La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959, June 22, 1932, Confidence Edition, Page 9, Image 9

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    ; . : ' V'-'
.. v'
to
Confidence
Edition
Section Two l
Pages 1 to 8 T
VOLUME 30
LA GRANDE, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1932
NUMBER 253
Financial Situation
Survey by National
City Bank, New York
Effect of Currency Hoarding
' ' ' and Gold Exports
Airplane View of the City of La Grande
La Grande Retail,
Wholesale Stores
Are Well Stocked
Large Trading Area Is Served by
Local Business Houses
General Business Conditions
The program of the federal reserve
, banks of buying largo amounts of
I government securities In. the open
market for the purpose of adding to
the i supply of loanable funds and
Checking the deflation of credit has
been carried forward with vigor dur
ing the past month. . Between April
1st, when the program: of accelerated
buying was first announced, and the
date of the latest bank statement
(May 18, the federal reserve banks
purchased M 8 0,000, 000 of "govern
ments, bringing the total of these
holdings to $1,466,000,000 the high
est on . record. Never have open mar
ket operations on so large a scale been
attempted .by a central bank. The
action of the federal reserve author
ities, therefore, marks a bold experi
ment In central banking practice and
one which, if successful, will con
tribute most . Importantly towards
business recovery by freeing business
from the weight of an over-reaching
and destrlctlve deflation.
In view of the magnitude of these
operations it is perhaps Inevitable
that .they, should be labelled Infla
tionary by many people in this
country as well as abroad. It' Is ap
parent, however, that there Is a good
deal, of misunderstanding of what
has. been taking place In our money
market. As a matter of fact, action
by the central -bank to relieve the
pressure of credit deflation had be
come Imperative. .
7 The Period Before Credit Crisis""
Until the mflddle of 1031 there
could be no comjplalnt as to the ade
quacy of the volume of bank credit
available for business. In July 1031
the volume of member bank balances
at the reserve banks, constituting the
basis of bank advances to customers,
averaged 92,432,000.000, or somewhat
higher than in September 1029 Just
before the first stock market break.
Taking the banking . system as a
whole; Its lending power was unim
paired, and declines In business vol
ume and prices obviously . could not
. be attributed to monetary pressure.
t y.jWlth. the,. volume.of, bank, reserves
maintained a J a fairly constant lev
el, there, was naturally a similar
stability In the volump of bank credit
outstanding to the public, although
a considerable change took place In
the form In which this credit was
kept In circulation, loans being re
duced and Investments Increased.
The following table comparing the
changes In bank loans and Invest
ments and deposits between Septem
ber 2929 and July 1931 indicates very
clearly the absence of any monetary
pressure as an aggravating factor of
the depression up to that time: '
Weekly Reporting Member Banks
- - (In millions of dollars)
. Hept.4, July 1,
11)29 1031 Change
Loans on
securities $ 7(632 $ 0.746 ' 886
Loans,
. all other 9,518 7.046 1673
Investments :' 6,440 7,795 2355
Total loans &
investments 22,590 22,486 104
Deposits ...... 20,003 21,169 1166
Increase.
Effects of Currency Hoarding and
tlold Exports
Beginning after tho middle of 1931,
however, the situation changed. A
new set of factors was Introduced
into the monetary sphere which rad
ically altered the relationship bo
twee n banks and business. The
gradual increase .In the number of
bank failures, resulting from falling
prices and difficulties In liquidating
slow assets, caused a growing public
uneasiness regarding the banks which
manifested Itself in withdrawals of
currency for hoarding. The banks,
In order to obtain currency to sup
ply depositors' demands, were obliged
to draw down their balances at tho
reserve banks. Slnco these balances
constituted tho basis for outstanding
credit their reduction involved a
forced contraction of credit which
,had disastrous effects upon industry
and trade. With cash reserves under
going a steady shrinkage, the bank
ing system had no choice but to
contract loans and sell securities in
order to keep Its liabilities within tho
proportion to reserves specified by
' law. Thus, the decline of bank loans
no longer reflected the normal pro
cesses of commercial liquidation, but
became a driving force for contlnu-
VIEW ON ADAMS AVENUE
Mm
In a Vlen of the liu1nc
Adams uremic between
ous contraction. It had the effect,
not of mending, but of aggravating
the usual difficulties of the depres
sion. Moreover, by September 1931 a new
drain upon bank reserves had begun
from another quarter. The departure
of Great Britain from a gold basis
led to heavy foreign withdrawals of
short term balances from this coun
try, further reducing member bank
reserves and necessitating additional
contraction of credit. Between an
tncreaso of $782,000,000 in currency
in circulation between the end or
June and February, and a decrease
of $602,000,000 in gold holdings due
to exports and earmarklngs during
the same period, the combined loss
to member bank reserves amounted
to $1,384,000,000.
