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Show Business Year Is Reviewed And Outlook Is Described Bradstreet's Annual Summary Itemizes Causes for Depression and Takes Glance at Future CYJLLOWlXG is Bradstreet't review of the business year just I ended and the outlook for the twelve months now bepiin : raretlvlr ItsM, wdltt nty those of 11 during the present century. As to this, th fat profits of Ihe preceding; Jar were reported sufficient to carry many deaWe through not very profitable calendar cal-endar year, but th record addition lo tbae In bulnen In mar contain some ele ments of future liquidation. RKTRK.tr Or COMMODITY PRICES. Nineteen hundred and twenty was an almost al-most exact reverse of 1019 in the movement of prices, although this does not show la the yearly avenures. which ehcwstrtving similarities for three years peat. After hesitation la the first quarter of the year 1S1S. prices very generally moved upward enttl the. torsi led war prices were dwarfed. In 19. after somewhat parallel hesitancy In the seme period, the trend, althoush Interfered In-terfered with by the switchmen's striae I" April, which Introduced actual famine t me cltiea was pretty general)? downward, d. lines, at first moderate, expending as the year advanced, until the record decline of November, recorded In the Index number a Of December 1 13 per cent) involved a nt drop from the peak point of February 1 of 14. per cent, the tcnihr 1 number be-i Ins; the lowest recorded since November 1. I ltl. In other word", th- general level of, wholesale prices on )w'mbr 1 waa below I that rulinr In ths months Immediately pre-j ceding our brak wish Oermany over the iuhmtrlne warfare; but. although the Ie-1 cember 1 level was at ill bt er cent above I the prc level of August 1. 11M, more than half per cent, to be exact of the six-I year war and postwar advance had been canceled. THE T EAR'S CROrH. The drawbsck to Hie year's results lay in the less satisfactory prices secured as a result of the treat decline In prices from tho high levels of the preceding crops, i Xintefa buotirfd and twcnij- may eaeitr lay claim to ha vine becn one of the bia-", bia-", ttiousTb arteinlr not oa of th b-at, "ara In trad, inanufartura and tridtiatry. hi mm hew hlfh rocorUa wra as-t tip in f i-nanriMi i-nanriMi lin and tn Induatnal output. tfefiusTh It will hatOIr be rlaimrd that tha rar waa aa rmfitartle In all Iinsa sva ware asiin othcra whsn ouiputa war ainllT and prlre-a wra owr but whtn final mirimi wer larger. f:iisjng. aa It doa. with wholMl trade a'agnant. retell (radt be-I be-I low that of rocnt yara. manufatt urine I output rarrlrteft. ua-mployment. Including Includ-ing redu-4 workinsT tint in Induatry. rarely. rare-ly. If vr, equaled, enllecllone backward I and d'prnaaion wideapread. the at amp of ' aa lo tha iraat ta mlaaing and tha , outl.joi Na tn the futura far te-a favorable than prr,K,s.,-is (S outfit led the busl n-e wt 1. 1 genemlly to e pc. Indeed, the general fueling la to regard It aa yenr wlc.ee reault. might boat be tuon for-gttn for-gttn ws-re it i.i for iha u-eful listoni that romfly experience haa taught, nnt only to thla country but te tha entlrt world. The fa-t la that the year Juat cloaed wa the true hetr of ltl. and aa au h it reaped to the full the reettlta of the bad aeed aown In 1MI th:a referring to the extravagant- In buving for which the latter year waa preerm.is-ntly notet. th piling up of unreasonable unrea-sonable (lmn.li by labor, and the lnrr-a-I iig nf cneia beyond the ability of a people' t' pay who had already been taxed lo the j apparent limit to carry on a cnfeaeiy eufceaaful but Immenaety expenalvo war. I Th wjistte f that and earlier yeara. moot of ' " a,TTWWts" a ugsfi w a r ta "wwf a i w y w I Iim hen waet-rul of life end proprty finally demanded a reckoning, and He pay-j pay-j ment bl'la fair to be a heritage) for many yraiia. In tliia reapct, while thla country i haa not baa to pay tne price In Oeml (hut other eountriea nearer Ihe ecene of ectiva hoarilitiea lime htl to aliuldr, the effTia or the conflict, ut liquid -apltal inv(.i.l, the lowering of mor-1 ton that fcilltiwd the excitation of the War llaelf. the ex-tnv ex-tnv a stance engendered, the h-ii t burn In a a Involv-d, the airalta lu which the urdtnary man and wnman, debarred froni prof t ting by the conflict, were reduced, ahould act a a guide poet a for cent unea to come and at the aeal of cIvlhiatlAn'a flis.provl end condemnat in on t hoa who would liKhrheartedly talk of war ai a a1vep of problem or who. wllh ihe terrlhl exam-pleg exam-pleg viethla on every hand, ahnuld oppoae any reaaonahie man of rendering future conftlcfe, Ifnp.ieaible. A HLASt F. AT TICK PAST. Whatever the raua whether the om-loading om-loading of tra-Ie and Indue! ry with excea-ive excea-ive cuai overproductl-in rrtaln;v did nt affect all line tha axhauatlon of mobile aunpllea of money, aa shown by the marking mark-ing up of loan a early In the yeaV and thMr n.alntnnn-o uutll tha late montha. or the attenuation of credit to a degree where a halt had to be called on the ralamg of pricea tf r-rmmodltiea to a point whri further fur-ther buying bertinie lninpaalbl the year 19i will probably be memorable fnr whet la now freely termed tha "buyera etrlke" or the "revolt of the buyr." Jt would be difficult dif-ficult to fX the date at which thla "doing without" movement firat became noticeable aa a market factor. Neceaaitv buying; orate' wae ureed early In our war yaara aa a national na-tional duty; later It became en -apparent throughout the flrat month of teat year, but eevere weather, the tleup nf traffic and tha acute rongeet.cn of transportation n)ted earlier in the year, but culminating In the winter ard early op ring of ltl-Se. alowed down trail generally In the aeoond month, nnd tha index nufnbera of February 1 and March 1, marking a pearly flat line m publlehed chart, wag a vielble aign that wholesale pnca wer about at the-ir peak. Itrlrhier walhi r In th epring montha and the approach end paaalng of Raater gave a temporary fillip to trade, while price wre driven upward temporarily temporar-ily by tha ewltchm-n' atnke of early April. Hy that t Ime, however, public a be tent Ion from buvlna had b-cotne marked at retail, and early May aa w a big outburet of advert ad-vert laing having for He aim the moving i of alow eetllng etocke. HOMK tKlK OF MOVEMENT. By and large, the peat year wae one of liquidation In Induatrlal eeeurltlee end commodities), com-modities), of Bttemptede" readjuatment of all value from a iwnlln war and poatwar leeel, and of alaughtar of pricea of onm- 1 mdltlaa at wholesale. The return of the expensively and badly- run rallwave to their owr.cra wee etgnalised by moderate: rlae la railway aa distinct from Industrial aharea. the waknea of the latter and the rrtwinc reaction In trade and Industry, however, finally Involving- the former, as well as bond a of all kinrta. la final end-of-year deprion. Not I h lei at Imposing was lis continuance, with rather feble rl-llea. rl-llea. over the prtnd from rarly November, 191, to late IiwlTiibT, 1J0, a period of fourteen m-nthe. During the year the for-e-ign eafhang m.irketa wr greatly excited, and while early low-record levels In brlt(h i exchange w re n l rf ached lat-r. j rrt's-s of ex- hang" on other rountriea In moat laatMitcee touched bottom twice at w:dely iterated peruida. 8lt-a of etocka did mt grently expand with the liquidation, srl argregale kiilea we.'- much below tlioa of 1 fl 1 9 while alight-Iv alight-Iv leas than those of ltll. llond sales brol.aj all recorda, for' which dealings' In Hie war crop of Liberty and Victory bnnda. that were liquidated freely by buetne hour"! aa a result of higher money rates snd credit real r let Ion a, were responsible. Mu-ni Mu-ni lpal bond aulea were slightly below those of llt. New Incorporations and new do-i do-i et ic capital Issued were of record slxe. Kederal revenues were Inu-eaaed heavily hy taxes, and the nat ional debt showed a-j decrease despite what were regarded a extravarant expenditures. Money In circulation circu-lation Increased In ttl volume and In per capita allowance. Foreign trade broke