New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-17
MAINTAINS ITS TONE
Business of the Week as Report
ed by Commercial Agencies.

The tone Of national business. a. re-
flected by the weekly reviews Of the com
mercial agencies. is generally cheerful.
SO much power appears to be behind the
good crops OF 1872 that business seems to
be maintaining it's position. regardless OF
many cross currents in trade and indus
try. "Dun's Review has the following:
Business maintains its position Of
steady conservative expansion, as yet
unaffected In any material respect by
the stirring events happening or irlpend-
Ing in many parts Of the world. Althoush
the renewed war in the Balkan Peninsula
continues to put "A strain upon the inter
national markets. il is noteworthy that
the situation In Paris seems easier. Euro
pean crop adviccs are somewhat disap-
pointing but the winter wheat outlook In
this country is favorable, in spite OF con
siderable snow deficiency. The weather III
tho West and Southwest has recently been
quite severe, and this accounts Tor some
falling off in the rate Of gain in railroad
earnings. which Ia the first week OF feb-
ruary were SO per cent larger Than last
year. While the Eastern railroads are
threatened with "A strike OF their fircmen.
there is still Il prospect OF amicablc ad-
iustmcnt by arbitration. Railroad pur-
chases Of equipment continue To De the
leading feature of the iron and steel
trade. which maintains its favorable as
poets, Notwithstanding falling off In
amount of untitled orders of the principal
producer last month. Premiums continue
To be readily paid for prompt deliveries
Of finished products. The drygoods busi-
ness is seasonably active in all It's pril-
cipal departments. Retail trade In most
of the leading centres Is active not only
in textiles but in other branches OF mcr
chandise as well. The situation in this
and other respects shows "A marked i'm
provement over a year ago. New England
shoe factories are fully employed. and the
orders from distributors are large and
often urgent. Bank clearings continue TO
expand. and In the latest week revealed
"A gain of 81 per cent over last year and
Of IA per cent over 1911. The foreign COM
merce exhibit is still one OF great increase
over recent years In the latest week at
the Port of New York the total com
merce was SH.9li.G6. against s23.6sS,G2S I'm
1912 and s26. ,7yi in 1911. Exports. while
Sl.4l9,S2 less than the imports, were near
~ 100000 larger than last year and So
10000 larger than In 1911.
In "Bradstreet's" summary the follow
ing comment is comprehensive:
While there arc many cross currents In
trade and industry distrbutive business
as a whole presents a cheerful aspect,
and preparations for or actual shipments
on spring account 80 forward with
alacrity. Relatively most activity is
shown In jobbing trade In drygoods, which
is running full, or III excess OF year
ago in favored sections. Western reports
are best. and indeed breathe "A distinct
tone Of confidence and strength. From
these the shading Is downward TO the
rather slow conditions reported in parts
of the South. Weather conditions vary.
and with them retail trade reports. but
the winter weather Of the last week has
given some snap 10 overdue retail trade In
seasonable wearing apparel or other win
ter necessities. In purely wholesale trade
Tor distinct deliveries conservatism IL still
in evidence. but even here reports vary
with sections reporting. Strikes existing
or prospective also act as restraining
feature i'm trade. but there seems to be
rather less stress laid upon the tariff
us "A disturbing feature. either because
prepare tons have been made accordingly,
or because fuller knowledge leads TO less
uneasine SIS AZ to prospective changes. An
interesting feature In the general situation
is the closely restricted volume Of spccu-
lative operations witnessed alike I'm the
markets for securities. cereals, cotton and
other commodities. For this the higher
rates for money are only partly respon-
sible. and the disposition IL apparently
10 go slowly until many possibly disturb
ing political developments both at home
and abroad become clearer. While I'm
trade circles business eventuating Is taken
care OF, buying and selling for spring Is
being done with confidence. while dealing
Tor future positions Is done as local con-
ditions suggest.