Evening star., 1924-03-23
TRADE mus. SEEN
AS GOOD IN SPOTS"
no Great Onward Sweep. But
Conditions Fair, Writes
8 Frank Greene.

~ most instances, while in others
is undeniably slow, writes Frank
Greene in his monthly survey of
BUSINESS conditions in the March
umber Of the Nations Business.
General Characterization he says
IS difficult, Notwithstanding that
a'ost measures Of movement show a
',ig, though not in all cases a rec
ord. volume. There is no great on
ward sweep such as was seen, say, a
year ago, nor such as was witnessed
cn the rebound from the disastrous
coal strike embargo in the autumn
Of 1922"
Mr.. Greene points out that "in some
cases the volume or value of trade
does not show the full normal growth
nat .hould come with the yearly
growth in population. Part of this
8 due TO it's being a sort of slack
water period, with all that this inn
1ties in the way of winter buying
,aving been finished. while spring
DuyinG at retail is yet to develop.
Reps Politics.
Part of our business troubles, tco. &"
le goes on to say, may be charged
. politics breeding uncertainty as
or instance in regard to future taxes
"ut the comparative mildness of the
n many areas, has not been favor
'ble IN many districts to profita bic
mai distribution of heavy goods
I'lce uncertainties have been and are
20 pc reckoned with. these more
particularly touching the willingness
or buyers to operate freely for spring
or beyond. Never before have pur-
chasers gone ahead SO carefully and
watched their steps Nevertheless
= big business is being done.
The conner iDHuStry haa- ~-o
nuclng heavily at home and abroad
nited States production has doubled
two years. but the price has not
been profitable judging from the
So-called high cost producers and the
shutting down of some mines.
Active Buying in Steel Trade.
THE steel trade. stimulated bv ac-
tive buying of railway rolling stock.
ars and locomotives, and sheets and
pars for automobile makers and
tructural material for builders. has
peen ABOUT the best situated of all
he industries if the success of lead
ing automobile manufacturers in set
ting up new high records for Janu-
airy and February sales output is ex-
cepted.
The building material trades have
al had a big winter business, but
some slackening in the lumber and
brick trades has followed. Big sup
plies of building materials to meet an
equally large expected demand have
been engaged and the opening of ac-
tive operations in the northern states
may eliminate the softening of values
recently noted. especially in lumber
n some sections.
Agricultural implements have sold
better than year ago, as have fer
tiliZers; but intense competition is
reported in the latter industry with
consequent embarrassment of one
iarge concern partly attributable to
this cause, but partly also to losses
on high-priced materials bought dur
ing the boom years. Low priced ami
NAL oils have probably made compe-
tition keener for some vegetable oil
producers.
Drop in Raw Cot.on.
"In the textile trades the slowness
noted in cotton goods buying in jan
uary, with the reports of curtailment
not only in this country, but also in
Great Britain, resulted in Il big drop
in raw cotton prices. The decline in
February was s cents, while the re-
cession from December l to February
I was 9 2-5 cents. There are some
signs that this break has put new
face on things. but the advent of
spring weather is apparently needed
20 reveal just what buyers will do.
THE sympathetic break in cotton
goods of all kinds at first hand con-
stituteS the largest decline in prices
seen for months, and was undoubted-
ly the cause and effect of backward
buying in evidence in February, when
this class of goods should sell freely.
Most of the wooden and worSted
goods opened for fall by big mills are
priced below a year ago. This has
given food for thought to raw-wool
buyers and holders who expected TO
see prices in this country rise to
parity with prices in Europe and in
large producing countries.
Raw silk has continued to drop. be-
ing so cents off from February /, so
cents below March ! year ago. and So
below October 1, 1923, following the
earthquake in September
Commodity PRICES.
'Tt has been rather fashionable 10
speak of commodity prices as having
been stabilized in recent months, and
this view has no doubt been colored
by the rather slow movement of the
indexes which. masSing the movements
of all prices, have, like the traditional
unlike anything seen in real life. The
tact is, OF course, that prices rarely
arc really stabi,ized-that is, without
much, if any, movement; and the past
few months have seen proof of this
in the big declines in cotton, cotton
goods, eggs. silk, butter. hogs and their
products, with the advances in wheat,
corn, flour, sheep, coffee, lead, tin and
petroleum and it's products.
"The wheat situation, present and
prospective, presents several angles.
Seven months exports to January 81,
wheat and flour reckoned in bushels,
were 5000, 900 bushels less than a year
ago, which, in turn, fell 50,0OO,0 900 BUSH
els below two years ago. Prices have
held up well, partly on the expectations
tnat the tariff will be raised to 40 cents
and partly on the idea based on reduced
estimates of wheat stacks on farms
as of March l, that wheat east of the
Rockies is on Il domestic basis. The
new crop condition is irregular, win
ter killing being reported in the cen
tral west; but in the southwest pros
poets are reported excellent due to
DlenteouS moisture.
The export trade outlook as a
whole. up to February, helped won
priced cotton more than offsetting
losses in grain exports. does not show
up much differently than of late; but
any view which excludes the hopeful
situation engendered by. the labors
of the committees working on Ger
man problems seems faulty. 1t is
easy to calculate that lifting of
European exchange rates slightly
would have a beneficial effect on all
branches of our export trade.
February failures were slightly
more in number than a year ago. but
liabilities were heavily in excess of
a YEAR ago. Pig iron production for
February was nearly . per cent larger
than the longer month of January,
while 2.7 per cent above February a
year ago."