all records, eTk In exports end In Intperta. thourh exports never in any month reached the food-swaollen totals of June. 1919. tin-ports tin-ports rear ted f mm the high record June, 19:s. total.' The"' Vx, ess of reports over Imports wae pared down fiom earlier rec- i orda. ports und Impnrta of old ex- j ceeded thoae for the preceding two years, but silver exports were smaller despite f he j very htgh pricea ruling early aa a result j of Far Ka stern buying. The bank clear-Inga clear-Inga of the country in eleven months equaled the record breaking annual record of but this exceaa waa d., largely Jo j early months' lotaia dwarfing the corf- t be again brought to the attention of the faint hearted that this country haa eo.far come through Itght'y from the troubles that have beset the wot Id as the result of the overweening mbltl'n of the Oermaa mlit-tarlata; mlit-tarlata; that our present trade and Industrial Indus-trial troubles, due la part to our own extravagances, ex-travagances, are the natural results of the . antecedent cauaee, and that It le beat that the reckoning came aa early aa it did. In ; other words, our condtttoa might have been ' a whole lot worse It ts certainly a great Ideal better than is tha Ut of our Kuro- worker may be Idle In unprecedented numbers num-bers and a fraction of hia pay 26 per eent, pcrhapa) haa ben cut: but he had an op-., portunlty to prrpare for the Inevitable reaction, re-action, while ths farmer, mourning the fat a returns Qf 1019, ahould not forget that hie money and crop returns are better than In "HirCinU oT"lflTI7"whlchsxre not eateeme.l bed years at the time. For the great mess of people who did not directly gain by extravagant ex-travagant wages or prices, the return to aaner price levels Is a nearly unmixed food, and ell three of the groups cited have the knowledge that, m i result of readjustments, a dollar goes and will go farther than ft did In recent days of eocelled boundless prosperity. The fact le that for while at least, bu alne as will need the present quiet period to recest Its ideas, form new plans and preps re to put in operation new and belter conceptions. As put by one observer, ob-server, the old figuree are blurred and new onea must be prepared. It le harrUy to he hoped that the pree-ent pree-ent readjustment will not go far enough to retire a large number of thoae who In the past year and tn unprecedented numbers sought the profits of a buslneas Ufa with a modicum of bualneaa equipment and a deficiency of .ability to succeed. It might he well if we were able to forget some of the evwnte of our recent "silk shirt era" of txtravsgance. were It not for tbe lea-eons lea-eons conveyed that, in the long run. ability, abil-ity, education and experience are alae entitled en-titled to their reward. Perhaps no better service could be done the American buslneas busl-neas man, wage earner or farmer than to i hold up to his eyes the example of battle- torn France, which la Its patient rebuilding rebuild-ing of Its shattered fortunes, this year, i shows a gain In Its export trade com par -i Ing fawvorably with all but the very largest a ,na (n mis AWfl t'lth Ihs as ns T 1 111-SI nf I The department of agriculture put a the decrease de-crease in value at I .3fl,woo.ftrt. or 3i per if-nt from thejiish record of 1H1J, hut this big cut aeems rather overstated when the ideialle are looked into. Of wheat, for In- ! stance, a big que nitty exported et hither prices than in Tflllt; of corn, only , about 20 per cnit Itavea the farm In the form of grain. The money loss tn wheat and corn ia given as aggregating t2.U4,-ftGQ.AO'i. t2.U4,-ftGQ.AO'i. The lne In cotton was concede(j. ly large, as all that crop leaves the farm and did not leave it this year until the mUe was nmvh ht-few lat year. The fMlt Is Hint, r'vvi." a.xr; rinf ITirrT-iWf nip' value eetltnale of the department, the return re-turn to the farmer, Ie-ernber 1 prices, used, waa In ecij of anything previoue to Jul 7, and IIE and 111 were not poor years for the Americsn farmer. However. In re-lepect re-lepect to prices, the farmer