Evening star., 1921-11-05
Special Dispatch to The Star,


NEW YORK, November 5.-Strikes
and runors Of strikes are crowding in
sistently upon the attention of the busi-
ness world, but the stability Of the busi-
ness situation Is convincinGly shown by
the failure Of these industrial factors
to arouse widespread concern. or TO
check business advance. There exists
deep-seated belief. made evident in busi-
ness dispatches received within the last
twenty-four hours. that adjustments OF
wage scales and conditions now in dis
pute will be settled speedily and sat
iSfactorily.
Business men and workers In the In
dustries which have turned the cor
.ner" have been thoroughly convinced
Of the necessity Of writing OH tnelr
'high-priced inventories whether those
inventories are expressed in terms OF
materials or in wartime wage scales.
Where prices and wages each nave Deen
judiciously reduced. demand has IN
creased, production has speeded up and
return to normal prosperity has fol-
lowed The business world Is convinced
that this lesson has not been lost and
that where these adjustments have not
already been made. they will be made
without serious disarrangement of busi-
ness in general.
Reduced Freight Rates.
Perhaps the most striking illustra-
ton of the trend which has fostered
that belief was the announcement of
projected reduction in freight rates of
the Southern Pacific railroad and simi-
lar action forecast for the Union Pac1-
fic road. There is small doubt ex-
pressed that the example of these roads
will be followed by other transconti-
mental carriers. The Southern Pacific
has followed the policy of securing
volume of freight rather than depend
ing on high rates, and there are many
=. factors which it is believed will tend
to induce other roads to adopt similar
attitudes.
One of these factors has been the
: tremendous increase in intercoastal
water-borne freight. Experiments are
being made in shipping scores of COM
, modities by way of Panama, and rail
shipments are being held up until re-
suits can be known.
In the meantime the volume of
retail and wholesale trade is in
creasing steadily. Merchants are look
ing forward to a holiday season which
will tend to equalize the poor business
day season, however, will not be a
Spendthrift season. The volume of
business will be forthcoming. accord
ing to present indications. but the de-
mand will be toward the purchase of
useful gifts rather than those for mere
show.
Increase In Output.
There has been decided increase
In the output of the heavy manufac-
turing plants throughout the coun-
try and corresponding decrease in
the number of unemployed. The pay
rolls of the steel mills are expanding
steadily and production is being
Id pf InNc
put new heart into the coke trade
and additional ovens are being light
Id in steadily increasing numbers.
In some sections the coal mines are
back at normal production. The i'm
Provement in the oil industry has not
halted and has been aided by the in
crease in price. which has been
passed along to gasoline and kero-
sene.
The volume Of business in dry goods
similar period for last year by as
much as 10 per cent. Paper is get
ting back to normal and many plants
are reporting back in the 100 per cent
production column. Some of the large
copper producers and smelters in the
southwest, foreseeing the speedy ex-
haustion of surplus stocks of the
red metal, have announced that they
would resume production before the
end of this month.
Hide and Leather strong
The hide and leather ma. nets are
strong and with, a prospect of ad-
vancing in the near future. The ex-
port demand for certain grades has
improved and shoe manufacturers in
. many instances are working at capac-
ity. Lumber has increased steadily
in price on the west coast with a
strong demand from the orient and
while orders have fallen off somewhat
in the south they are still well ahead
of production and prices are firm.
. The demand for furniture continues
unabated with the manufacturers
still unable to keep up with deliv-
cries. Farm implements and ma
, chinery are still stagnant, although
prices recently announced are from
10 to 20 per cent below those pre-
viously quoted. This dullness is spe-
cially noted in the grain growing