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Show REVIEW OF PAST YEAR : AND OUTLOOK FOR 1916 ! "Nineteen hundred and fifteen was a fitting heir to the year which saw the outbreak of the greatest war in all the world's history," says Brad-street's Brad-street's review of the .past year just issued. "Wat was indeed the main compelling cause of most of the year's activities, and itseffects can be traced in almost every American trade, financial and' industrial happening hap-pening of the past seventeen months. When to this was added a second year of bounteous crops sold at excellent ex-cellent prices, there existed a combination combi-nation such as neither this nor any other country had previously experienced. expe-rienced. "Looking back now to the opening open-ing of the year 1915, one may see clearly that the doubt and indecision indecis-ion reflected in the opening months of the year were not warranted; that improvements, slow, halting or irregular ir-regular as it looked at times, was even then clearly manifest, and that this country, then and still spared from participation in hostilities, had already embarked on the most marvelous mar-velous expansion seen in this or any to satisfy demands. "These three great mvements were closely interwoven with each other and with auxiliary movements of a great stock market boom, unexampled export trade, unheard of Imports of gold, unparalleled ease of money and a record-breaking high level of prices.. pri-ces.. While the great advance in domestic do-mestic trade was reserved for tle autumn and early winter, the year closed with a volume of holiday trade never; before equaled.-' "Financial circles had a very favorable fa-vorable year. Securities markets were active, interesting and profitable profit-able after the resumption of unrestricted unres-tricted dealings! n March. The basic influences were the abundant supplies sup-plies and unbroken ease of money, together to-gether with the strong financial position posi-tion of the country. Europe shipped shipp-ed ius $400,000,000 of gold and returned re-turned some $1,000,000,000 of Ameri can securities, which were readily absorbed. Furthermore, loans or credits aggregating nearly $1,000,-000,000 $1,000,-000,000 were extended to foreign countries. These enormous items other country. . "The history of the business year 1915 may be said to deal with three great movements. First of these was the immense demand, begun before the year opened, for cereals, mats, wire, automobiles, horses, clothing and a variety of other products that were in new and better quarters and practically swept the country bare of surplus stocks of staples of all kinds, and especially of any sort of ready-made ready-made war material, whether for offense of-fense or sustenance. An example ot this was the taking up of every surplus sur-plus bushel of the greatest wheat crop in the country's history at close to. the highest prices ever known. Adaptability Demonstrated "The second period may be said to embrace the marvelous diversion which occurred', in our Industrial forces, which, lacking occupation of a peaceful kind turned toward the production of war material, demonstrating demon-strating the adaptability of American Ameri-can manufacturers, mechanics and artisans, and giving a vast incentive to the production of all kinds of metals, whose output alone would place the year in a class by itself. failed, however, to adjust the balance of trade, and foreign exchange ruled throughout strongly in favor of the United States. The establishment ot "dollar exchange" in settling worldwide world-wide commercial transactions became an accomplished fact. These circumstances circum-stances were, perhaps, les6 conspicuous conspicu-ous than were the advancing stock prices and the revival of public interest in-terest in speculation. The "boom" in war-order issues, coppers, motor share and other industrials was, indeed, in-deed, the chief feature. Looking Forward "The war bulks so large in the world's affairs at present, and so much of our present prosperity is due to it, that the future of this country's trade and Industry depends largely upon the question of when and how peace will return to tlie .world. At the present writing peace seems rather far distant, and if that view is correct a continuance of insistent in-sistent demand for a vast variety of American products seems as certain cer-tain as anything can be said to be that 'exists In this world of change. Indeed, if our future ability to sup-lv sup-lv the things Europe needs to carry 'on war were equaled by our means to deliver (ships) or the buyers' power to pay for goods bought, there would seem to be no limit to our ability to grow rich at our European neighbors' expense. As to the first-named first-named drawback. Is is well to note that we are because we have been and are at peace now the owners o?J the second largest merchant marine j on the coean. acquired through leg-j Islatlon made workable through war. and our shipyards bid fair to in-j -rc-se this mercantile nvy by 400,-ooo 400,-ooo tons during the coming year." j I With the immense expansion in industry in-dustry shown in tho first half, of the year, unemployment, which had declined de-clined steadily from high levels at the outset of, the year, practically ceased to exist, skilled labor became scarce, and the commonest kind of I common labor rose in demand. "The third period may be said to :have been coincident with the final i realization by the business world that the immense foreign demands could not go on without a vast in-'fluence in-'fluence upon purely domestic trade, 'and this latter branch of business, possibly repressed early in the year by fear of our Involvement in hostilities, hos-tilities, stimulated by the large earnings earn-ings and swollen pay rolls of industrial indus-trial centers, and buoyed by the gathering of the greatest food crops in history, bringing unsurpassed earnings to farmers, surged forward in the fall months in a veritable ground swell of purchasing, which found stocks of goods bought on pre-: Ivious conservative Uuqs all too small |