New-York tribune., 1921-03-24
Reports Show improvement,
but Caution Prevails;
Disagree ON Value Of
Pegged Price Of Raws

Leaders in the silk trade yesterday
cxpressed themselves as confident that
she worst stages Of dehation and re-
adJustment had been passed and that
the outlook for the future is consider
aDiy brighter than it was at the end Of
'tsss s. year IN the various reports on
dlHeIene divisions Of the trade rem
asrsa az the annual meeting of the Silk
ASSOCIATION Of America ran strain Of
optimism tempered with warnings
against another runaway market to
which were attributed the great falL IN
prices and subsequent difficulties of
the trade last year.
On one point, that of the value of a
regged market for raw silk, there was 4
divergence OF opinion expressed in two
o. the reports. Emil Buhler. Of the Du-
plan Silk Corporation, reporting on the
piece dyed broad silk situation, after
sketchIng the progress of readjustment
SO far said:
but there is much that is still to be
readlusted. Some of the speculator
and fiy-by-nlght manufacturers are still
with. us. The raw silk market of Japan
has been artificsally stimulated by the
pegglng of prices to meet the emer-
gency created by the slump in the may
kst. and the markets of the other raw
violent exchange fluctuations"
Pegging Silk Prices
The work OF the Imperial Syndicate
OF Japan in pegging the price OF raw
silk was commended by M. Kufne. of
Hara & Co., in his report on raw silk.
1T Is an admitted fact he said, sthar
had it not been for the support Of the
Imperial Silk Company the demoraliza-
ton witnessed during the past few
months fould have been carried on
much further and would have had last
ing effects. The Improvement in de-
mand for manufactured goods expert
.enced IN December was largely due TO
the maintenance of raw silk prices
Mr.. kume expressed the opinion that a
further loan Of 30,O00,00o yen by the
government will be made to enable the
Syndicate to continue pegging, which
SO far has resulted in the buying of
$4,000 bales by the syndicate.
The need of tariff on silks was ex-
pressed in several Of the reports.
Unless piece dyed silk manufacturers
rally as one for sufficient protection
against foreign competition" said Mr..
Buhler in his report, "they will be as
sorry lot as the labor that will be
thrown out of employment. AS long as
foreign exchange operates against our
own money as it does now the trade
will soon demonstrate how much cheap
er piece dyed goods can be imported
than made up in this country"
An unsual demand for yarn dyed
broad silks, at least for several months
to come, was predicted by w. r. Thomas
jr:. of the Wahnetah and other silk
mills,
In the opinion of E. Irving Hanson.
of II. R. Mallinson Co., there was
little overproduction of fancy silks.
The break, he said, was caused prin-
cipaliy by the drop in raw materials.
Merchandise which was sacrificed in
April, May and June of 192O,' he
stated, proved to be in good demand
for the spring of 1921, and now mer-
chandise of this identical nature is
bringing far better prices than during
the months of April and May of last
year"
The increase in spun silk machinery
during and since the war, according to
Q. D. Frost. of the Champlain Silk
Mills. has broadened the demand for
waste, from which spun silk is pro-
duced, SO that proportionately higher
prices are now exacted for this raw