New Britain herald., 1922-02-11
EASTERN CENTRAL STATES WILL SEE
 RETIREMENT M 1922, BABSON SAYS

Continuing his personal survey Of the business os the country Roger w Babson statistican and business ah- visor to lG,N00 Of the countrys lead Ing executives, reports his findings on the central eastern states as follows
 New York, Philadelphia, Raltl, more and the other large cities, south Of New England prosper largely from three sources,
 1, Foreign trade, the sale of goods to foreign countries even although the goods eamc from the interior of the country,
 2, Jobbing, that Is the distribution of merchandise to fS.ailers in the tri- mutary territory,
 8. Investments, including the in tercst received from stocks and bonds together with the profits involved in purchases and sales of securities,
 There Is of course. a certain . mount of manufacturing In these cities especially of garments and clothing, but they are not primarily industrial cities,
 Foreign trade Is severely crippled for sometime to come. Certainly 1922, will show no better than 1921, Therefore we may expect very little income from this source.
 "The jobbers will hold their own in 1922 and should have an increase in orders Although retailers are doing comparatively little business, yet their stocks are low, and they must buy certain amount of goods whether they want to or not If the retailers would only cut prices further, which could be done by a decrease in operating ex- penses. the jobbers would have good business in 1922.
 "The real improvement, however which New York and these other cit les are to witness will come about through financial conditions The bond business should be very good in 1922. The stock market should work upwards and there may be even an old fashioned boom before the year comes to a close. Deals and con solidations will be put through, divi- dends will be resumed and other things will happen which should en- nance the value of securities. Of course. no wealth is really produced by these increased prices, but they affect the prosperity on these cities. All stock market activity always brings money from the interior of the country into the cities and most of 1t fails to remain there. The small in- terior towns furnish the lambs: the cities do the shearing; and the wool remains in the cities to swell the bank clearings and be registered as pros perity The eastern cities will see much more of this money in 922 than they have seen for some years.
 "In a similar way the entire states of New York, Pennsylvania and those others in this eastern group prosper likewise. With the exception of steel cities which will find another quiet wear in 1922. the rest of this eastern section should feel better. Agricul- turally these states simply feed their own cities with dairy products, vege- tables and some grain. The central uart of New York has considerable manufacturing and most of these cities will fare better in 1922. The same is true of Pennsylvania and the other sections.
 'The electrical industry of Schen- cctady and Pittsburgh should soon begin to feel the good effects of easy money. Railroads and public utilities Of various kinds are only waiting for low interest rates in order that they may sell bonds before giving large orders for electrical equipment, This is also true of the railroad equipment industry However. money rates should enable the railroads to buy. It should be remembered that after New England, the next section to De hit by the depression of 192O-2l was this portion of the country of which I am writing today. For this very reason, however. New York, Pennsyl- vania and adjoining states will be the first to follow New England in her re- covery Hence the outlook in these states will be fair. Sales opportunl- ties in these states will be better in 1922 than in 1921. They perhaps have not turned the corner. but they surely are turning the corner.
 "As 10 industrial conditions will say that the state of New York have the hest statistics on employment of any state in the union. These show that in October, the last month for which we have figures, the total wage ex- penditure of the industries Of New York was thirty-two per cent lower than 1t was at the peak. The amount of employment was at about the same level as at the beginning of 1915, but the trend is definitely upward. and the decks are clear for an improve ment during the year. Approximately the same situation prevails in Penn sylvania-
 "Furthermore, in the mems and women's clothing business, which Is one of the largest interests of the staxs of New York, conditions are ripe for a substantial Improvement following upon more than year of