Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-17
PACE OF BUSINESS
DECLARED UNEVEN
Weekly Trade Reviews Say
Volume of Wholesale Orders
Is Holding Steady.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, May 17.-Reviews of
general trade report conditions during
the past week to have been highly I'M
even and without decisive trend.
Wholesale and jobbing trade was main
tanned at the previous weeks modest
volume, but there was a slight slowing
up in retail buying, chiefly in the rural
districts, where frequent rains or active
Spring planting were outstanding fea-
lures. There was also further slight
easing of in industrial operations
BradstreetS weekly summary says, in
part:
1.-THE addition of a number of chain
store organizations to the group whose
sales were reported last week, bringing
the number tabulated up to So, has the
effect of diminishing somewhat the per-
centages of gain in April and four
months sales over the like periods a
year ago. Sales in April OF the So chains,
including the leading mail-order houses,
totaled 1855 ,208, 439, as against $685.
339,077 in the corresponding month Of
1929, an increase of 90 per cent.
Much of this gain was, of course,
due to the late date of Easter this year,
and better measure of Easter trade
may DC ODIdlI1eO Uy dQuluS Tie MATCH
sales to those for April, which gives a
total of $685., 58o,185, there being so
chains included in the March compila-
ton.
Compared with March and April of
last year, when the identical organiZa-
tions reported aggregate sales of $685.
ISL ,625, there was an increase OF 81
per cent, the gain of 90 per cent in
April having more than Offset the loss
of 1.9 per cent in March"
Prices Continue Unsteady.
The r. G. Dun & Co. weekly review
says. in part:
with the month of May more than
half over, the course of business remains
highly uneven Gains and recessions In
activity are interspersed in more than
usual measure, the fall of commodity
prices has not been definitely arrested.
adjustments in production continue, ana
there are also evidences OF the operation
of other forces which are natural to
a period Of economic change.
1.-THE present experience has DEM
onstrated anew the importance OF the
time element in a process OF commercial!
transition, and there is more general
recognition now of the fact that
rapid recovery was scarcely TO be ex-
pected following severe and 1ar-reacn-
ing setback. biSdpEO@lioiiiCA4o ~ VAN
results in various quarters this Spring
is tempered by the knowledge that the
marked tension caused by last .Autumn's
speculative collapse has been relieved
and that the movement toward re-
Mobilization is under way"
Undercurrent of Betterment.
after an era of great expansion, with
maximum records attained in many
fields Of enterprise, the subsequent re-
versal was the more pronounced, and
it would not be logical to anticipate
quick rebound from widespread UNI
| settlement. Allowance for those points
| is essential in appraising the existing
situation, with its irregularities and
sharply contrasting tendencies, and the
absence of a broad advance. SPECIFIC
DEVELOPMENTS from week to week are
| rather unimpressive, with few excep-
tions, and it is beneath the surface
conditions that the chief foundation for
announcement rests.
Certain of the statistical barom-
eters, while outwardly continuing to
make adverse exhibits are beginning to
reflect more plainly the undercurrent
of moderate betterment. 1t is of less
significance that losses persist in COM
parison with the totals for year ago,
than that the ma$Sin Of decrease is
contracting In some Instances, indicat-
ing a turn in the right direction"