The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-23
COTTONS AND HIDES
DECLINE WITH FOODS
Trade Hesitates Under New
Conditions, and Some Spec
ulators Lose.
OPTIMISM rs NOT LACKING
'Dun's" and 'sBradstreet,sy IN
Reviews Lay Stress on In.
dustrial Unrest.
rs NOT LACKING

The state of domestic business in ann.
leading branches has undergone n mas.
oeptible reversal lately owing to tina A..
feet on the economic situation OF nr,o.
agitations and Investigations, Of Sra.s
strikes and threats of others and OF m.
Generalization in foreign exchange. sc.
cording to the weekly trade revlsv,
which will be issued to-day. This "a
vereal has not been reflected as yet IN
bank clearings despite the clearer aim,
Of shrinkage Of business in hides, leatSsr
textiles and elsewhere. Nevertheless,
there is In general great activity on pas,
orders and In some lines a distinct can
In new booking.
Certain markets that had been tev.r.
ish1y animated are now hesitating," con.
tinues Drn's Revteto, EITHER becau..
prices have outrun the views OF buyer,
or because the yielding that has accom-
panied the movement against high living
costs has led to expectations OF further
iecessions, and dealers are waiting. The
recent price reaction has not alone an
peared in foodstuffs, but has also been
seen in a decline OF IL per cent in som.
kinds OF cottons and OF % per cent. In
some varieties OF hides, and Dun's list
of wholesale quotations has plainly re.
fected the downward readJustment
Sellers Lose Confidence.
with the increasing opposition to the
extreme prices not few sellers are now
less confiden. of their position, making
offerings at concessions that only higher
bids would have brought out while
ago, and some spectators who purchased
goods in anticipation OF continued ad-
vances have since disposed of them at
lower figures than they had hoped to
realize.
1.-The state OF domestic business IN
some leading branches. in short, has
lately undergone a percepuble reversal
and there Is multiplying evidence that
the collapse of international exchange
has adversely Influenced conditions in the
foreign field.
"Consumptive needs here and abroad,
however. are great. and the widespread
price agitation has not obscured the fact
that supplies OF many commodities are
81 ort of requirements actual and potsn-
tial, and that production is hampered
by summer vacations and by strikes
and shorter working hours"
Views of "Bradstreet's.~
Brddstreers discusses the economts
situation as follows:
Labor unrest, seeking reflection IN Q
virtual epidemic of strikes. still bulks
largest among the influences affecting
and clooding both the present and future
of business. While all branches OF trade
and industry feel the uncertainties
springing therefrom, the visible effects
vary with the lines considered. Despite
the feeling thot the situation is we'll nigh
intolerable, there are not lacking evil
dences that there Is considerable optim-
ism underlying the situation which
will manifest itself more clearly provid-
ing the sober second thought OF labor
can be aroused to the drawbacks and
disadvantages which some Of its de-
mands involve to the business fabric as
a whole.
"In big financial lines the feeling Is
unquestionably bearish, and new com
mitments are entered upon sparingly
and with great caution. Manufacturers
feel the uncertainty keenly. but filled
order books and past eager buying have
fortified them to some extent in theE
disposition to go ahead carefully, But on
the whole confidently.
Wholesale trade, that is, in big pri-
mary lines, Is quiet when compared with
the rush and hustle of a month ago, but
here. too the knowledge that good part
OF tine years trade has been secured
helps the point of view.
"In jobbing and in retail lines, per-
haps, most optimistic Views are held
Here. despite the prevailing unrest. the
snowstorm of walkOuts and strikes, the
spotted condition of most crops, and in
the case of retail trade the tying up OF
transportation by many strikes OF street
car systems, the situation is faced with
equanimity amounting almost TO cheef-
fulness.
Underlying this latter may be dis
cerned the idea that the strikes, after
all. are IN the main for the purpose OF
securing some share of profitable bust
ness supposed to be doing or 10 have
been done as a result of the vastly In
creased purchasing power latent in the