The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-17
GREATER ECONOMY
SHOWN BY BUYERS
Less Of Caution Apparent
in Commercial and Bank
ing Cin'les.
WAR NEEDS STILL GROW
General Trade Continues to
Satisfy Both Retail and
Wholesale Traders.
WAR NEEDS STILL GROW

While trade and industry have moved
with considerably less freedom in the
last couple Of weeks there has likewise
been a lessening of the disposition to
operate cautiously. both in banking and
commercial circles. according to the
trade reviews. Dun's will say to-day:
THE least satisfactory news is that
which has come from sections OF the
West and Southwest, where further &C..
rious crop injury through continued high
temperatures and insufficient rainfall ls
reported. While the changed agricul.
tural prospects have not been without
effect on sentiment, causing some can.
cellations of orders. business. in Its
broader aspects Is 30 completely doml-
mated by war influences that crop con-
siderations do not nave their usual
bearing on national activities.
THAT trade and industry have moved
under reduced momentum during the
last fortnight there Is clear evidence.
and no abatement Of the disposition to
operate cautiously, both In commercial
and banking circles, has been witnessed
The slowing down process, however, il
less marked In most cases than that
which ordinarily appears at this sea-
son and It has resulted, not from any
general impairment Of confidence, but
from the restraint imposed by midsum-
mer heat and humidity.
The loss in manufacturing through
the adverse working conditions, while
rot inconsiderable. has been minimized
by the vigorous efforts to maintain the
highest possible rate Of production OF
war materials, and so-called non-es-
sential outputs are being constantly re-
stricted wherever they interfere with
demands of a special character. That
this policy, rendered necessary by the
present emergency, has the effect q
still further depicting the quantity and
variety of merchandise. available for
civilian uses is obvious. and the chief
problem confronting sellers Is not one
Of finding a market for their products
but of obtaining sufficient supplies with
which to meet current requirements. YET
there is plainly a tendency toward
greater economy among consumers, not.
withstanding the full employment o.
labor at record wages, ana commodity
prices. while being readjusted to lower
levels through Governmental regulation
still prove burdensome in many in
stances"
'Bradstreet's says in part:
war orders dominate every line. and
supplies for ordinary purposes are
greatly CuTtalleQ. conservatism IN regu-
lar channels. whether flowing from dam
age to the corn crop in the Southwest,
from lessened demand for mems goods.
from belief that prices have reached
the zenith point or from restrictions
placed upon so-called non-essentials, is
thereby almost overshadowed. Indeed
the great majority of wholesale trade
reports testify to continued good demand,
ruling largely, however. on Governmer'
account. exceptions to this being noted ~
dispatches from districts of the South
west. where both cotton and corn have
been hurt by drought.
Retail trade is fair to good for a mid
summer period, and the same is true -
collections except from the Southwest
1t needs to be recalled, of course, that II
the northern half of the country CROPS
have been quite uniformly good and the
hot wave has really accelerated tn"
ripening of most crops, thus putting pos
sible frost damage practically out OF tn"
reckoning. Furthermore. except in parts
of Texas, where conditions are poor, the
influence of crop deterioration is sub
merged by the activity generated by the
war in a myriad of industries
That serious condition exists In the
labor supply as the result of past drafts
upon the youth of the country and the
prospects Of the combing out of millions
OF additional workers goes without Sly
ing Every day sees war needs and
capacities expanded, and so-called less
essential industries curtailed as to fue
labor supply and materials and the
processes of bringing the country closer
TO a war basis contain many problems.