Show Food Fo o d Prices Pr ices Are on D de I Sharp Sh arp Revisions Re vis ions Ta Taking king Place Business Recovery Under W Way WayT ay T THE HE anticipated general genera business recovery is still deferred but the vay ay is being grad gradually aIly shaped for its coming Foremost as a constructive element are the continuing price readjustments essential to wholesome and lasting commercial reviva and other favorable s include the recent reductions in ocean freights anti and the easier casler conditions in money says Duns Dun's Of disquieting the existing labor troubles notably those In Eastern East East- em ern textile centers are conspicuous and the percentage of Idle machinery has steadily risen either because of strikes or from the slow development of new orders to replace the expired or canceled led government That progress mainly hinges on prices as has been the case since the signing of the armistice IS now widely recognized and sellers display less independence independence in- in dependence as buyers hold off for the further concessions which they believe I to be inevitable To 10 what lengths the price reaction already marked in some I instances must carry before there will appear the broad and confident demand demand de- de mand necessary to vigorous trade expansion expansion ex- ex is not clear at the moment but that it has not yet gone far enough in many linEs linE's the diminishing conI con con- indicates With the accumulated accumulated I needs here and abroad known I to be extensive and various wartime regulations and restrictions withdrawn I the present hesitation of business is isI chiefly a reflection of the prevailing I disposition to await still lower prices even after eleven consecutive weeks in inI I which recessions have outnumbered advances Concrete evidence of the I yielding tendency is seen in the decline of Duns Dun's Inde Number of wholesale quotations to a level not previouslY I touched since the autumn of 1917 and andI I that consumers are benefiting through I the readjustment is demonstrated by bythe bythe the fact that foodstuffs show the I sharpest downward revisions The Unusually unI un- un usually moderate and open winter I while detrimental to retail I dising of heavyweight apparel has hasI greatly facilitated production and distribution dis- dis of staple commodities and I some alleviation of the burdensome living living liv- liv ing costs has resulted A reflection of the recent check to toI activities with diminished I consumption at lower prices is yet to tobe 0 I be found in the insolvency statistics Some increase in failures last month would not have seemed surprising for January with its annual settlements usually brings a higher mortality but only reverses were reported or ten less than in December and the ties were smaller With exceptionally favorable weather er January pIg iron output set a new high water mark for the period at tons against only tons in January of 1918 when severe storms and cold and the memorable I transportation breakdown disrupted operations I |