Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-05

In spite OF the deterrent eHects Oh
the coal, railway, and several minor
strikes now in progress. and of the
usual midsummer influences, bust
ness during the past month in the
Third Federal Reserve District has
continued active, and the large ma
jority Of industries report further
gains. In only a very few has there
been a decline in buying, and in
these cases the falling off may be
attributed almost entirely to season.
al conditions. In the coal regions,
of course, the volume of both whole
sale and retail sales has decreased
materially. The situation through
out the district, however, is better,
although the rate of improvement
has unquestionably been slower than
would have been the case but for
the. strikes. These have affected in
dustry as a whole almost entirely on
the production side. They have in
fluenced sales only insofar as they
have caused many manufacturers %
refuse orders for delivery in the
future, owing to the uncertainties
both as to supply and the prices OF
coal. Already many firms nave re-
ported the depletion of their reserve
stocks and their inability to obtain
coal of the grades desired.
AS a result of the rapidly dwind-
ling reserves, the coal market "a
been very active in recent weeks
Duying June the demand was small,
because of the expected settlement
of the strike and the anticipated
freight rate reduction, effective July
1. But as prospects OF a settlement
grew more remote, and as the need
for Goa became imperative. buying
on a larger scale revived. Ordinari-
w.. coal sales decline at this period
of the year, but the present unusual
circumstances have caused a marked
decrease. Since present stocks OF
coal are about one-third what they
were on April 1, and since current
consumption is far in excess OF pro-
duction, the effect that a long con-
tinuance Of the strike would nave
upon industry and commerce Is ap-
parent.
The iron and steel industry, per-
haps, has been most adversely ar
fected by the labor situation. me
demand for practically all products
has increased considerably, n puy-
ers have attempted to order for
future delivery. Large orders nave
come from railroads, oil producers,
automobile manufacturers,
structural industries n to a lesser
extent from manufacturers OF ma
chinery and machine tools. But pro-
ducers have been forced to reject
much of this business, because of
the serious production difficulties
with which they are confronted
There is a growing scarcity OF potn
skilled and unskilled labor ana
wages in many quarters have peen
increased. This shortage is IN part
due to the hot weather, causing
laborers to seek outdoor work, and
in part to the higher wages paid in
the building trades. In fact,
tremendous boom in construction in
this district has taken laborers from
many industries. Another check
upon production is the fact that the
present supply of raw materials 10
limited because of the a strike,
and prices are advancing rapidly.
This has resulted in steadily increas-
ing iron and steel quotations. Oper-
alton in the iron and steel Industry
now averages about So per cent. put
on the basis of the volume OF bust
ness offered, most plants could run
at very close to capacity.
Building activity in the district
has expanded materially during the
past month, rejecting the increased
value Of permits issued during June.
There was q seasonal decline in per-
mits issued in May. and 1t was x
pected that a further decrease would
be shown in June. But. on the con-
trary, the value of the permits Issued
in fourteen of the larger cities in
this district during that month was
s~18,177,759 as against $~13,S44.S13 IN
May, $17,022,5 500 in April and S14,-
1889 in March. The number of
houses being built is exceptionally
large, as is that of Office buildings
also. Although the construction in
dustries have drawn from many
others for their labor supply, there
is still a shortage in many sections