Limitations on (he Expansion or
Federal Keserve Credit
It Is true that the reserve banks
had huge excess reverses,, and that
a large part of the above loss to the
money market was offset by an ex
pansion of federal reserve credit
which put funds at - tho disposal of
member banks with which -to mako ;
good the decrease in their reserve i
balances occasioned by currency !
withdrawals and gold exports. Be- I
tween Juno 24 and Feb. 24 the ;
amount of federal reserve credit was j
increased by $774,000,000. Had it not !
been for this help by the reserve
banks the effect of the Impact of
gold and currency losses on the credit
structure would have been, far more
serious than it was. Unfortunately,
however, the amount of credit put
out by the reserve banks was not
sufficient to fully offset the losses of
reserve sustained on other accounts.
This was due principally to two
causes.
In the first place, at the time of
these losses the reserve banks did not
have the power since conferred, upon
them by the Glass-Stcagall bill to
uso government securities bought In
the open market as collateral for
federal reserve note Issues. Hence
th?lr power to put, credit into the
market by adding to the govern
ment seeurlty portfolio was limited.
In tho second place, member banks
aro always reluctant to Increase their
Indebtedness at the reserve banks
and do so only under increasing
pressure. While In this instance they
did borrow on a very large scale to
make good the losses in their re
serve balances, their rediscounts with
the federal rising from $198,000,000
at the end of June to somewhat un
der $860,000,000 in February, they
offected at tho same time what re
ductions they could in their out
standing credits.
As a result, the burden of supply
ing gold and currency was borne
' partly by the sererve banks, and part
ly by commercial and other users of
credit.
The Shrinkage In Bank Reserve
nnil Deposits.
The following table shows the
course of member bank reserves by
months and indicates the effect or
these declines on tho deposits of the
banks Involved.
Weekly Reporting Member Banks
(in millions of dollars)
Reserve
End or Month .Balance Deposits
June, 1931 $1,808 , $21,169
, July " 1.844 20,807
August " 1.787 , 20,254
Sept. " :. 1.810 " 20,378
I Oct. " 1,714 18.068
Nov. M ...1.008 18.488
! Dec. " 1.833 18.115
jan., 1032 1.482 17.462
iFcb. " 1.416 16.981
. Decrease, June-Feb. 392 4,188
It Is a familiar fact that under the
j mechanism of our banking system
member oanK reserves are pcrmiuca
to form the basis of a volume ot de
posits many times as great as the
reserves themselves. At the end of
June, last year, the ratio of reserves
to deposits for all reporting mem
ber banks was about as 1 to 12. In
other words, for every shrinkage of
a dollar in reserves there would in
evitably take place a contraction of
$12 In deposits. Tho effect of this
multiple contraction of credit in
enormously magnifying the scale of
deflation Is illustrated vividly in the
table, which shows that a loss of
tin) nnn iwi In hnnlr rofwrvoa. nvnr
the eight months was accompanied
building on the north 1rir of
Greenwood 'and Fir trret. ,
mmmm
Tradition says that ninny, many years ago an adventurous Frciiehuuin, tra
or Eastern Oregon and gazed with rupture upon a valley of great size, an
and nothing more; spoke (he weary traveler. This Is the legend co
My views of how people can best
be helped are not new. The present
period has ojly brought them into
Intensive application. Nearly 20 years
ago when we established our mini-1
mum wage, which la now six .dollars I
a day, wo had the other Hide of the;
problem. It was then a problem of;
sudden prosperity. We tried to teach
our employes how to handle their re
sources to the best advantage and
how to evade the parasites which wait
on every hand for the workers' wages.
