Evening star., 1939-04-16
U.S.. Business Is Kept
In Cautious Mood
By War Threats
Factory Activity Logs.
Trade Suffers Usuol
Post-Euster Slump
BY THOMAS e. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.

BY THOMAS e. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.
The rising tide Of European war
threats kept business in a cautious
mood this week.
Industry, for the most part, was
nstless. Retail trade suffered the
usual postmaster let-down. Both
sectors, nevertheless, reported fair
gains over the like period of 1898.
As in recent weeks, the jagged
course Of share prices on the New
York Stock Exchange made 1t clear
that the edge Of business enthusiasm
has been dulled by events abroad.
Shrinking demand brought a
slower pace of steel production.
Electric power output skidded to the
lowest point since the week of Janu-
ary 7. Car loadings slumped.
The automobile industry tuned up
production to slightly higher pitch,
but Wards automotive reports
termed the rise somewhat Of a sur
prise" The gain, the review said,
was attributable to minor changes
in operating schedules - not to
be regarded as a trend"
Sales Double Year Ago.
An important commentary on the
pace of consumer buying in the
motor field was the report on new
passenger car sales in Wayne Coun-
ty, Mich. Although the total sagged
from 2,248 the previous week to
1,751-the level was more than dou-
BILE the like week year ago.
Typical of the attitude Of indus
trial analysts was the comment of
Iron Age that "a spirit of caution
and hesitation is evident among
buyers" But in noting the disap-
pearance Of the optimism of a month
ago in the steel industry, the survey
added "there is -" no disposition
to accept the current slump as the
beginning of protracted or sharp
decline"
A similarly timid attitude was
noted in wholesale markets. The
Commerce Department reported a
dent in demand and said that Or
ders were being placed mainly "for
immediate resale"
Cancellations have been negligi-
BILE, but new orders have dried up
materially even in those industries
where f1rst-quarter results gave
strong hope that trade was taking a
good toehold preparatory to digging
out of the 1888 decline" it said.
War Threats Watched.
Business analysts said attention
was focused more sharply on the
threats of war abroad THIN on do
mestic conditions. They got some
notion of the gravity Of troubles
abroad from meeting of high Fed
eral financial authorities in Wash
ington. The conference, called to
devise ways Of handling possible
crisis in the event of outbreak of
war. decided that efforts would be
made to keep security and commod-
ity markets functioning as usual If
war should break out.
The withdrawal of several pro-
jected new security offerings as the
result of war fears served to call at
tention to the anemic condition Of
the new capital market. Common
stock financing for new enterprise
construction was conspicuous for its
absence. Meanwhile. the price Of
memberships on the New York Stock
Exchange dropped $1,000 to $51, 1000,
the lowest in 20 years.
A new factor was injected into the
business situation by the request of
President Roosevelt asking Congress
to appropriate s32, SOC, 900 for "edu-
cational" orders to train manufac-
turers in mass production Of NUM-
tions. The orders, for 49 vital prod
ucts, were authorized in the $685.
100000 defense measure signed by
the President last week.
Metal Prices Down.
Miscellaneous entries on the busi-
ness record during the week in
cluded: Chain store sales continued
to rise in March. Prices of indus
trial raw Notwithstanding steel
scrap, lead and copper-were down.
Engineering construction awards
rose sharply Cotton consumption
gained sharply in March. Bank
loans gained for the fourth con-
secutive week.
Among the industrial statistics
were:
The American Iron and Steel In
stitute reported production at 521
per cent of capacity, compared with
54.7 the week before.
The Association of American Rail-
roads reported carloadings at $685.
470, down 114 per cent from the pre-
vious week, but 26 per cent ahead
of the like week a year ago.
Electric power production, report
ed by the Edison Electric Institute
at 2,173,510,O0O kilowatt hours in the
week ended April 8, was down l.6
per cent from the preceding week,
but 90 per cent above the like
week last year.
Wards reported automobile out
put at 88,050 units, compared with
87,019 the previous week and 6s,-
521 in the like week last year.
The Associated Press index Of In
dustrial activity sagged to 1854, a
new low for the year, and compared
with 87.6 the week before and 69.4
in the like week a year ago.