New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-23
AN IMPOSING TOTAL
Commercial Reports OF Trade
Conditions for the Week.

The aggregate Of business. as shown by
the consensus OF information gathered by
the commercial agencies. Is impressive.
and, as a whole. the situation Is pronis-
ing. In the report for the week "Dun's
Review" says:
Retail trade. especially that OF ho!i-
day character, Is on All immense scale.
but wholesale distribution and industrial
outnut show some letting up in volume
Of transactions, a development quite
usual at this season OF the year. when
annual settlements and accountings are
approaching. While there Is this decrease
i'm activity, II IN not OF large amount-as
matter Of fact, the movement OF trade
continues to make All imposing total
This fact is reflected In the great bank
cIearings. which show gain of 1919 per
cent over last year and of 1863 per cent
over 1910 Railroad gross earnings In the
first week of December made a gain Of
SO per cent One Of the great coal roads
has increased its rate OF dividend. and
January interest and dividend dieDurse-
inents Of railroad and Industrial corpo-
rations and the government VIII, II 10
estimated, make a record breaking total,
showing gain OF moro than N1.U0,CO
over last year. The fact Is that the coun-
try ia carrying over into the new year a
greatly enhanced buying power. duo
chiefly to the big crops-both the output
and the value Of the leading products OF
the soil reaching unprecedented figures
this year. Az against the confidence thus
inspired the political developments abroad
IN ,,pcnvtaiDtv The
drygoods markets are seasonably quiet,
but very firm. and conditions are notably
sound. New business has suffered some
decline In the iron and steel trade, but
production nevertheless generally tests
the capacity OF the mills. and there is
continuance of the remarkable railroad
demand for rails and other supplies.
There is also less activity in the shoe
market, but without materially diminish
ing the output. Leather is quiet and
hides continue weak. Weather conditions
have been unfavOrable for distribution In
certain lines, which are especially sus-
ccpr!hle TO that influence. Coal and lum-
her are active. The export trade con-
tnues to be OF monumental volume, fig
ures for the two latest weeks. indeed.
breaking previous records. Exports from
New York in the latest week amounted
to so. o94, 434, which Is 81 100. s9i larger than
in 1911 and S9Ss.56 larger than In 1910,
and imports amounted to SEQ 1921. slight
~ under a year ago, but considerably
larger than in 1910
"Bradstreet' has the following. which
indicates a hesitation in the purchasing OF
such goods as may be affected by tariff
changes:
Trade in the larger lines presents the
usual pre-hoiiday characteristics, which
implies that statesmen arc coming off tho
road. and that inventorylng is the rule
However, holiday trade has surged 10 the
front. and the turnover in that respect is
Of exceptionally heavy proportions. save
at a few Southern points. In the surplus
crop producing regions buying for gift
making purposes appears TO he Of record
volume and IL noteworthy that practical
articles rather than novelties form the
bulk Of the purchases. 4 conspicuous feat
ure connected with holiday trade f. that
jcbbers continue TO report good sales for
that account. On the other hand. distrih-
utive trade in seasonable wearing apparel,
except at Northwestern centres. has been
retarded by open weather. the lines prin-
cipally affected being clothing, shoes and
rubbers. Incidentally, more or loss con-
servatism f. developing as regards future
buying OF articles that may be subjected
70 tariff changes. and Of course there Il
the customary let-up in textile lines.
However. it is significant that the new
season for overcoatings has opened at
advances OF TO l2ia cents yard, and
that liberal buying has ensued. But pur-
veyors Of wool products say hesitancy j. a
feature I'm some quarters. and that buy
ers are not disposed to operate unless
they are protected against price changes
that may result from tariff revision. But
even though there is temporary lull in
some lines those concerned, especially
textile interests, view It with comparative
Indifference simply because they are so
well sold ahead 4 feature Of the sltua-
ton Is that as the year ends stocks In
first hands available for prompt delivery
are small and this, taken In conjunction
with the sold-up condition OF the coun-
try's Industries, makes for a favorable
outlook Industrial operations continue
very active, and while the finished steel
industry generally tends TO become quiet
at this time OF the year railway buying
OF rails and cars is so heavy az 10 present
striking contrasts to the usual rule.