New-York tribune., 1922-01-23

''iullIC Nl business. 8
During the week two important cor
ventlons vcre held in New York City.
One was the annual gathering of the
dry goods wholesalers and the other the
annual meeting OF the shoe manufac-
turers. Economy Of operation and
greater efficiency were stressed at both
meetings and some progress was made
IN technical clucidation of plans look
ing toward these ends.
"A curious reaction developed to the
plan proposed by a special committee Of
inc Snoe manufacturers organization.
to 'nauaurntc a widespread publicity
campaign designed to stimulate what
was called "shoc consciousness, to the
end that more pairs of shoes might be
consumed by the public. The plan in
cludcd the linking up of all branches
of the shoe and leather trade on t'be ,be
prlnclplc that n greater volume of
snoes would react favorably on leather,
findings and upon the manufacturing.
wholesallng and retailing of finished
shoes.
The chief objection to the plan pro
posed was that it would not benefit the
trade as whole, some Of those han
ding the lower grades of shoes con
tending that consumption cannot be
H''iii u laleu among ihoSc 10 whom shoes
are a necessity and nothing more. An
official Of one of the largest shoe manu-
featuring concerns in the Middle West
brought out the view that the actual
consumption Of footwear varies little
in good times ard bad times, the cx-
pansion in the trade coming from the
exaggerated ideas of the volume of
possible business estimated by re-
tailers.
Distributors are now more concerned
with figuring out what the consumer
can afford to pay than with worrying
over the factors that tend TO set prices
in the manufacturing fields. The dry
goods wholesalers at their convention
were told that stocks Of raw wool and
cotton were not heavy and that the
price of the former was tending up
ward. Despite these factors that ap-
pear to argue for higher prices, tho
wholesal lers talked along lines int nded
20 give one another the courage to re-
sist price advances, basinG this atti-
;ude upon the repeatedly expressed
opinion that ultimate consumers will
not countenancc any price increases at
present.
That advances in raw materials. par
ticularly those used in the textile IN
dustry, are not always forcrunners of
I
was proved by the maintenance of last
years prices Of cotton blankets by P
large producer, although raw cotton is
now around IS cents a pound, com
| pared to II cents a year ago. The silk
and woolen trades are faced with
| higher raw material costs, and al
though the prices for the new woolcn
season will not be set until the renc
ton to the opening OF lines for fall
pany to-day is known, silk manufac
turers have not yet been able to fully
reflect the higher prices for raw silk
New wage cuts entered into the gen
eral scheme CT business during the
week. Mills in Connecticut and Rhode
. Island announced cuts, the reductio
in The latter state becoming effective
to-day and amounting to about 20 per
cent.
The tariN also continues to be a
burning question. The woolen manu-
in "a peculiar position en- the tariff
While they are strong advocates Of
placing raw wool and hides on the free
| list, they still desire measure Of pro-
lection on cloth and shoes. The shoe
manufacturers in their convention ia
vored free hides, but after some dis
cussion decided to omit placing the
convention Oh record as taking stand
on tariff on shoes.
The fight for and against the Amer
lean valuation plan continued, with
most Of the arguments designed to
prove that retail prices here viii or
will not be raised by such a plan
The actual volume Of business,
measured in units of merchandise, ap-
pears to have increased some during
the last week An unusually large
number Of buyers for retail and whole
sale establishments were in the local
textile and allied markets. and some
selling agents reported the booking Of
sizable orders for delivery within the
| next few months.