The Montgomery Advertiser
- Morgan Takes County Prize at State Fair
- Prosperity Shown by Rail Earnings During Past Month
- Grafting Activity by Prohi Officers Charged in Hearing
The Montgomery Advertiser of October 28, 1926, led its front page with the State Fair of Alabama, where Morgan County in the Tennessee Valley repeated last year's win in the individual county exhibits, finishing ahead of Butler, Chilton, Crenshaw, Montgomery, Choctaw, Baldwin and Limestone. An AP dispatch from New York reported that September returns reported so far by 33 of about 185 class one railroads showed aggregate net operating income up 6 percent, and that General Motors' nine-month earnings had broken all records. From Chicago, AP described testimony about "arrangements" and alleged graft at the federal trial of former Illinois prohibition director Percy Owen and state senator Lowell B. Mason over the illegal withdrawal of more than a million gallons of sacramental wine. This reading translates the three articles, and the commentary covers the background to the county exhibits and the boom of the Coolidge era.
Translation
Morgan Takes County Prize at State Fair
Morgan county, in the fertile valley of the Tennessee river, repeated its performance of last year and carried off first honors, Wednesday, in the individual county exhibits at the State Fair of Alabama. Butler county, in middle Alabama, won a close second place, with Chilton third; Crenshaw, fourth; Montgomery, fifth; Choctaw, sixth; Baldwin, seventh and Limestone, eighth prize. The
Prosperity Shown by Rail Earnings During Past Month
NEW YORK, Oct. 27.—(AP)—Continuance of the unbroken prosperity which the great majority of the country's railroads has enjoyed in recent months is reflected in earnings reports for September thus far made public by 33 of about 185 class one carriers, showing an increase of 6 per cent in aggregate net operating income compared with a year ago. Similarly striking results are being shown by leading industrial companies, notably the United States Steel corporation and General Motors corporation. Earnings of General Motors for the nine months of 1926 amounting to $149,317,553 broke all records, being larger than those of any preceding full year, while the steel corporation's stood at $145,502,216.
Grafting Activity by Prohi Officers Charged in Hearing
CHICAGO, Oct. 27.—(AP)—"Inside" and "outside" men of the alleged conspiracy to violate the prohibition law through the illegal withdrawal of more than 1,000,000 gallons of sacramental wine told their stories of "arrangements" and alleged grafting at the federal court trial today of Major Percy Owen, former Illinois prohibition director and Lowell B. Mason, state senator.
Context
Why a Tennessee Valley county kept winning the county prize
The paper credits Morgan County's repeat victory to a county lying "in the fertile valley of the Tennessee river," and historians of Alabama farming describe that advantage in terms of soil: early settlers found the clayey, limestone-derived soils of the Tennessee Valley and other north Alabama valleys well suited to crop production. By 1926 a second, newer factor favored the north. The Encyclopedia of Alabama's account of the boll weevil explains that farmers in north Alabama found the pest kept somewhat at bay by low winter temperatures, so cotton planting during the weevil era shifted heavily to the northern part of the state. Together these accounts show that the Tennessee Valley entered the late 1920s with both good soils and conditions that limited the insect that had ruined cotton elsewhere. The excerpt does not say what Morgan County put on display, so its prize cannot be tied to any particular crop.
Crop diversification behind the county exhibits
The county contest came after years in which the boll weevil had a devastating effect on Alabama cotton; at full infestation, cotton acreage fell by one million acres. Farmers who stayed on the land turned to other crops and commodities, including corn, peanuts and livestock. Auburn University's history of Alabama agriculture records that the Extension Service vigorously promoted crop diversification, and that the beef, forest and poultry products it stressed eventually surpassed cotton in market value; the Encyclopedia of Alabama places the point at which cattle income overtook cotton in the late 1960s, long after 1926. The same history notes that the boll weevil made total reliance on cotton even more precarious, and that after a World War I high, agricultural prices began to drop in the early 1920s. Seventh-place Baldwin County illustrates the variety already present: almost 10,000 acres of commercial citrus were grown in Mobile and Baldwin counties by 1920. The paper's ranking of eight counties thus appeared at a time when Alabama farmers were beginning to move away from cotton alone.
Railroad and industrial profits in the Coolidge boom
The AP's report of "unbroken prosperity" belongs to the mid-1920s expansion often called Coolidge prosperity. A 2021 reference account of the era notes that railroads, telephone and telegraph systems had been returned to private ownership, so the earnings in the dispatch were those of privately run carriers. The same account observes that utility, radio, automobile and steel stocks saw some of the most rapid gains of the decade, which matches the paper's choice of General Motors and United States Steel as its examples. Its author, the historian Larry Schweikart, also writes that unemployment dropped to 1 percent and that confidence in business drove stock prices to new heights. That is his account's figure, not one the dispatch uses. The AP's own 6 percent figure was explicitly partial: it covered only the 33 of about 185 class one carriers that had reported September results.
A prosperity that left farmers behind
The same front page set record corporate earnings beside a fair where Alabama counties competed with their farm produce, and the two belonged to different economies. Auburn's history of Alabama agriculture records that farm prices began to drop in the early 1920s after their World War I high, and that they had long been depressed by the time of the 1929 crash. The reference account of the Coolidge era likewise describes Herbert Hoover, who became president in 1929, as hoping to help the struggling farm economy recover. The same account notes that wealth inequality increased during the 1920s, largely because the number of millionaires grew rapidly. When the paper reported that General Motors had earned more in nine months than in any earlier full year, the crops on show at the State Fair were selling below their wartime prices.
Original
MORGAN TAKES COUNTY PRIZE AT STATE FAI
Morgan county, in the fertile valley of the Tennessee river, repeated its performance of last year and carried off first honors, Wednesday, in the individual county exhibits at the State Fair of Alabama. Butler county, in middle Alabama, won a close second place, with Chilton third; Crenshaw, fourth; Montgomery. fifth; Choctaw, sixth; Baldwin, seventh and Limestone, eighth prize. The
PROSPERITY SHOWN BY RAIL EARNINGS DURING PAST MONTH
NEW YORK, Oct. 27. - (AP) - Continuance of the unbroken prosperity which the great majority of the country's railroads has enjoyed in recent months is reflected in earnings reports for September thus far made public by 33 of about 185 class one carriers, showing an increase of 6 per cent in aggregate net operating income compared with a year ago. Similarly striking results are being shown by leading industrial companies, notably the United States Steel corporation and General Motors corporation. Earnings of General Motors for the nine months of 1926 amounting to $ 149. 317, 553 broke all records, being larger than those of any preceding full year, while the steel corporation's stood at $ 145, 502, 216.
GRAFTING ACTIVITY BY PROHI OFFICERS CHARGED IN HEARING
CHICAGO. Oct. 27. - (AP) - " Inside " and " outside " men of the alleged conspiracy to violate the prohibition law through the illegal withdrawal of more than 1, 000, 000 gallons of sacramental wine told their stories of " arrangements " and alleged grafting at the federal court trial'today of Major Percy Owen, former Illinois prohibition director and Lowell B. Mason, state senator.
Source: Holding institution