PANIC IN PRICES IN U.S.A.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 17017, 14 December 1920, Page 10

PANIC IN PRICES IN U.S.A.

_ • RETAILERS STAMPEDED. (inoii orr. own" conr.zsrosDzsT.) ~>.W T-TIAXCf.-fO. Xarr.'ui-cr ]!. Tnnif has seiz-cd tin- selling interesi in the Vnurl .States, niifl the sipis c n'TVou.'-ness li.'ivo Itr-vii quickly refleete !i Montreal, Toronto, jiri'i as far "Wo? :is Yiinrbuver over thi- Cann<li:in horde; in. cons(X/iifnC" of a phenomenal niovt i:',cnt to'.v;iril iho deflation of the posi v.a'r profiteering price--. '11)'- ::tlit'i(lo of the purchasing put He. 3ms l/.-.-n tin" of apparent- indopem f-nc'», .ind llu- re.iailers have, discovere thai the workers were not lurtlior < l/o ''uscfl' , as mediums ot foisting con morlit t-'s upon tln-ni .-it tin: outrageous ly liij/h figures v.iiiih for a time th profiteering wholesalers and retailor had succeeded in wresting from th people fit larjv. It i-i now noted that the period o «-xtravaganeo indulged in by the ncopJ h:is long ago terminated, and when th "common people'' held aloof from fur 'her buying ni exorbitant prices, th retailors began to become iiniwy a i he falling oil in their weekly returns in vain they it! led t lie nev. spapers will < unningly-wordcd advertisements, hut speaking, the populace woul< have, no truck nor trade with tins pro ■iilWVa. Tho retailors appeal oil to the. wholesaJer.s for relief, buo tho latter repliei Iliab they had adopted a new principl" <■! manufacturing only to explicit or (l"r«. and were not stocking for eyentu elitic-s. They explained that owing t( an uncertain market it was beyond tin palo of speculation to hoard supplies awaiting receipt ot' orders from tin !-r:i<H\ 7'lui retailer.s, possessed as they wen with -tremendous stocks of poods whicl they wcro uniiblc to '"iiiiload ,, upon the public at the market prices, found tha'l ruin threatened them, but they wen omp«illcd to keep tho goods moving, tind at tho present juncture all sorts oJ '•riido and transparent devices are being resorted to by tho panicky shopl.w.pors', in order to "raise the wind," t;) meet their pressing creditors. Kctaiiers as "Martyrs!" The newspapers have lx;en convert**] into advertisin?; lqcdhiins, and so rapa•ciotis havo the storekeepers become upon tn« spaeo in tho daily newspapers, that only curtailed news is seeing the .light of day. This movement is spreading «11. ovor tho .North American continent, and porno clothing iirms have taken two full-page .advertis-onicnts to enfold to tho public their ''grievous" ; position, and hnvn endeavoured to_ peri .suade tho public that- tho present is the I best timo to mako purchases. Theso ! rotailera havo admittpd they nro "willI ing. to tnko their modicine," and have I'oSuccd prices to what thoy aro pleased to designato "pre-war prices, , ' but in most cases tho figures aro more than f double, they were on Armistice l>ay. I only tho unwary are bo(ing entrapped, tno great percentage of ' tho pooplo refusing to bamboozled by tho retailers, who are posing in tho public prints as "martyrs." It is only when real bargains jure obtainable that tho general body of the purchasing public makes an investment, and it is recognised that tho profiteering retailers of both tho United States and Canada will havo to "take their medicine, <• with a Tcngea-nco. Cortainly, they are HRcnring no sympathy from their oldtimo customers. . ' ' t In Rochester, New York State, «i reduction of 33 per cent, in tho wholesale uried of clothing has been announced oy ono of Bochostcr's largest olothing Tnanufactnrers. Tho reduction, which id in. addition to tho. usual cash discount of 7 pel* cent., represents a out from 33 dollars, opening autumn -wholesalo .price on fiuits and overcoats, to approximately 20 dollars. People to Benefit. Much of tho pessimism which has spread over tho country is unjustified, according to John W. Hill, a New York .financial editor, who says: "Prices havo fallen faster than was expected, failures aro increasing, manufacturing plants aro slowing down, unemployment is .rrpwing; and buyers and sellers continuo