There was no criticism of our meth
ods then; in fact, they were com
mended. They are the same methods
now with such Improvements as ex
perience has suggested. -
I said, In the first of this series,
that being out of .some one's . employ
need not mean being' out of work.
In the last analysis Independence
means self-dependence. . Dependence
on some one else for employment In
busy times may too easily become de
pendence on somo one else for sup
port in slack times.
If It is right and proper to help
people to become wise managers of
their own affairs in good times, it
cannot be wrong to pursue the same
object in dull times. Independence
through self-dependence Is a method
which must commend Itself when
understood.
Methods of self-help are numerous
and great numbers of people have
made the stimulating discovery that
they need not depend on employers
to find work for them they can find
work for themselves. I have more
definitely in mind those who have
not yet made that discovery, and I
should like to express certain con
victions I have tested.
The land! That Is where our roots
are. There is the basis of our phy
sical life. The farther we get away
from the land, the greater our In
security. From the land comes every
thing that supports life, everything
by a reduction of $4,188,000,000 in
deposits. In this tremendous shrink
age of bank credit alone there Is
enough to explain the Indescribable
confusion existing everywhere In In
dustry and the misfortunes inflicted
upon millions of people.
For a good many bankers living
far from the centers immediately af
fected by gold cxporU and in com-
muiiiLiui not aiiecicu uy currency
hoarding the foregoing explanation
of the decline ot deposits may ap
pear somewhat theoretical and hardly
applicable to tho situation locally.
Nevertheless, the Influence of these
movements may easily become a fac
tor in every local situation. Just as
any important addition to the coun
try's banking reserves at any given
center, whether due to gold Imports
at New York or other causes, tends to
spread its influence in expanding
credit all over the country, in the
same manner any largo subtractions
from reserves at any given point tend
to make their Influence folt In con
tracting credit In all sections. For
example, the calling of a loan by a
bank in New York to make an out
payment of gold may Involve pay
ment by the borrower by check on
a bank hair way across the conti
nent, thus diminishing the lattcr's
deposits. Still more important, a re
duction in reserves, leading to a con
traction of credit on a large scale,
depresses commodity prices, forces
suspension of Individual activity and
throws people out of work so that
they are forced to live on their sav
ings. Thus, in countless ways the
effects of deflation, regardless of the
place or origin, are carried to the
remotest villages of the country.
The Situation In February J3
Such was the burden of deflation
against which business was being
forced to contend in February of this
year when the reserve banks, their
open market powers broadened by the
Glass-Steagall blJJ, began to put cred
it into the market through the pur
chase of government Issues.
Nor was the pressure of this defla
tion over In February. It Is true
Henry Ford on "Self-Help"
we use for the service of physical life.
The land has not collapsed or shrunk
in either extant. or productivity. It
is there waiting to honor all the la-
bor we are willing to Invest in It. and -
a Die to iiae us across any aisiocuuou .could engage a larmer wun nis larm
of economic conditions. I to be their farmer this year, either as
No unemployment insurance ciui employe or on shares. There aro
bo compared to an alliance between farmers who would be glad to give a
a man and a plot of land. With one decent indigent family a corner of a
foot in industry and another foot intfleld on which to live and provide
the land, human society is firmly
balanced against most economic un
certainties. With a Job to supply
him with cosh, and a plot of land to
guarantee him support, the individual
is doubly secure. . Btocks may fail,
but seedtime and harvest do not fall.
,1 am not speaking of stop-gaps or
temporary expedients. Lot every man
and every family at this season of
Many people have found ways
to self-help; Others, have yet to
learn how. 1 The one, wide-open,
practical, certain unemployment
insurance is the land. A family
with its food assured is a family
that can face the world. Both
employed and unemployed men
should invest their labor in tho
land, this season. Hoarded labor Is
as harmful to tho nation as
hoarded cash. The family garden
helps everybody and hurts none.
