Evening star., 1923-03-10
INDUSTRIAL BOOM
INCREASING DAILY
Present Prosperity EquaIed
Only by Production Records
Made in 1920.
BY j. c. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


NEW YORK, March 1o-Productjoa
is writing profits on the right sid.
Of the ledger for manufacturers, dis
tributors and retailers today. Prices
OF finished products to retailer arG
ultimate consumer have not advanced
in equal ratio to the increase IN III,
cost Of raw materials. Nevertheless.
the net income OF makers and mer-
chandisers are increasing to a poin.
OF prosperity equaled only in tbs
boom times Of 1920. Tho answer j.
capacity production.
Practically every big basic industry
in the United States today IS operar
ing as near to capacity as shortage ~
labor, skilled and unskillcd, and the
delays to shipments due to inade
quate transportation facilities WI
permit. Production costs are three
times greater when plants arc manu-
featuring at 25 per cent Of capacity
than when they arc running at 100
per cent. Therefore. in spite Of IL
creased costs of material and labor
finished goods yield no less profits a.
present prices than they did SIX o.
eight months ago.
Textile Demand Active.
Nowhere is this tendency so cviden.
as IN the textile trades. Raw woo
pices are uD to a point high above the
top OF 1922 Yet woolen goods price
showed an increase of less than nal:
the advance in raw wool III most Tine
Manufacturers, however, are sold ui'
! we'll into next fall, and undoubtedly
their season will net a profit hlShei
than IN 1922, when the leading lntereS'
made astonishing strides. Advertise
ments in the newspapers throughouf
the country show that clothing for me-.
for spring is on about the same pric"
| level as for the spring of 1879, a
though goods prices and labor ar"
higher Yet profits have not decreas""
for buying power and demand hav"
jumped ahead as fast rs costs.
Cotton cloths advanced this weeE
but not to a point which thirty-one
cent cotton would seem to WarTart
| Nine dollan -and-twenty-cent-a-
raw silk brought talk OF ten-dolla.
silk, but no talk Of similar increa-'
in finished silk prices. But neithr
retailers nor manufacturers are worry
ing, for the buying power is there All"
goods arc moving into consumption 6.
fast that turnover Is becoming Il roll.
Steel Wage Advance Imminent.
Steel prices advanced material,
this week and further advances seen.
inevitable. The steel trade now gen
orally admits that the long predicted
advance in wages to steel workers
| Is coming. Some dec.are that -
announcement will await The retu1-',
of Judge Gary. chairman OF the
board of the United States steel Cor
poration, from Europe, but IL may
not wait that long. a 10 per cent
| Increase at the American Steel auG
Wire Company's plant at Worcester
| is expected at any moment.
| Many Of the basic commoditie
have steadied down from the active
] fluctuations Of q week ago. Woo
and rubber have shown AL edSie~
tendency. in foreign markets. al
! though both have been fairy firr
| here. Silk receded fraction from
| the top levels reached Monday arr
advances i'll cotton have groWI
harder to maintain.
Copper is quivering around II cent.
a pound, although the export prico
is above that figure. Lead zinc anG
| tin have maintained their advance
| and their statistical position has No;
been weakened. White lead is UP. ::
| are other paint materials. but demand
for April deliveries of paints IS keen
ing factories at the peak Of produI
ton.
Record Shoe Production.
The Endicott Johnson shoe factori,-
are turning out 10000 pairs a da,
with orders running ahead OF out
put The midwest factories are crowd
| ed TO the limit. while New England
and Philadelphia are not far beilinq
\ stream of orders for new cars and
locomotives continues To flow from
the railroads into the Offices of tie
equipment manufacturers and in turu
are being reflected in Increased &c
mand on the production of the st't 4
| mills. Cement plants are raising pro
duction closer to capacity as spring
approaches and brick makers are pre-
pairing for tremendous demand with
the advent Of warm weather.
Copyright, 1921