for tho moment to back away from each other, despite lower prices, 'ttut tho picture has a bright side. Profiteering is dying. Extravagance "has disappeared. The cost of living is falling. ; It is 'again possiblo to save. "Wages and' salaries mean more in bread N«Bd butter and J&oes. Business activity, prices, and profits aro moving .steadily towards a.more healthy basis. ' Many "belieyo that the country is now going through the most painful part of tho.surgical operation necessary to Temovo tho noxious growth of war inflation.' Tho money crisis is passing, and lower rates of interest aro on fho •way, and when, this arrives' it will stimulate activity, it is believed. Longheaded business men are laying thoir plans for a business revival, but not a boom, noxt spring. While conditions havo been unsatisfactory in the United States, Now "Xork experts,*in .rcvicwjnc'tho situation, havo befcn pluming themselves that in ■tiho rest of tho world happenings have ■been moro of a disturbing nature, notably tho recent coal strike in Britain, and upheavals in Cuba, Holland, tind* Borne South American countries, with a "numbor of other nations quaking in their financial boots." Americans rccognjso that business reaction and the decline of artificial prices aro vqrld-wido developments. These thinge havo been Tcflected in America in lower prices for wheat, cotton, and otTier; 1 commodities. ;Th!e,Unitcd States does not antioip&te nny...financial panic, as latest Government ..figures 'snow tho resources of all the banks in the country total 53 hil3ionrrdqljars, which is declared to bo jrreaterirthan tho combined assets of the hjmlcs of all the leading,nations of tho wdrldj a fact that-'has caused much flattering unction to be laid* to tho 3»carts! of all thosn Americans inclined to gloat over the troubles of European nations who bore tho bmnt of tho Tforld-war. r:,vi--Wheat'Prices Tumbling. Escitinc; scenes havo been witnessed in=. tho Chicago wheat pit, whoro tho fctock speculators have indulged in some oxtfadrdinary demoniacal antics in a •vain effort t <lisnose of wild ventures j on.-o-;""falling" marliet. The :i \Feo!dfaT' Reservo Board has re- ! fused credit to fanners for withholding cropsi from tho markets until prices eoold bo forced back to wartime levels. "ThO Board_ could not iriaintain prices i'or'tho grain : wool, and cotton growers and allow prices of all other commodiTies io tumble unchecked. Farmers' losses so, groat as they now ffa? - ,-; because ' the purchasing power dollar will be increased. The .grain pit has been the subject of bitter attack by farmers. There is ,no defence for the abuses of trading in iOrainj futures, but legitimate trading is recognised es an economic necessity, lashvgraiji,buyers and flour mills call it Titedging/* ~ . . . The National'Coal-'Association has ttounceg' that , the 'goal of 12,000,000 * coal- production has been <jncd, :, tticreßy assuring the countrv wt'a coal shortage. Prices in some \jis already begun to tumble. es and clothing, according to Goent retarns, arc "t-lidin-;, , ' but, Tart "instances aro still 100 per ibnwTvpre-war. levek. Trices of ■edncts decfcased 15.6 per cent" ?mber, against .12 per cent, m K Xumbcf Reduced. 1 known that lumber has been ebulous figures, tlixoughout -■\rica. It rose to prodigious

prices during the war, and the upwan trriul continued until a few nioni!a hjio, when stagnation started in th< niiu-ket. As a consequence, lumbe; merchants now state tnat prices tiavi fallen as ffmch as W per cunt., but thi< lia.