The sun., 1919-08-16
HEAVY CUTS FORCED
BY PRICE AGITATION
Holders Now Pressing Goods
for Sale at Concessions
Along Many Lines.
FOODS MOST AFFECTED
EtDun's" and Bradstreet's" Re.
view Country's Trade I'm
der New Conditions.
FOODS MOST AFFECTED

decidedly affected by the nationwide
citation for price reductions and such
lines as textiles, hides. leather. and other
commodities have shown important hest
tatton in the forward advance which
they had been making for the last sew
eraI months. That not all lines are af-
fected, however. Is indicated by the trade
reviews for the week. Many purchasers
who were laying in large stocks on the
theory that there was to be an urgent
scarcity of materials of all kinds have
either stopped their buying or curtailed
It materially pending a readjustment OF
prices which they believe to be coming.
That the countrywide price agitation
has wrought a change in business the
rull meaning of which cannot be clearly
determined the weeks sdvices have
made palmer" says Dttn's Revieto.
"Signs Of hesitating markets do not
appear in every quarter. but are un-
mistalSa.ble in textiles, and hides and
leather and some other Leading lines and
certain commodities that for months had
been conspicuous for their buoyancy
have lately displayed yielding tendeneieA
Recessions I'm wholesale List.
The reversal of the price trend, Col.
lowing a rise to new high levels has
been reelected in Dun's list Of wholesale,
quotations. which again dlscloses more
recessio1e than advances, and not few
buyers who formerly wer~ eager to oper-
ate at ALMOST any figure are now hold
ing Of awaiting further developments
With the abatement of purchasing
against anticipated scarcity. some hold
ers are less confident Of their position
and are not only more disposed to make
offerings but are pressing goods for sale
at prices they would have been disin-
clined to consider before the movement
toward reduction OF living costs gained
Roadway.
Eject of Government sales.
Retailers In many sections, more
over. are beginning to express doubts as
to the continuance OF a record distribu-
ton at present prices. and the release Of
surplus Government products, both Of
foodstuffs and Of other articles, opens up
new source of supply and tends tenn
porarily to divert some demands away
from the usual channels
While business Is still notably active
Tor the midsummer period there Is now
more OF the spirit Of caution abroad than
has been witnessed since the lull that
followed the armistice, and the impair
ment OF crop prospects revealed In re-
cent Official estimates has been an added
FACTOR In causing a more conservative
sentiment"
Loss tension. Says "Brndstrcet's.'s
Industrial unrest is still widespread"
says Brddstreets. New strikes number
many thousands OF workers, the agita-
ton over price conditions continues, ac-
companied by numerous seizures of food
WArehOllGaG md ~
OF many staples, especially In specula-
tive markets, are still unsettled. On the
otner hand, however, there seems to be
rather less tension in the situation an
whole. The stock markets appear to
have reached something like an equi-
librium. The shipments strike, with all
that 1t involved in the way Of checking
the current of the country's trade and
Industrial life. has been called off. Some
OF the weakness in prices, as, for In
stance, in corn and hogs, has been aided
by the better trend of crop reports The
trade reports, while testifying to the
| considerable unsettIement ruling, partic-
ularly in markets for foods. are almost
unanimous In showing that distributive
trade in many lines has not been great
ly checked, and indeed is of full vol
ume for an ordinarily quiet midsummec
| period.
Collections remain good, and conf
dence In good fall trade IL buttressed
by the knowledge that a considerable
volume OF this trade has already been
secured and. SO to say. buttoned down.
Perhaps the most notable features
| brought out In the reports are the large
numbers OF statements that no great
change and certainly no great fall in
prices of other things than food Is Vsi-
| BILE AT present or for a considera BILE
| period to come, and that the main diff
Guilty confronting retail traders and job
! bers Is the difficulty of securing adequate
stocks of goods to fill orders A slight
Increase In the number OF failures is re-
| hected In the current weeks reports.
| I'm wholesale lines there is uhques-
| tionably more quiet in raw wool. cotton
and silk and less anxiety as to future
| supplies is expressed. Speculation in
| raw cotton has been conspicuously un-
| settled. but prices have not greatly
| changed.
Some lines of staple cotton goods.
such as print cloths, gray goods and
sheetings. have actually declined In
| prices following the quietng OF last
! week. Some of this weakness, It Is
possible. is due to resales OF some specu-
lative lots of goods.
The general report Is that mills are
full of orders, especially for woollen
goods. knit fabrics and hosiery. Reports
Of weakness In cotton yarn are no, con-
frmable as yet"
GERMAN EXCHANGE SLUMPS.