The Humble Echo (Humble, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 16, 1964 Page: 2 of 6
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THE HUMBLE ECHO
More Than 3,600 Readers Every Week
PAGE TWO
THURSDAY, APRIL 16,1964
Let Prices And Wages
Find Their Own Level
The problem of unemployment, existing in a sup-
posedly booming and affluent society, has been as
persistent as it is vexing. It is a political issue
of the first magnitude, and both the parties will
make the most of it come next November. And it
is, of course, a social and economic issue which has
its influence on every element of our national life.
Welfare, in all its many manifestations, has become
a primary operation of government at all its levels,
and the cost is astronomic.
But unemployment is not a simple thing. It poses
questions that are difficult to answer, and problems
and conditions that are given insufficient expert
attention. One phase of this is dealt with in the Febru-
ary issue of The Freeman magazine by Paul L.
Poirot. And his title poses his thesis—“Who Are
The Unemployed?”
Unemployment, as Mr. Poirot points out, did not
exist in primitive societies where every man was
a sort of jact-of-all-trades wresting a living from
natural resources. It came with industrialization and
economic progress. But, in Mr. Poirot’s words,
“...this says only that employment must come first
always.” Somebody, in other words, must have the
resources --in the form of tools, ideas, whatever —
that will make it seem profitable for somebody
else to work for him. The human being is not a
standard article. Some have managerial abilities;
some are skilled with tools; some are natural born
salesmen; some have the ability to accumulate cap-
ital. So it goes. And employment results when all
the many varied talents and skills are, in effect,
traded.
Mr. Poirot makes the further point that un-
employment is not by any means limited to advanced
industrialized nations. It exists in such poverty-
stricken countries as Red China where, in his words;
“...industrialization is attempted through coercion
and men are forced from traditional subsistence
farming into the tax-supported heavy industries
planned and promoted by the rulers....Serious un-
employment can occur in a United States of chronic
surpluses as well as in a Red China or Russia of
chronic shortages.”
So the big question is—why should this be so in
societies of a vastly different character? The answer
to that, as Mr. Poirot sees it, lies in a malfunction
of the market place. Supply exceeds demand, or de-
mand exceeds supply in one commodity or service
or another. And this, he believes, is the fault of
government controls: “...the market is not allowed to
perform its natural function of bringing supply and
demand toward equilibrium...people are not permitted
to buy and sell what they please at prices accept-
able to everyone concerned.” He adds, “When a sur-
plus or a shortage of any commodity occurs, you
may rest assured that the force of government has
displaced individual choice.”
Mr. Poirot applies this principle to government-
established and enforced wage rates. He says, “...a
surplus of labor can occur in any society only if
someone is using the force of government to hold
wage rates above the level that would clear the labor
market....Unemployment is not a necessary condition
of industrialization or free market exchange; it is
caused by control of wage rates—by the government
directly, or by some person or group having usurped
and exercised governmental powers of coercion.”
So what is the basic solution? Mr. Poirot ends
his article with these words: “The government sta-
tistics do not even begin to show the extent of the
unemployment problem. The corrective is to repeal
those grants of power and privilege, stop the foolish
government spending, and let prices and wages find
their own level in a free market.”
THE HUMBLE ECHO
Published every Thursday at Humble, Texas, by
The Humble Publishing Co.
Entered as second class matter July 18, 1942,
at the U.S. Post Office in Humble, Texas, under
the Act of March 3, 1870.
Any erroneous reflection upon the character, stand-
ing or reputation of any person, firm or corp-
oration which may appear in the columns of The
Humble Echo will gladly be corrected if it is
called to the attention of th£ Publisher.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Humble Trade Area.............. $2.81 per year
Harris County...........................,...$2.81 per year
Outside Harris County....................$5.10 per year
EDITOR JOHN PUNDT
Telephone 446-3733 P.O. Box 606
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES:
First insertion...............................52 per word
Minimum Charge.........................................750
(15 words)
Subsequent Insertion.......................30 per word
Minimum Charge........................................*500
'Display advertising rates available on request.
ODOM’S TEXACO
SERVICE STATION
B.F. Goodrich Dealer
121 Main St. 446-3722
BUCK ODOM Owner
It’s the Law
Of late the law of war-
ranties has placed heavy
tort responsibilities onas-
vertisers. Sometimes the
buyer may treat what sell-
ers say about their goods
as promises to which the
law will hold them.
In the old days a seller
was responsible mainly to
the buyer, Iput the product
liability now goes beyond
the first buyer. Warran-
ties now sometimes pro-
tect the buyer’s family, his
friends, or innocent by-
standers whom the pro-
duct may hurt.
But the law is not all
one way. Recently, in
another state, a chemical
firm sold an insecticide
spray. Farmer Jones
bought some, and sprayed
his crops. Many plants
wilted. Jones sued the firm
for the loss of his plants.
The company replied that
the label said “Seller
makes no warranty of any
kind, express or implied,
concerning the use of this
product. Buyer assumes all
risk in use or handling...”
