TRADE CONDITIONS IN AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3353, 19 June 1918, Page 23

TRADE CONDITIONS IN AMERICA.

THE SHIPPING PROGRAMME. HEAVY PALL IN RAILWAY REVENUE. The following excerpts are taken from the monthly circular issued by John Dunn, Son, and Co., of New York, under date Miay 1:—« News as to. the progress of the fighting on. tho western front has overshadowed all other interests during the past month. Every possible effort is being made to accelerate this country's preparations in all branches, but tho need seems to be. so great that even fair progress is viewed with impatience. No information has been made public as to the actual number of troops being moved, but it is large, and every unit of available tonnage is in use for this purpose. The output of military supplies is reaching major proportions, and deliveries by the manufacturers of machine guns, rifles, and ammunition are now proceeding satisfactorily. The shipping programme is developing, and during the first four months of this year 600,000 tons of steel ships are reported as having been completed; and 230,000 tons each are promised for May, June, and July, after which deliveries are expected to reach 350,000 tons per month. In addition to this at least 1,000,000 tons of wooden ships are counted 1 on for this year, besides some built of concrete which are being tried as an experiment. The Shipping Board has been reorganised), and is now under the direction of one of tha most successful shipbuildei'3 in the country. In tho matter of aircraft construction tho outlook is not quite so good, but the manufacturing of aeroplanes is now under a unified control also, and it is hoped that the actual construction will be speeded up. The situation in the field of labour is fairly satisfactory, but there is more or less unrest despite the fact that wages are high and advancing steadily. Labour in general is very loyal to the Government, but a few leaders are anxious t<-: exploit the situation for tho benefit of their class. SECURITIES. Subscriptions to the third Liberty Loan have been coming in somewhat slowly, but there is no fear that the amount of three billion dollars will not bo reached, the only question being how much it will be over-sub-scribed. The stock market experienced a sharp decline during the early half of April, due to the unfavourable news from Prance; but this has been fully recovered, and the closing prices are little changed from a month ago. Statements of railroad earnings for January and February are available, and some idea of the troffio conditions in this country la3t winter may be gathered from the fact that tho net revenues of 117 roads during January and February were only about 4,000,000 dollars, against 65,000,000 dollars for the same period °in 1917. SHORTAGE OF SILVER. In view of tho apparent world shortage of silver, there has been some talk in Congress of the Government's melting down and selling part or all of its stock of coined silver dollars. There have b&en held in the Treasury vaults for many years about 375,000,000 silver dollars which have never had any considerable cumulation, as they are too bulky to be popular. Against this has been issued about 477,000,000 dollars of silver certificates (paper money), which have been used as part of the curreccy. The proposition seems to be to sell this silver bo as to- increase the world supply, and at the same time .retire the silver certificates and replace them with bank notes. It seems doubtful whether any such action will finally be taken. COTTON. On April 4 the price of cotton at New York reached the highest point for many years, but immediately thereafter violent selling developed and prices crumbled to an extent never before equalled in the same space of time. This drop in price is variously explained as due to fear of Government price tiding, the falling off of the demand by domestic mills, and the difficulty in shipping supplies to Liverpool. The Government has made very heavy purchases of cotton cloths, and conferences are now in progress to fix the prices to bo paid for these goods. This, it is probable, is the beginning of price regulation all along the lino, and if prices are to be regulated at all it is difficult to 6eo how regulation of the raw product can be avoided. The fall in price was received with great relief by the country in general, and it is hoped that no such h ; gh prices will aarain be scon. EXCHANGE. The sterling conversion rate for Australian and New Zealand bills remains at 4.76 J, with bank exchange also unchanged at 2J per cent for Australia and 2J per cent, for New Zealand. Bankers' sight drafts on London hava been quoted at about" 4.75 J. FREIGHTS. There seems no prospect of further steamers either for Australia or New Zealand for some months to come. Enough sailing vessels have been chartered to take care of the current requirements of Australia, and they are being loaded and despatched with fair regularity. The newspapers report that the United States Government has made some arrangement with Norway whereby it is to have the use of some 400,000 tons of Norwegian sailing vessels, and it is expected that these sailing vessels will be allocated to the various trades where they are moat needed. . This should ensure the keeping up of a regular service with Australia and New Zealand'by sail, although as yet no sailing vessel has been announced for New Zealand ports.