200 commerce to the Bureau of Busincn Nov., 1941 $ . 25,479 31,482 67,629 28,079 6,386 14,790. 2,000 2,485 38,340 6,328 387,323 3,958 5,931 7,052 60.508 168,486 33,520 2,608 2.163 6,274 267,455 3,096 1,324 t 5,076 8.667 21,888 4,834 5,822 6,667 5,986 3,735 14,903 13,397 145,296 7,418 4,615 6,793. 15,260 37,073 29,918 $ 1,488,461 Research. Year 1941 $ 314,827.:j: 427,610 923,069 363,467 82,619 181,931• 31 ,224 33,806 461,395 77,164 4,961 ,747 63,347 82,982 96,503 772,630 1,969,468 439,449 t 29,201 83,165 3,411,520 42,301 17,454 t t 120,840 267,716 62,198 82,333 87,604 79,032 52.225 189,974 172,020 1,862,658 98,601 t t . 200,452 445,874 352,709 $18,444,357 Year 1940 s 202,533•:1: 416,946 860,027 335,325 76,682 t 34,414 28,269 362,563 71,139 4,597,769 49,487 75,777 92,188 590,295 1,824,023 381,762 34.018° 29,597 77,914 3,167,241 38.237 15.560 73J 13° 57,560. 114,709 237,615 64,729 80,042 86,527 73,080 . 50,283 176,029 148,766 1,620,261 94,016 61,617° t 195,131 412,643 296,360 $16,775,406 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Business Review and Prospect, F. A. Buechel_____ _______________ __________________________--.=-----3 Cotton Vital in the Economy During 1942, A. B. Cox___ ________________________________________________ 9 What the War Production Program Means, Elmer H. Johnson_____ ______________________ ____________________ _ 4 LIST OF CHARTS Disposition of Milk Produced on Farms in Selected States, 1939___ ___ 1 Indexes of Business Activity in Texas_________ _ ______________ 2 LIST OF TABLES Banking Statistics ------------------------------------------------­15 Building Permits ---------------------------11 Carload Movement of Poultry and Eggs --------------------------------------------12 Cement ---------------------------------------------------------­8 Charters ----------------------------------------------------------13 Commercial Failures ------------------------------------------­13 Commodity Prices -------------------------------------8 Cotton Balance Sheet -------------------------------------. ___ 9 Credit Ratios in Texas Department and Apparel Stores__________ ________________________ 14 Employment and Payrolls in Texas -----------------------------------------------10 Lumber ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13 Percentage Changes in Consumption of Electric Power ------------------------------13 Petroleum ----------------------------------11 Postal Receipts ----------------------------------------­16 Retail Sales of Independent Stores in Texas 12, 13 Shipments of Livestock 14