The chemical firm won
this suit: Parties to a sales
agreement, as a rule, can
agree to disclaim liabili-
ties, as for example, when
the seller tells the buyer
before h e buys that he
makes n o warranty, or
makes only limited ones.
Jones should read the label
and know of the limitation,
otherwise, without any ex-
press limitations the law
“implies” a warranty that
the product is fit for its
intended use.
Like labels, advertise-
ments may limit as well
as increase a seller’s res-
ponsibility. In a famous
case a car maker claimed
that all his cars’ windows
had safety glass that would
not shatter when hit by
small rocks. Smith bought
a car, but when a pebble
struck the glass, it shat-
tered, hurting him badly.
The court held that the sell
er had made warranties by
advertising his car win-
dows’ special features to
consumers. He had to pay.
Texas and The Civil War
By
Allan C. Ashcraft', Ph.D
History Deportment, Texas A&M University
(No. 8 in a series published
in a cooperative program of
this paper, the Texas Press
Association and the Texas
State Historical Survey Com-
mittee.)
The Overland Trade to Mexico
The town “is a veritable Ba-
bel, a Babylon, a whirlpool of
business, pleasure and sin. A
common laborer could easily
gain from five to six dollars per
day, while a man who owned a
skiff or a lighter could make
from twenty to forty dollars.
The saloon and hotel keepers
were reaping an abundant har-
vest. The Gulf, for three or four
miles out was literally a forest
of masts.” Bagdad, Mexico, nor-
mally a sleepy yillage facing on
the Gulf a few miles below the
mouth of the Rio Grande, had
suddenly become a thriving en-
trepot for international trade.
With the coming of the Amer-
ican Civil War and the institut-
ing of the blockade, an impres-
sive overland trade developed
between Texas and Mexico—the
only outside nation bordering
the Confederate States of Amer-
ica.
It seemed most logical that
this cotton traffic should end at
Matamoros or some other Mex-
ican town on the Rio Grande.
However, in its determination to
block outlets for Southern trade,
the United States disregarded
the international nature of this
river and stationed several ves-
sels off its mouth. The Union
ships detained and, at times,
seized foreign craft attempting
to enter the Rio Grande. Federal
officials realized their poor legal
position in such seizures, but
they counted on keeping the mat-
ter before the courts for many
months while the war progress-
ed. There were also several nav-
igational hazards involved in the
forty mile trip upstream to Mat-
amoros. Shoals eliminated all
ships with over four and a half
feet of draft: bends in the river
were so sharp that medium-
sized vessels - frequently had to
maneuver back and forth sev-
eral times in order to negotiate
turns without hitting the banks.
For these reasons, most foreign
ships anchored off Bagdad.
Cotton for the Mexican trade
was hauled for a distance of
over 500 miles from the heart
of the Texas agricultural region.
By mid-war, the traffic was suf-
ficiently heavy for one observer
to note that mesquite trees and
prickly pears along South Texas
trails were “covered with bits
of cotton torn from the endless
trains of cotton wagons.” Mas-
sive wagons, drawn by oxen or
mules, carried up to a dozen
bales each. The hauling was
done in convoys that ranged
from three to fifteen vehicles,
and the round trip to Mexico
took about three months to com-
plete. In addition to the heavy
burden of cotton, a lack of water
and food sources through south-
ern Texas forced the teamsters
to carry such necessities in their
trains. Much manpower was re-
quired to maintain this impor-
tant commerce; throughout the
war several thousand men were
exempted from military duty
so that they could engage in
cotton transporting.
Once across the Rio Grande,
most of the bales ended up at
Bagdad—an ugly town of 15,000
persons that consisted of hastily
erected shacks along a sandy
beach. There the sellers and the
buyers of King Cotton met.
Tens of thousands of bales,
worth millions of dollars, were
exchanged for specie, consumer
goods and military supplies.
Particularly prominent among
military goods acquired were
blankets, shoes, powder, and
chemicals used in manufactur-
ing and servicing the weapons
of war. Several miles offshore
rested a mightly fleet of mer-
chant craft. Ships from all na-
tions, at times as many as 300,
varying in size from twenty ton
schooners to 2,000 ton steamers
stood by to receive cargoes.
shoreline, dozens of overworked
lighters shuttled back and forth.
Because of sandbars, these
small vessels had to shift great
numbers of bales to awaiting
ocean-going craft. Much money
was made by boat owners who
charged at least $5 for moving
each bale from the shore to
the fleet. This steep fee was
justified, however, as the light-
ers had to feel their way around
shallow obstructions, and they
had to contend with powerful
undercurrents and pounding
surfs. Improper handling could
cause the lighters to turn over,
thus dumping both the crew and
the cargo into shark infested wa-
ters.