Is merety eupe-I eupe-I . ,e.i.,na; what tha uholaaalar and maaufan-' maaufan-' t urer In bu'in's has had to suffer. Despite De-spite the heavy loss suffered by the wheat farmer, the agricultural detpa rttnent places It at t?2.000.n'H); the area planted to that cereal this year la estimated et 40.R0S.000 arrea, a loss of only 11 .i per rent from a year ago and of 20 per eent from the war acreage record of 1H 1 . while the condlt ion la given aa Si. 9, compared with St. 2 a year a no, LOO KINO PORH'AHO. Divergent views are held sa to the admittedly ad-mittedly clouded outlook. Those Inclined to take the eheerf til aid point to I he eh-ance eh-ance thus far of acute financial, especially banking, troubles, the conceded easing of the atrefn on credit from the peak point of mida'itumn, the evtdenc.ee of price re-vlelona re-vlelona having brought nearer the point wher conditions, those affecting money Included, In-cluded, relatively sneaking, may be oa-nected oa-nected to be stabilised, the great basic wailh of the country, realty Untouched by the event a of the year, and the demon etrated ability of the American to adapt himself to and neater difficulties. The other less favorable vlewa advanced have to do with the spread of unemployment, the slowing down of Industrie., t he Injection of short time and watte reductions Into the situation, thua tending to hamper buying ahility among large sections of country, and t asserted crippling of Ihe farming Interests, Inter-ests, hoialdetl aa meaning reduced purchasing purchas-ing power among producers area as threat- some past years of st rese la mind, one Is inclined to look eakancs st efforts of "medicine men" of both part leg to offer f tent noitruma to the people tn the belief het acts of congress will arrest, delay or mitigate the working out of the great natural nat-ural forces now In operation. The patient s fever see ma to have been broken and there remains now the process of building up his strength, for which time and care are the mam requisites. ..- shut wun a large purl or tne public, l.oat sight of for time In 1!1 when the strain of war was lifted. It wag again actively ac-tively preached by public men when the anowstorn of strikes struck the country In tbe late aummer of that year, and waa powerfully pow-erfully enhanced by the count leva exhibitions exhibi-tions of exiravsganvs to which easily, ex-torted ex-torted wags advaucea gave rise. turns of public Impatience With the steadily imttintlng cost of living crew aa the year lilt waned, but were apparently loaf eight of In he holiday buying orgy at the close of that year. Tha momentum ! acquired In 1911 wae sufficient to carry trade generally at a very high volume Ispondlng periods of the year before, be -cm use ths totals in the last quarter of 1919 were never thereafter equaled. It was . frequently said that, owing, to our posea-I posea-I ston and operation Of ths federal reserve I banking' system, the often predicted panic i had failed to arrive we were at least spared thla old-time American luxury ' and this wae true tn the extent that bank rune were race, except In the'ponxl troubles trou-bles at Boston end the small agricultural bank suapenaions In North Dakota and other oth-er Western at a tea, but the volume of failure fail-ure liabilities aa a whole practically equaled thoso of the panic years 17 and J14, though the ommerrial failures were rnm- try, the production of atapl food and other crops. Only the very at;.KUlne apparently look for a swift reaction from what economists econ-omists describe as th? secondary phases of criaeg and depressions the slow, painful pain-ful end altogether unpalatable processes of recovery front Induatrlal diaorgnnlxatton and reduced production. Without at tempting to make any hard and fast predictions indeed, with every disposition to keep out of the ranks of the prophets, who era proverbially lacking fn honor In their own country it may be well to set down a few facts which have a bearing upon ths working out of eit her of theae forecast a I n the first place. It -a ppsrently weeds to |