The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-02

l regulation, caused an anarchic mar- l ket condition. The recent prohibition | legislation creates situation In which | all past history is so va1ueless as a 1 guide that speculation regarding the | future course of events is utterly fu- 1 tile.
 1 Natural Dyestuffs and Tanning 1 Chemicals.-The prices of natural l dyestuffs are largely dependent on ! the prices of the corresponding syn- l thetlc colors.
 1 There may be 0 slight preference 1 for a certain natural dye at a lower
 or even at the came price, but cer- 1 ts.tnly not at a greater price. It is not surprising to find, therefore, that the | chart of index numbers of natural l dyestuffs, as compared with the cor 1 responding chart of coal tar colOrs, 1 reveals a striking similarity. The l rises and falls in the curve of natural 1 dyes lag a few months behind those 1 of the synthetic dyes. The curve for | tanning materials shows an average l price increase of lesser magnitude. 1 This condition is readily understand 1 able. The tanning materials were, to
 d large extent, produced in this l country and those imported did not 1 come from Germany.
 
 1 modities included in this class are of | such varied origin, the economic fac i tors are so involved, and the raw l materials are so intimately inter 1 woven with other industries that it IS 1 difficult to generalize. l It may be stated, however, that the l general trend of prices paraueIed
 that of "al1 comm modities" Amer | ica's entry into the war was accom- panied by a sharp rise in prices,
 which with but few temporary set 1 backs. continued, throughout the war 1 period.
 ] During the year 1918 prices scared l till in September the maximum reIa- tive price of 235 was reached. 1 Proprietary Preparations. - This ] class stands out in two respects. In 1 the first place, one is struck by the l tremendous volume of this business l $200, 1000, 900 is the estimate for 1917. 1 In the second place, even the most i superficial comparison of the chart 1 of index numbers of this class with i those of any of the other classes
 of commodities included in this series l shows that the prices of proprietaries l in general have not advanced in any | thing like the same proportion. | Soaps and Glycerin. - The most I | industry Is the remarkable extent to | which manufacturers have been | forced to employ substitutes. The l foodstuffs and the fact that the prices | of certain fats and oils which normal ] ly entered into the manufacture of
 soaps suddenly became prohibitive, | made the use of substitutes impera- 1 tive.
 The heavy demand for glycerin was | an additional difficulty. 1 An examination of the chart of 1 the index numbers of this class shows 1 little variation from the base line un- 1 til October, 1915. From then on there 1 is a rise, which, with few interrup- 1 tions continues until a relative of POI 1 is reached.
 l A slight depression was beginning 1 to set in just prior to the cessation of l hostiIities.
 1 Wood Distillation Products and 1 Naval Stores.-The index numbers for this class show little variation from 1 the base line until the middle of 1915. This large demand for acetone by 1 the Allies then began to show a steep rise in the price of acetate of lime and the substances made from it. ! Early in 1916 the British Government Is said to have withheld renewal con- tracts until a marked drop in price was effected.
 When the British Government again came into the market and the United States entered the war the price of acetate of lime and the chemicals made form it again rose until new high levels were reach 1 ed.
 The normal consumption of rosin In this country is about 1,S00, 900 bar 1 reIs
 l The normal production of rosin and 1 turpentine is usually sufficient to meet l industrial demands. Naval store
 dealers make the claim that rosin has been selling below it's cost of pro 1 ductfon throughout the war Summary and Conclusion. l An examination of the chart, show l ing the class index numbers of the
 chemicals group reveals that the out break of the war in Europe was the
 occasion of an immediate rise of the 1 prices in chemicals.
 The corresponding chart for 'aIl'' 1 comm odities shows that the general rise in prices did not occur until 1 about a year later. The upward trend | of price of chemicals continued until 1 March 1916.
 The increased production of chemi-
 calls in response to the enlarged de- mand, the reduction of amortization 1 charges and the competition of for 1 eign production now began to man i fest their influence. Prices of chemicals 1 fell, until in February, 1917, they had | reached about the same level as other l commodities.
 l From this time until the cessation 1 of hostilities the curves for chemical and for ssaII commodities" approxi- i mate one another very much more ! closely. In the closing months of the war the relative prices of chemicals
 were a little lower than those of taIl 1 commodities.'
 Ex-President Taft has gone back ] to his job as a professor at Yale, but