It even helps the farmer by lifting
the burden of public welfare taxes.
Let every man and every family
cultivate a plot of land this year,
first for their own benefit, next
for the benefit of trade, and for
the benefit of the nation In gen
eral. the year cultivate a plot of land and
raise a sufficient supply for them-
selves or others. Every city and vll-
lage has vacant tnace whose use
would be permitted. Groups of cm-
ployed men could rent farms ror
that, thanks to the activities of the
reconstruction finance corporation,
tho, number of bank failures was be
ing sharply cut down, so that cur
rency hoarding was no longer in
creasing ' and some money was be
ginning to come back to the banks.
Moreover tho panic abroad over the
American dollar had subsided and
gold was no longer going abroad in
largo volume. Thus, for the moment
at least, the stroln upon member
bo nk reserves 1 rom these major
sources was no longer Increasing ap
preciably!, i'
Nevertheless, the forces or defla
tion were by no means spent. In
February, the volume of member
bank Indebtedness to the reserve
banks still stood between $800,000,000
and $850,000,000, a legacy from the
period or outflowing gold and cur
rency hoarding. So long as this In
debtedness rema I ncd so I a rgc t here
wan certain to be pressure for defla
tion, for every bank so Indebted
would struggle to get in cash until
it could, clear Itself or Its obligations.
And all this means continuous call
ing of loans and liquidation of se
curities. Had thero been any mark
ed return (low of currency or a turn
of the tide of gold to this country,
a reduction of rediscounts to more
normal levels around $300,000,000 to
$400,000,000 would have been easy,
slnco every dollar of gold or cur
rency deposited by a borrowing bank
at tho reserve bank would have
served to cancel a dollar of indebted
ness. But to effect such u reduc
tion through contraction of deposit
credits would, at the ratio of con
traction indicated In the preceding
tabic, have Involved a further reduc
tion of approximately $4,800,000,000
in deposits. It Is doubtful if even
the most hard-boiled deflationist
would advocate so drastic a course.
The extent of additional devastation
which would be wrought by any
such prolongation of the deflation
can only be imagined.
It will be clear, then, that the ob
jective of federal reserve policy hove
been, first, to assist In the lloulda-
vehvorn nud tired, stood on a towering pinnacle or the Blue Mountains
d as colorful as a Mediterranean sunset. "La Grande! Grande Rondel" This
iiocrnlug the names of La Grande and the Grande Rondo, valley
.small sums and operate them on tho
, co-operative plan. Employed, men, In
i groups of ten, twenty or fifty, could
j rent farms and operate them with
several unemployed families. Or, they,
against next winter. Industrial con
cerns everywhere would gladly mako
it possible for their men, employed
and unemployed, to find and work
the land. Public-spirited citizens and
Institutions would most -willingly as
sist In these efforts at Belf-help.
-I do not urge this solely or pri
marily on the " ground-of .need, i It Is
a aetmi to atop to tno. rcswrauon ot
normal business ' activity. Families
who adopt self-help have that amount
of free money to use In the channels
of trade. That in turn mean a flow
of goods, an Increase In employment,
a general benefit.
When I suggested this last year
and enabled our own people to tnake
the experiment, the critics said that
it would mean competition with the
farmer. If that were true It would
; constitute a serious defect In the
plan. My Interest In the success and
'prosperity of the farmer Is attested
' by my whole business career. Tho
farmer Is carrying in the form of
heavy taxes the burden of families
who cannot afford to buy his pro
duce. Enabling them to raise their
own food would not bo taking a cus
tomer away from tho farmer, but
would bo actually lifting a family off
the tax-payer's back. It Is argued
that farm products aro so" cheap that
It Is better to buy than grow them,
Tills would be Impressive 11 every on3
had money to spend. Farm products
are cheap because purchasing power
If low. And the farmer paying taxei
neips w rmy
the difference. The
Oregon State Motor
Urges
tlon of member bank fnclebtcdncra,
thus ellmlnntlng this Indebtedness (in
an Influence for further deflation,
and, second, to create a definite sur
plus of funds In the market with a
view to casing credit and encour
aging a more liberal lending policy
on the part of member banks.
