PRICES OF CLOTHING

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 38, 13 August 1920, Page 4

PRICES OF CLOTHING

TRADE OUTLOOK IN AMERICA.

; Messrs. John Dunn, Son, and Co., New .York, through Messrs. Brown and Dureau, Wellington, writing on 12th July, report that "in certain lines a- very decided hesitation is apparent. Clothing, shoes, silks, woollen goods, and many articles of luxury are lower in price, and mills and factories engaged in the manufacture of such goods are reported as running on part time or closed for vacations and repairs^ Business as a whole, however, is active, and the transportation' facilities continue to be severely taxed to meet the demands for movement of freight and passengers. The banking system of the country is feeling the strain of the enormous demands made upon it, • but despite the fact that it is somewhat more difficult than usual to obtain loans, commercial failures are few, and small as to the amount of liabilities. As to. the future, many feel that a gradual return to more normal conditions is under way, while others expect the present prices to continue until a sharp break comes. They feel that no radical reduction in'prices is possible while the present scale of wages and the present cost of fuel continue, and it is true that there is a noticeable tendency among manufacturers to reduce or even stop production instead of lowering prices. . . Dullness and uncertainty have prevailed in the market for cotton goods during June, and considerable business is reported at lower prices (from speculators, jobbers, and second hands generally. Buyers seem disposed where possible to adopt a waiting attitude. At the centres of production, however, prices are well maintained, and the probability of important concessions withraw cotton, laboui;, and fuel at present levels, is denied. Should buyers hold aloof until present bookings are lessened, it is probable that the policy of shorttime production will be adopted in preference to any radical price-cutting. The market for fine cotton goods made from combed yarns is quiet, and the curtailment of production by one of the larger mills is taken to mean that manufacturers are inclined to wait for a demand that is felt to be assured as the season progresses." ,