The Washington times., 1922-10-22
GOOD SEASON
IN SIGHT,
. 7RADEREV|EWS
Buying Stimulated BY Cold
Weather, Dun-8radstrest
/. Report Shows.

+. Report Shows.
Definite expansion Of business &C.
tvities. bringing the greatest I'm
p-ovement in distributive trade and
the industrial situation felt since
the spring Of 1899. is reported in
the weeks Commercial reviews
made public today. 80.
The first touch OF cold weather
coming this week stimulated retail
buying and Increased the sales Of
seasonable goods. the reports show.
The expectation that the final
quarter of the year would bring
q further extension Of the bush
ness Improvement has been sup
ported by Developments during the
first month Of the faii season, says
Dun's review Of business. While
irregularities have continued In diff.
ferent lines, with considerable fluc.
tuation In volume Of operations,
the rising trend Of demand Is clear
ly manifest and most wholesale
markets are strengthening steadily.
Moderate reaction from the higher
price levels f6f certain commodities,
such as iron and steel, reflects an
easing Of the tension which had re-
suited from the paucity Of supplies
and activity in buying, and IL also
an outcome Of the recovery In manu-.
facturs that has followed the settle
ment of the coal mining and railroad
labor troubles. ..N .- .
Relief from the fuel scarcity.
which was seriously hampering pro-
duction, has made possible the re-
sumption OF work at many plants
where idleness had been unavoidable.
although transportation drawbacks
still hinder shipments OF merchan.
disc and tend to prevent some trans
actions which would otherwise be
consummated. Without the limiting
factor Of car shortage, freight traffic
would probably equal the best pre-
vious records. as consumption 10 en-.
larging In various channels and
stocks Of goods are In need OF replen.
ishment In many instances.
Demand 10 Broader. {.
In contrast with the former policy
of hand.to.mouth purchasing, the
demand now 10 frequently In nnti.
cipation Of future requirements, and
reports Of mills and factories being
well sold ahead are becoming more
common. While seasonal conditions
partly account for the current ev.
pansion of business. gains also
appear which plainly are not due
to weather influence, and the revi-
val In basic Industries u especially
significant because OF its bearing
on the general situation.
Cold weather stimulating retail
trade: marked activity In building In
an effort to finish up operations,
with scarcity OF skilled mechanics
resulting; improved jobbins trade,
with more disposition to buy for the
future, and spring buying frequently
mentioned; holiday buying Of certain
lines: a slight easing in some regions
in car supply. but complaints Of
shortages still widespread: easing In
fuel and metal prices, but moro
strength In other commodities, with
especial firmness In textiles and q
very generally good pace in manu-.
featuring lines. 60 to make Brad.
streets trade review this week a very
cheerful one.
Indeed. viewed ~ Q whole. with
the possible exception Of collections,
which are still, relatively speaking,
backward, the general distributive
trade and industrial situation as re.
Elected In Bradstreet's reports 10
about the best since the late spring
Of 1920.
Another fact which needs to be
borne In mind-and seems, by the
way. to have escaped many com
mentators-is that with the passing
Of the year and consequent changes
In comparisons. prices Of leading
staple creps-wheat. corn, oats and
cotton---are now higher than q year
ago. OF course. some instances Of
these or other crops selling at low
prices may be instanced, these tend.
ing to depress buyers views at in.
terror points In the Northwest and
In the South Atlantic States. Thus,
wheat 10 lower than year ago at
Minneapolis and winnipes. But
there Is no escaping the fact that
feeling Is more optimistic and that
there Is more confidsncs than at any
time since deflation began early In
1920.