The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-06-04
TRANSFORMATION STRIKE TROUBLE
 AFFECTS CREDIT
(Natienal City Bank, .

(Natienal City Bank, N. Y.)
 The recent partial breakdown of l. our transportation system, causing in some quarters. a refusal to renew credits, has resulted in realizing sales of merchandise. However, there is a tendency to exaggerate their importz< ance in the general buiness situation. There is no doubt that credit here, as in all of the principal countries of the | world, is inflated But it would be d i mistake to assume that we are on , the eve of immediate defation a 1 large scale. The great need of the | time is an increase of production, and | in the long run a large output of i
 necessary goods will be the chief in 1 strument in reducing the relative i amount of credit used in the conduct 1
 of business. Immediate and drastic l
 steps should be taken to cure our transportation evils, but when it comes to what is called the ration ing of credit, it is important that every | case be considered on its individual merits, and that the greatest discrim- ination be exercised in order to fa- | cilitate the production of necessary goods.
 Inadequate Transportation.
 The most serious phase of our
 present situation is the deplorable
 state of railway transportation. The
 outlaw strike of the switchnaen, which l
 has not yet come to an end in some
 parts of the country, has almost par alyzed the movement of goods. In all ind dustria1 centers, railroad terminals and ports, merchandise is gathered II mountains awaiting shipment. Dur
 ing the month of April over fifty thousand automobiles were driven from western factories to distribution
 points in the East and elsewhere, in some cases being carried under their own power for more than one thous and miles. At time when the for eign demand for American cars is largely increasing, inadequate rail- road transportation has reduced the automobile industry to sixty-hve per cent of its normal production and has an even more disastrous effect on the steel business. In 1916, 1917 and 1918, the per ton mile of freight in creased AT per cent, while the freight cars in service during the same period increased only 1.9 per cent In many of the great cities, and especially in New York, the food supply of the population is being jeopardized. As was said in the Bulletin of the Mer- | chants Association of New York, "a 1 condition which compels southern farmers to blow" their crops under while the consumers of this city can not purchase food is intolerable." The | impossibility of moving freight from places where it is produced to points | where it is needed has put a heavy strain upon ba rk credit. In the north l west, it is urgent that grain be moved and yet in that region there are 73 per cent more coal cars and 16 per cent fewer box cars than are needed. As result it has been necessary to extend paper, which should run only ninety days, to eight and even ten | months, because the owners of the grain cannot realize on it. In the 1 same way, the te-up of transporta- ton has had a. disastrous effect upon our entire industrial and commercial life Until this great problem is l solved, the business life of the coun- 1 try can not continue to function properly.
 Retail Trade.
 The insufficiency of railroad trans portaion and the tightening of cred l it have brought about clearance sales of merchandise at retail, and this movement, begun in the east, has | somewhat affected other centers. Un- l seasonable weather and the tieup of l funds left some retailers with large ! stocks on hand. Then the banks de- l manded liquidation and the public, l HnlSn0O US SdLuInd1d or eA-
 travagant spending, struck at the 1 high prices. Reductions of from 20 | to 50 per cent created an unprece- | dented demand. Some department l stores have even cut the price of food in their restaurants and in Omaha l the prices of automobiles have been l reduced by from s250 to $40e
 | Shoes, cotton and woolen goods, silks and furs have met with import ] ant reductions. As an indication that l extravagant buying mas diminished II jeWelry and other luxuries even show l a lessened demand at the lower prices For more than three years retailers
 have been competing with each other
 to get goods anda this com petition has
 resulted in an imitation of credit.
 S-T-U-D-L-E-Y
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