Although the cotton trade
seemed like a vital life-giving
link to international trade for
Texas and the Confederate
Southwest, there were many fac-
tors that prevented it from
reaching anything like its full
potentialities. The traffic was
periodically disrupted by the ex-
plosive political situation of nor-
thern Mexico. Late in 1863, the
main trade routes had to be
moved well up the Rio Grande
to Rio Grande City, Laredo and
Eagle Pass when Federal forces
took Brownsville and the lower
reaches of the river. Also, by
mid-war, a general transporta-
tion breakdown seriously cut in-
to the size of commerce. Per-
haps even more damaging, how-
ever, were conflicting rules
passed to regulate the trade and
competitive purchasing opera-
tions of state and Confederate
agents. The Texas government,
the military commander of Tex-
as, the general in charge of the
Trans-Mississippi West Depart-
ment, and the Confederate gov-
ernment all established policies
and purchasing procedures so
as to gain a maximum benefit
from cotton transactions. While
a single set of regulations could
have been beneficial, the incon-
sistencies and confusion of so
many rules served to strangle
the trade.
To appreciate the confusion
caused by competition and red
tape, we must bear in mind
that cotton was the only com-
modity Texas and the South had
to raise money and exchange
for supplies . . . most authori-
ties agree that the overland
trade to Mexico prolonged the
the war at least two years.
In another case, Mrs.
Brown was famous for her
chicken salad. She bought
canned chicken which was
labeled and advertised as
having “no bones.” This
time her chicken salad con-
tained several broken
bones which hurt her
mouth. The court held that
the canner had to pay Mrs.
Brown for her injuries. She
had a right to think there
were no bones at all in the
can.
(This newsfeature, pre-
pared by the State Bar of
Texas, is written to in-
form—not to advise. No
person should ever apply or
interpret any law without
the aid of an attorney who
is fully advised concern-
ing the facts involved, be-
cause a slight variance in
facts may change the appli-
cation of the law.)
CH EVROLET
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and
able
E&fSW
QUALITY TRUCKS COST LESS
Telephone your Chevrolet dealer about any type of truck
ROBBINS CHEVROLET CO.
905 MAIN
HUMBLE 446-2131 HOUSTON CA 8- 1809
Horlock
Food Center
Complete Line Of —
Groceries Ice
Frozen Foods
Fishing Equipment Beer To Go
American Express Co. Money Orders
1007 FM Rd 1960 HI 6-3737
Open 7 Days A Week 6AM - 10PM
CHURCH DIRECTORY
Sponsored By:
Rosewood Memorial Park
The Log Cabin
Mr. & Mrs. A.Z. Ward
Home Telephone Co.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
400 Main
Thomas F. Henderson, Pastor
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Church 11 a.m.
LAKELAND BAPTIST CHURCH
Isaacks and Old Humble Rd.
Owen Dry, Pastor
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.,
,Church 10:50 a.m.
'Training Service 7:00 p.m.
'Church 7:50 p.m.
Wednesday Night 7:30 p.m.
CHURCH OF CHRIST
621 Herman
R. Ervin Driskill, minister
Sunday School 10 a.m.
Church 10:50 a.m.
Evening Worship 6 p.m.
Young Peoples Class 5 p.m.
METHODIST CHURCH
800 Main
Robert Pate, Pastor
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Church 11:00 a.m.
FIRST PENTECOSTAL CHURCH
119 S. Houston Ave.
Irby E. Slaughter, Pastor
Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
Church 11:00 a.m.
ST. MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
400 S. Houston Ave.
Father Jerome Powers, O.M.I.
Sunday Mass 8:00 a;m.
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH
4ID Granberry
GJohnson, Pastor
Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
Church 11:00 a.m.
UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH
Porter, Texas
M.E. Precise, Pastor
Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
Morn worship service 11:00 a.m.
Childrens’ Church 6:00 p.m.
Young Peoples’ service 6:00 p.m.
Evangelistic service 7:30 p.m.
Bible Study, Wed. 7:30 p.m.
Ladies aux., Tues. 10: a.m.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Father Ralph H. Shuffler II
415 FM 1960
Sunday Worship Services 8 a.m.
Church School follows worship service
GREEN VALLEY PAX TIST CHURCH
Aldine-Wcstfield Rd.
Paul S. Strother, Pastor
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Mornipg worship 11:00 a.m.
Evening worship 7:30 p.m.
Wed-prayer meeting 7:30 p.m.
GREENLEE BAPTIST CHURCH
’“Bender Road
Rev. James Harrell
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Church 11:00 a.m.
THE UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH
217 S. Ave. G
J.W. Eddins, Pastor
Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
..Church 11:00 a.na.
ST. MATTHEW’S LUTHERAN CHURCH
Westfield, Texas
t
E.R. Rathgeber, Pastor
Sunday School 9:00 a.m.
Worship service 10:00 a,m.
LAKEVIEW PARK BAPTIST
i
MISSION
4 1/2 Mi. west on Hwy. 1960
A.L. Draper, Pastor
Sunday /School lQ:00 a.m.
Morning Worship 11:00 a.m.
l
EASTEX OAKS BAPTIST
Plumtex at North Belt Dr.
J
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Church 11:00 a.m.
Evening Service 8:00 a.m.
1
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Pundt, John. The Humble Echo (Humble, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 16, 1964, newspaper, April 16, 1964; Humble, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1036705/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Humble Museum.