Show GENERAL BUSINESS conditions tho the condition of general business has continued unsatisfactory during way may and business men who have been hoping tor for signs of a definite turn in the situation have had to reconcile themselves to further walting waiting business indeed has shown a progressive increase la in activity as compared with the early eaily months of the year but this has to be viewed in the light of the normal seasonal tendency which Is always upward during the spring when allowance has been made tor for I 1 this seasonal factor it is not clear that much in the way of general business improvement can yet be claimed 1 all ot of which to Is in accord with experience peri ence that it requires time for in ia austry to rid rd itself ot at unsound conditions which invariably creep in during periods ot of extended prosperity that the pace ot of business and speculator culaton last year was wag excessive Is now clear to everyone considering the extent ot of overproduction in some important lines the unprecedented scale of at stock spec and the degree ot of disorganize atlon resulting from these gances it Is not surprising that recovery should be slow the thing however to be guarded against at the present time la Is an excess ot of pessimism just as an excess of 0 optimism was tho the basis or 0 danger a year ago last year a great many people could see no limit to td tho the possibilities bili ties tor for expansion now somo some ot of these same people seem to havo have lost all confidence la in tho the count rys capacity tor for recovery undoubtedly the one viewpoint Is as unwarranted as the other it la is true that tho the situation a not without serious complications including the worldwide world wide aldo scope of 0 tho the reaction the fall in commodity prices and accumulation of stocks ot or raw materials wo we do not wish to minimize these difficulties but wo we are impressed with the recuperative powers of at the country as aa demonstrated repeatedly in tho the past so long as aa prices are tailing falling it la Is natural tor for buyers to hold off both because ot of lack ot of confidence hegend ered by the fall and because of 0 a desire to tb buy at the lowest possible levels during this period of 0 suspended activity stocks pile up in the hands of producers produce ri or primary distributors where they acquire an exaggerated significance by reason of at their being in the show window ot at visible supplies once however prices are believed a to have touched bottom and buyers who have been holding oft off come in ia to replenish their depleted depicted stocks it Is often surprising how quickly the bugaboo of 0 excessive stocks la Is dissipated only recently wo we have seen how low this works in the case of 0 copper with the cut in the price of at the metal to 1214 12 cents orders placed during may aray were the largest or any month in the history or 0 industry while the stocks toe acs ics tb continue large the situation in u th the copper In industry austry has been materially improved by this breaking of 0 the deadlock between producers and consumers periods of recession inevitable it Is a common saying that such and such a person could not stand prosperity and experience has ha shown that the business community cannot stand prosperity indefinitely such periods induce heavy investments of capital tor for increasing pro ducton and the industrial equilibrium Is not at always maintained management lulled to a false sense ot of security by easy profits tends to iolah that constant vigilance over costs which Is tha price of 0 economical operation permitting c carelessness are extravagance and neglect ot of sound bound business principles to undermine efficiency costs and prices rise speculation develops deve lopa and the business situation becomes honeycombed com bed with weak spots which gave eave way under strain it Is characteristic of 0 good times that a great body of at indebtedness Is created to be paid in the future tho the expenditure pend iture of these capital suma la Is one of tho the features of the good times but it if the investments prove unprofitable or not promptly remunerative this pace of expenditures cannot be maintained and reaction follows it Is an old saying that people go into debt in good times and pay their debts under pressure of bad times As a result of such euch conditions industry loses the fine adjustment of relationship which we have seen to be the condition of prosperity A boom period commits errors which have to be corrected and paid tor for and the period of readjustment and reorganization the whole industrial organization slows down to recover its normal equilibrium business men got go through brough their shops with a keen eye to reducing costs uneconomical methods and loose practices that have hava grown up during the tolerant times of prosperity aro are thrown out surplus personnel la Is dispensed with and waste motion eliminated wherever possible management and technical staffs redouble their efforts to find ways of producing the samo same or better product more cheaply business in short undergoes a needed thorough overhauling overa la Is shorn ot of its excessive excess iv a tat fat and trained down once more to fin tine competitive form this country Is passing through that process at the present time and once the process Is completed will be on a vastly sounder basis than a year ago |