Tho means by which tho rcservo
banks have set about making their
policies cffcctlvo Is the purchase of
government securities In the open
market. It is of Interest to sec to
what extent the objectives of. federal
serve policy have been attained.
Itediirllon or Member Itank
Indebtedness
In tho following tablo - wc show
tho weekly changes In. reserve bank
credit by principal Items slnco Feb.
24 when tho buying of government
OAIj THREE Financial . .
securities was conuncnepd. :
Federal Keservc liank Credit
Outstanding
(In millions of dollars!
V. H. Tolal
(lov. He- Reserve
i!i:i2
Feb.
Mhr.
mrHles llaiik Credit
741
700
7H5
842
B35
BB5
1.734
1,720
1 .0118
1,034
1,697
1,609
l.BBB
1,7()0
1 .785
1 .850
1.010
1.088
10
23
Apr. 8
3.. 0115
20 1.07B
27 1.101
4 - 1.2B7
11 1,385
18 1,400
May
It will be Been that tho purchase.
of governments were at first carried
on grudually until the weeki of April
13 when the rato of acquisition wuS
stepped up to around tlOO.000.000 for
several weeks. Total purchases for
tho entire period to May 18 amounted
to 726.000,000. i
What happened to the funds thu
course I suggest: Is .not competition
with the farmo.: It deprives him of
no customer; It' does not affect the
big market crops ' Garden never hurt
tho farmer. Partnerships - between
groups of city men and Individual
f (.liners certainly help tho farmer.
When a f amity lifts Itself off the wol-
faro lists or increases Its fra cash
hy raising Ut food. It actually helps
the farmer as It does every one else.
Including '.Usilt. In fact, it Is funda
mental that no one Is. hurt by self-
help. In the relief of tax burdens
and the revival of Industry the farm
er would share the benefit, ,
I dp not wish to be too detailed
in this Binjgostlon.:. knaw.-what we
snail do m our own part or the coun
try and with our own people. How
this method Is to be suited to con
ditions in all parts of the country
must be determined. I am urging
branch managers of the Ford Motor
company and Ford dealers everywhere
to study this suggestion and find the
best method of applying It to tholr
communities.
It is not a question of selling land,
or of rents. Those who have the land
must offer It to those who will use
It. We ourselves shall farm large
tracts of land, not for profit, but In
experimental search for new market
outlets for the farmer. We are say
ing to our people: "Here is the land.
How much can you use?" For several
years wo have been running large
crops or everything from sunflowers
to soy beans through out chemical
laboratory, In an effort to find an
annual market for tho farmer's pro
duco but that Is a story I shall
have to postpone. I mention It now
to show that even In these larger op
erations wo aro not entering Into
competition with tho farmer. Our
hope for agriculture is to make It
the partner of Industry.
A ssociation
Use of Their Facilities
The La Grande branch office of tho
Oregon Stato Motor association Is lo
cated In tho chamber of commerco
offlco at Adams and Chestnut. Com
plete map service and road Informa
tion arc avatlablo through this office.
Stato highway mapa of' every Btato,
national park booklets, resort folders,
ferry tolls, mlleago botween points,
trip routings, hotel rates, and nation
al forest maps may all bo obtained
at the AAA office.
Road ' condlMont for the Pacific
Coast highways aro received weekly
road condition of the main, high
ways over tho cntlro .United BUitcfl
aro received every two weeks.
Branch offices or tiio Oregon, State
Motor association are maintained at
La .Orande, Raker, Bend, Coqulllo,
Corvallls, Eugono, Klamath Falls,
Mcdford,- Pendleton,. Ontario and Sa
lem. Touring bureaus are maintained
at Albany, Hood River, Roscburg, and
Tho Dalles. Theso offices urge you
to make uso of tho Information facil
ities available
disbursed Into tho market?
