Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-01-01
GREATEST BUSINESS YEAR
in NATIONS HISTORY
:" says H'''istrrcts' Review 81 1910,
Made Public Yes
tcrtlay.
uNHE.,ED-oE NEW TOTALS
Comparativcs Fail to Describe Re-
pcacd Examples OF High Records
in Nearly til Lines az Trade and
industry.

!" rihra"tcriz" .woudcrfII' tho
l"'f iHi" does only partial Justice to
'h's latest aud Creates, twcivc mouths
~ tn" history OF 'hr United states
according 10 Eradstrccts Review OF the
business year. which was made public
+ yesterday. IA WAS said Of 1919 that
adic"'iv"s were lacking iiily to portray
'hat A"ar's progress tho review states,
=" u may l." said or iais. IN turn.
( tina; ""mpara,tvcs fail To describe tho
. repeated examples Of high records set
NJ ~ nearly all lines Of trade aud
\ industry only to he rclcEatcd to the
i car h. now aud uulcard-of totals in
practically every limo.
1T would IL" far easier ~ fact to
/ snelc on, tho lines that did not breaie
records than - attempt to cnumerate
til, multitude of directions in which
trad" expanded. industry SGT mn now
tni|eSioncS "f progress. and finance
Sought wider ncld~ 81 cNploita.ipu
ITO tia" spur or foreign war demand
u represented by unhearl-uf quantities
Of food. munitions and general NOR
Ch'ndiSc sold abroad. Was added !, now
and record breaking volume III I'M
ports, largely Of raw materials to feed
,tir industrial machinery. while at the
SAM" time purely domestic trade grew
by ond til" most sanguinc dreams OF
or merchants and manufacturers. *
'iUi"t'n= down in midNcar. with atten-
iant free predictions Of tho tcrmina-
iion 80 war demand. merely acted as 4
breathing spell he for" now and still
larger Demands were again met in tho
autumn aud carly winter. Not enough
cars. labor or goods was 4 common
description Of trade and industry
throughout many months
NEARLY aLI. LINES Arr:
BOOKED ron NISE. MONTHS
Even toward tho close OF the year
wh"n nearly all lines were booked for
nine inonths ahead and some iron and
steel lines were sold we'll into 1918
wncr prices Of comm odities. after ris-
i've 10 rev heights. had broken badly,
due largely To peace talk being in
lectcd into the situation there wer.
hut f"w signs OF iet-up in active
huyinr. or Indications that the conscr-
ratism so long preached was really
acting rs break upon extraordinary
purchasing. How much or this late
quoting down due to the usual
vearend seasonal dulluess it would he
hard to say. Some Of il. for instance
IN" quiet and easing in some cotton
goods. was undoubtedly duo to a 4-cen,
competition, arc prepared to meet this
possible European combination OF state
break In raw cotton.
"All this activity had occurred, too,
drsoit" the fact thar il was 4 presi-
Dental year, on" also of disturbed
foreign relations and n period OF dis
appointing crop outturn. which was
buying OF obtainable supplies. and evil
denres Of speculation having taken adj
vantage Of natural conditions 10 push
prices Of food to record heights. This
latter resulted in Il popular outburs:
against high living costs and the usu?I
frenzied efforts OF public men, legis.
lators and others to find evidences 9
monopoliSric combinations affecting tht
prices Of tho peoples food
MONEY EASY AND
COLLECTIONS GOOC
Money was easy until toward tn,
close OF the year. and collections We're
good. with many old accounts liuui-
dated especially In the South. Fail
urcS for the year. rejecting the final
closing out of old, crippled concerns
and of new ventures inSufficiently pro-
vtdrd with experience. capital or other
REQUISITES. were large In number sec
ond only in fact to 1915, from which
they decreased Is per cent: but the
rarity OF important suspensions Is
shown IN the volume OF liabilities be-
ing the smallest with one exception
since 1909. rs per cent below 1915, and
less than half those OF 1919.
ITO what extent American business
men, shackled by evidently outworn
laws based on theories of unrestricted
and private competition. il. as seems
probable. IL evcntuates. is perhaps the
most crucial question in the entire
situation. New and strange economic
forces evidently To he met with
after the war; hut il at least may be
said thar American business mems
eyes are open to the difficulties con-
fronting them, and the country faces
the problems Of 1917 with costs OF
. operation at high level. it is true.
hut with wealth Of capital never be-
Cor" possessed. with population not
hecimatcd crippled hy death or
wounds. with a new and ranidly grow
ing merchant marine. with solidly
established shiDhuildinG industry, and
with clearer ideas Of what constitutes
financial. commercial and military pre-
par"dness than II ever had before.
1t Is very evidently no time for
I playing parish notifies. so far as gov.
{ ernmental interference with or ham
Stringinc OF business. industry and
transportation is concerned. Certainly
ii we fail IN this future. apparently
irrcprcssihle. conflict. il will not bs
Tor lack of adequate warning"