-i had very little influence on tin ! building trade, principally owing t< luji'ii wages and nigh, civarges niaue foi ail otht-r building material., notabh brick, stone, cement, paint, hardware j ■!iid most .all other essentials tor house construction. (Jut in the West, tin lumber "-ituation remains a deaciloc-1; with tim lumber mnLs refusing to c/u ■ prices any more, and tlio consumei i equally stubborn about buying. .w<>s; I in trie logging camps are closed, and tfcu ! >:i\vmilL «iro running than hall tune. ■ .... .Although <here has been ft slight increase- in the demand for wool in the Amoneau markets during the iirst fortnight oi November, it has generally ( been at tins expense ,of values. .borne ; choice Ohio delaine liri.s been told at 5<J cents in the grease- and some , -Montana fine and fine medium wool in the original bags has been disposed of at cents. According to a report issued m Boston, the American wool centre, the goods market is .still unsettled, but it is hoped with tho termination of the wholesale clothiers' agreement on prices Vor suits and overcoatings that prices by j the end of the year will be substantially reduced by -wholesalers and retailers alilie, to the end that improved demand may be induced from the ultimate consumer. Quotations on the scoured basis in Boston were given.as: Texas fine, twelve months, 50 cents to 1 dollar; fine eight months, 70 cents to 75 cents; California, northern, 1 dollar; middle counties DO ; cents to 9o cents; southern 6*o cents to Go cents; Oregon eastern, No. 1 staple, 1 dollar; eastern clothing 75 cents to SO cents; valley No. 1 90 cents to 95, cents. Other prices ranged from 95 cents for three-eighths bloocl combings to mohairs, I "best combing at 40 cents to 42 cents. Plottr Hits Becord. The public is being given the benefit of a noteworthy decline in wheat prices, which at the timo of. the departuro of tho mail steamer Niagara from Vancouver had excited a sensation all over the American continent, owing to prices having fallen the lowest in four years. Since the first of June last Minneapolis flour has fallen 2os a barrel, or eight shillings a barrel in the first two weeks of Noyember. The lowest price reached in Minneapolis was 9.15 dollars a barrel, whilst last May flour was quoted at as high as 17 dollars in that great American milling centre. Ttetailcrs are slow to reduce their prices and bakers have lowered their bread prices but one cent per loaf, the price now standing at od for an 18ounce loaf. Latest reports from Chicago, stato that the downward plunges taken by grain prices have seldom ever been so stoep in an equal length of time. Financial stress,.particularly as shown in demoralisation of foreign exchange, has been one of tho leading apparent factors. Net changes in provisions in a week ranged from 85 cents decline to 25 cents advance , • "Bearish" sentiment regarding wheat acquired special impetus from views expressed by Julius Barnes, former direc-tor-general of the United States Grain Corporation, that wheat production had escaped tho full effect of deflation as contrasted with cotton, sugar and coffeo. Subsequently big new breaks in exchange rates on Europe attracted eager attention and talk was current that domestic curtailment of credit *ivould force much grain on the market, notably Kansas. Sudden rallies followed word that for the first time in nearly two months Great Britain had done some buying on this sidp of the Atlantic and that no extensive calling of rural loans in Kansas* was' looked for. - Unfavourable opinions of the general business outlook more than offset this slight reassurance, however. Sugar prices have experienced further drops, Brazilian raws going as low as 5J cents a pound, buj; generally the retail price of best granulated sugar is around 10 cents a pound. The British sovereign continues to fluctuate in the United States, pound sterling declining as low as 3.31 dollars the middle of November. American funds in Canada were as high as 12 per cent., and tho English twenty shillings ralue was only quoted "at 3.80 dollars at the Canadian post offices, or more than » dollar below normal. In some of the Eastern American States proposed reductions of 15 to 20 per cent., have been announced in workers' wa.ees ; particularly in factories, but the high wages in the building trades remain generally untouched. " Carpenters are obtaining 1Q dollars to 11 dollars i day, plumbers as high ns 15 dollars [with motor oar provided), plasterers 12 Mlars, bricklayers 12 dollars, and oriinary labourers 6 dollars. THe clerical section of the fraternity is. still greatly underpaid in view of even the present declining cost of living conditions.