Approximately $92,000,000 went In
to a reduction In tho acceptance
portfolio which decreased from $133,
000,000 on Feb. 24 to $41,000,000 on
May IH. Over and abovo this amoun.t
$370,000,000 went to bring about tho
desired reduction In rediscounts, the
volume of which fell from $835,000,000
on Feb. 24 to $406,000,000 on May
18. or by nearly one-half. Wlillo fur
ther reduction In rediscounts would
doubtless bo deslrablo under pres
ent conditions, the total now shown
Is no longer a serious burden upon
tho banking system. Thus within tho
spaco of threo months tho roservo
banks havo practically achieved tholr
first objective.
Considering that practically nono
of this Indebtedness has been. In the
(Continued 00 Page Four)
Prices Generally Lower
That La Grande Is truly the met
ropolitan center of Eastern Oregon Is
shown In the large area served by the
local business houses. Prices are
generally low and compare very fav
orably with other cities or the same
alze as La Grande In the state of Ore
gon, and all deslrablo qualities ot
merchandise are to be found hero,
which attracts people from all over
thl section of the state.
The wholesale business In La
Orande, of course, covers a larger trade
area., than the retail stores, all of
the wholesale houses here serving the
entire Union and Wallowa counties,
besides sending a large amount of
produce Into other adjoining counties .
In this section of Oregon.
Although some articles produced by
the wholesale business here go as far
east ae the Idaho state line and as)
far west as Pendleton, the bulk of
the production is ud in Union and
Wallowa counties, serving some 26
towns.
Automobiles, which were responsi
ble for road Improvement, havo bewn
another Important factor In the In
creasing of La Grande's trade area, A
trip., from Joseph, Enterprise, Wal
lows, or other Wallowa county towits
to.., La Grande is now only a matter
of a few houra, and many of tho peo
ple Jiving In the adjoining county do
most of their buying here.
The same Is true of tho numerous
Union county towns, good roods mak- Adams avenue, and has re-named his
Ing La Grande easily accessible from company the McDonald Electric ccm,
all directions and. being the county pany. He has adopted a very ap-
seat of Union county, and tho trade proprlato slogan "Where your patron
center, a largo amount of trading 1b age Is appreciated." His training and
done here. I xprlce of six years In automotive
Popple from Pendleton and other
UmatiUa county points, also from lle nin to nanoie his new corn
Baker and as far oast as Huntington Pany In. a erricient manner.
and Ontario, shop In La Grande.
Many who are familiar with tho
stores here and aro livine in other
sections of Eastern Oregon order by
mail, when it Is inconvlent for thorn BinB carries. i .hqiuou ,w
to come to La Grande. j battery service they are equipped to.
"'u:',' Price Survey j handle all types of automotive eleo-
,1 Ai survey of prices In La Orande trl "Pw on passenger cars, trucks
and the fact that the trade area hos'ftn1 trftctprs;:,.,Tiiey al specialize In
increased from year to year clearly 8peedometer,.mlagnetQ,and fuepump
shows that La Orande is not a high- repairs.. ; '
priced town.
Comparisons show that pricev in
La Grande are practically the same:
as prices In other towns tho samol
size of La Grando In Oregon and!
that In some canoe- thoy aro lower.
comparison maao witn several occupy,, , preMnt quarters for th
Washington towns about equal Inslzo t two ycara No utt(,r now bRd
to La Grando showa that La Grande , battered or bont, thoy are equipped
la gonorally lowor on tho samo quirt- to hnntUo thot ..foltted up.f teaMr or,
lty of merchandise, ("punctured" body Job on your car.:
Tho lorgor towna of Eastern Oregon TheJr ala0 specialize In repairing nd
La Grande, Baker and Pendleton rol)Uii(g broxen tops and torn nd
aro practically the some In prices, worn0ut upholstering. In addition,
there being little If any variations. tnoy op))rato a completely equipped
Prices here also correspond favorably pBmt ,nop where tn0 mttiiest patch
with the prices In tho samo sized job wltll perfectly blended colors or
towns of Willamette valley, and the ft comploto paint Job might be had.
rango of quality Is practically tho Their slogan "See Fred and be
same. lahoad" la one won taken since their
Hango Apt to Differ olghtoon years oxporlence in automo--
In tho Jargor cities, liowovor, such blle ropalr work Is tholr guarantee of-
as roruana, wnoro ouying is aono, on
a largor scalo tho price range also.
differs. Quality goods Is sold at a1
hlghor price In tho largor cities, it is
said. Many of tho standard makes of!
olothes which would ooll for $35 in
La. Grando will receive from 40 toj The Burgess Battery ana Eieotric.
