The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-09-17

The felt scarcity OF labor. Womon 40
also everywhere doing much NJ H.
"0 mn uone by men before the war,
me railroad traffic Indicates that
we Voiume OF business keeps remark
upiy Close 10 the standard set before
uio war began. despite the great
shrlnkage OF shipments for or from
Ihe foreign trade. The same thing IA
INDICATED by the clearing house re-
Gelpts' but In less marked degree
WINE the BOerse lis Officially closed
trading still goes on, but without he
publication OF quotation List and thia
trade reflects considerable deprer
OF confidence. The Successes of Tho
english and French on the somne
are regarded In financial circles nd
far less than what might have been
expected under all the circumstances.
ana although the Russians have suc.
ceeded IN making much greater head
may lhah the other allies, the Boerso
mas not yet deemed 1t necessary TO
luke DesslmistiC view Of the changes
on eIther front. Trading indeed has
Deeh light for some weeks, but that
was regarded in financial circles ma
Iar less than what might have been
expected under all the circumstances.
and although the Russians have sur.
ceeuea IN making much greater head |.
way than the other allies, the Boerse
mas not yet deemed 1t necessary to
Jake pessImisttc view OF the changes
on either front. Trading indeed has
Deen hight for some weeks, but that
was chiefly due to certain restrictions
adopted by the managing committee
IN June precisely for the purpose OF
checking what was regarded as nm
excessive amount OF speculation.
throughout the spring. n great wave
OF bull speculation was in progress
due partly to optimistic views OF the
military situation, but still more TO
the fact that industrial companies
were then publishing their annual ro- /
ports showing for the most part con-
siderable Increases in dividends.
Money Market Easier.
me money market is now easier
than II was in the spring. The ratio
OF call money Ia about three to three
and one-halfaper cent, which CORE
spends to the abundant supplies ofYer-
ed. The rates OF foreign exchange
are now tending against Germany. al
though they have not yet reached the
nigh levels touched last spring.
Perhaps the best sections Of bust
ness IN Germany are to be found in
inc coal and iron Industries. together
with the subordinate or related
branches Of the latter. The produc-
ton OF coal is greater than at any
time since the war began, and this is
also true OF both iron and steel. Tho
industrial demand for coal is heavy.
ana producers and shippers find ii
dllncult to satisfy on time the require
ments OF the trade. The production
OF coke, which has been artificiallv
by the extraordinary do
mand for the by-products, is now nc
tually at higher rate than prevailed
before the war. Contrary to the case
win all the ally countries. the prices
OF coal have been kept within mod
crate bounds. the advances are in
no cases more than fifty to seventy
1--WE cents ton.
Prices in the iron trade have been
marked up much more sharply, espec-
Tally in those branches of the trade
where free competition rules, A strong
upward tendency prevailed throughout
the first half of 1916. and It finally
reached such point that the govern
ment made 1t known that 1t was con-
sidering the question OF fixing maxi
mum prices. This stopped further
rise in the home market. but export
prices for steel bars and structural
goods have just been further raised.
There is a big demand from SwItzer-
land, Holland and Scandinavian coun-
tries for German iron and steel, Ger
many being now the only country
from which supplies can be obtained al
all.
Better Dividends.
The price movement since the war
began can best be indicated by COM
pairing bars and billcts. The price of
the former is now little more than
$40 ton. or fully 100 per cent high
er than two years ago, whereas bill
lets-the prices of which are controll-
ed by the great organization of the
steel works-stand at 500. which
means a rise Of only about Sc. The
production of steel during the first
half of this year amounted to 1856. 900
tons, or a gain of twenty-five per cent
over the parallel months OF 1915. pig
iron was produced to the amount OF