The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-05-29
BOOM IN TRADE
SHOWN BY
FIGURES
Record Broken by Basic Com
modities Last March,
Expert Declares.
BY w. s. COUSINS.
Copyright. 1923, by Cosrn opolitan

News Service.)
NEW YORK, May 29.-The pro-
duction Of commodities is the real
basis of national prosperity. The
ability to acquire and then to enjoy,
the consumption Of these commodi-
ties, is the effect rather than the
cause of prosperity; and industry
and trade are the hand maidens of
happiness and progress.
Due to the complexity of modern
industry and the influence of world
wide factors, production is never
uniform and the so-called cycles in
business are but the chronicle of
the rise and fall in the volume Of
commodities produced through the
country's industrial mechanism.
1t is not logical to assume that
low production necessitates the
limitation of the supply of house.
hold or personal articles to the
consumer, for, in times Of high
production surplus goods are &C.
cumulated in storage against the
demands of the subsequent period
when the wheels of production are
working on low gear.
Reasons for Increase.
It is hardly conceivable that, with
many of the foreign ave.>ues of
consumption Of American goods
practically cut off, the production
Of basic" commodities chose used
in the statistical compilations)
should have increased 81 per cent
above the low point of 1921.
Yet no less an authority than the
Federal Reserve Board confirms,
from authoritative reports, the cor
~ hi 49,
enormity Of this increase, expressed
in tons, barrels or yards can best be
conceived when it is considered that
American Industrial plants, over and
above the requirements of whatever
foreign markets we serve, must also
supply the needs Of 10 millions Of
American people.
Some of the outstanding indexes Of
this enormous increase in production
are familiar. For example, the op-
Grating rate of the big steel mills,
one Of the most important of indus
trial barometers, has increased from
80 per cent to 81 per cent since the
early part of 1922: copper mines
were in many sections reopened and
placed on maximum production for
the first time since the closing Of the
war, while petroleum production has
established new records in the his
tory OF the country.
Commodities Make Record.
In March, the last month for which
there is definite data, production of
pig iron, steel ingots, cotton goods.
petroleum and automobiles reached
new high figures, exceeding any
month in the past. Rejecting the
exceptional output Of these cornnodi-
ties and increased production in GER
tain others also. the production In
dex Of the Federal Reserve Board
reached a new high figure at 125
Q919 average being taken as 100
per cent, compared with SO in the
id.summer of 1921. The following
table shows the March production
figures in these five commodities
compared with the highest previous
months:
Output Prev. Date of
Commodity High Previous
Pig iron. tons .. ASH $500 Oct. 1918
steel ingots. tons 3.4O2 1882 Oct. 1918
Cotton, bales S2S gig May 1917
Petroleum. bbls. 5s.132 81. 467 June 1922
Taking as basis for comparison
the normal production Of the coun-
try, which we shall designate by
the figure 100, production of II i'm
portant commodities at present show
the following contrasts with the low
N< ~Hva 2-wa o.