46 In Portland, and Incroaso of from established In 1020, Is one of the old
15 to 10, I ost and bost known shops In. La
, ,In tho largo city tho storo In whicn Grando. Fred Burgess, owner and
the goods Is sold effects tho prices managor, specializes in battery re
in most cases, tho more excluslvo pairing and rebuilding and automo-.
shops being ablo to soil for a bigger
price than the gonoral stores. This Is
not truo of tho smaller cities the size
of La Grande and tho price is found
to bo always tho same.
, Somo standard mokca of goods,
however, are sold for tho samo price ' carburetors, uu mien, ana vr.
all ovor the United States, tho price 0 automobile accessories are car-
being arranged by tho manufacturer.
This Is especially truo ot somo makes!
of hats, Bhocs, men's sox and shirts. ;
Merchants handling these brands aro "" nr0 an awno, i.g.n. ,
not . allowed to raise or lowor their station
prices which aro tho same all over ' ' '
tho United States wherever tho ar- CKNTHAI. SHIIVICB STATION
tlclo Is sold. .
This Is also true of chain clothing Tho Central Service Station Is
and gcnoral stores, such as tho J. C. owned and operated by Frank Patt
Penney company etoro and others In ' and his shop Is located at 1301 Jef
thls class. j fcrson avenue. Ho 1ft equipped to do
Tho samo grado article can be general .automobile repair business
bought In this typo of chain storo In and in addition, services Veltex gaso
LaiLGrando for tho samo price as It lino and oil products. Ho has a very
can' bo purchased In Portland. Chi- novel advertising vohlclo in. the course
cago or any other larger city. ' of construction which he plans to
This Is not truo of grocery stores, havo completed on or about July 1;.
however, whoro tho community mar- Watch for HI
VIEW ON ADAMS AVENUE
This Is the section on the north side of Adorns avrnue between
loiirlli mid Chmlmit streets,
ket and the shipping distance are
Important factors in- arranging the
price. While two chain grocery stores
in one town would have the same
Identical price list, two stores of the
same chain located In different towns,
would have a much different Bched
ule of prices. . ;
The best quality merchandise al
ways demands the highest price. In.,
the dry goods and clothing lines the
people of La Grande generally desire
the better quality, local merchants
notice.
The best grades of merchandise are
to be had here as well as the cheaper
grades, eo that It 1b not necessary for
Grande people to go outside of the"
city to find Just the quality desired,'
and with the price of the better
qualities often less than In the city
there Is no real advantage of going1
to the city to shop, It is said.
varIety from whlcU to chooae Jn tBhe"
large city, but to buy at home would (
bo to help the home city progress'
local merchants believe and make It
possible for larger varieties ' to be
handled hore. .
LA GRANDE'S NEWEST AUTO
MOTIVE REPAIR. SHOP
Just recently Wesley McDonald pur
chased the well known Dale Cox Auto
Electrio company, located at 1428
eiecino ana oawery repairing quau-
I 1110 iwuonaia jsieccno company is
exclusive agents In this territory for
ell known battery and a complete
atock iB carried for servicing and.
MODERN FENDER REPAIR SHOP ,
OPERATING IN LA GRAND B
.: -
j Fred's Auto Body and Fender shop,!
locnt(,d nt aJl oreenwood street has;
irBt 0iBS8 workmanship.
,
......xr "
KSTAllMHIIKi) HUM ,
CONTINUES TO THRIVE
1
tlvo electrio work. The equipment
usoci is oi mo rani muuuiu .jy.
Includes ont o; the latest mptor.
, testing machines.
" uroiw:u u. H- ;
wrens orou-wai uu. ...
ritu 111 .
uurgess .w.
r0 B0"t8 ror a. J1"!" rl