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Show ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS Happenings 'I li.tt Afloil Ihe Dinner Din-ner Pails, Diiideinl ( hcrkn and lav li 11m lor livery Individual, j National ProbleiiiH Inseparable Prom I.oclil Welfare ---------"'-"--' , I. Veil though 'the business slatl-.lich show no definite change, there is uilleli eileolll ngeineiit ill the f uel thut a relative ih giee id' .-.lability lias been leached and maintained in the past two months. Readjustments are taking place which will have a healthful inlluence on indii-lry in general. Weaker unit un-it i are being eliiiuuated a neces-ary pieluiUi to geiieial recovery. The ef-1 ef-1 ico-iiicy of industrial operations is 1 1 1 1 ' I i I y increasing. One of the most interesting signs i -, that a viilual mortgage moratorium morator-ium is gradually taking cIR-cl. The cen'er of this is in the midwestern -tale-, where officials and courts have shown a tend'iicy to aid the farmer in his fight again-t foreclosures. foreclos-ures. The large-t mortgage holders insurance companies and banks are showing an extremely lenient attitude. at-titude. A short time ago a group of the largest insurance companies announced an-nounced a policy which, in brief, means that there will be no foreclosures foreclos-ures thai can be avoided, so long as the mortgagee shows a disposition to do his best to work out his problem. The long awaited report of the National Na-tional Transportation Committee was recently i.s-ued afler months of investigation inves-tigation and study. Among its suggestions were that paiallel lines be abandoned that tup-heavy capital structures be pared down that regulation be less severe and more flexible. Meanwhile, a good sign i.s that railroad rail-road traffic and earnings, on the whole, are now ahead of last year. Ihiorts to stabilize the oil industry took concrete form with the adoption by the American Petroleum Institute ef a new and aggressive policy to il.minate evils. Main result sought is balancing of production with consumption. con-sumption. I The Institute will fight diversion of gas tax funds to other purposes than 1 roads, tax increases, gas bootlegging and tax evasion, and will maintain 'that ga. should rightfully be taxed , by the states only. In the midcontinent field, crude is i -till -elling at ruinous prices, with the California division of the industry ' in better condition. j i Iite reports on major industries show: CGTPFR Higher prices are expected. ex-pected. Great interest shown in withdrawal with-drawal of American Smelting and Refining Company from Copper Ex-j Ex-j ports. Inc., the world association 1 formed in 1 921' to sell copper outside j this country. l.t.'.MIflilt New l,ii sin. lauly good, Willi demand exceeding piodoi -lion. I'liither .-low improvement in next 00 days is expected. .SHIPPING - Ap piei.i-i sion i- ex-pie-sod that the conniiv V.' oi Id l leon-omie leon-omie Conference will attempt to Mop federal sub-idio., of I.'. H. -hipping. '1'hesi; Bub -idi.-s, ill ti e f n in of ma. I contracts, have made il possible to meet low-wage- scale, foieign competition. compe-tition. STF.KI Seasonal buying recently caused improvement. Scrap piiee. havo been firm, and finished steel prices weak. CANNKl'J-i Outlook extremely uncertain for food fanners, with prices pric-es low. However, -hipnt'-nts have been larger than la.-.t year. Highly per cent of l!.'!2 asparagus pack is sold, and more than W per cent of peach pack. A limited pack is expected ex-pected this year, in attempt to eliminate elimin-ate carryover. Of late, farm prices have been on the downgrade, but losses have been small. Cattle was one of the excep-tons, excep-tons, showing a rise. Cotton, grain, hay, hogs and sheep took losses. The price of grain futures roe temporarily with extremely bad weather. Caution was evident, however, how-ever, and there has been little pronounced pro-nounced change. The visible supply of wheat is decreasing de-creasing steadily a good sign for future price and market improvement. improve-ment. Business conditions in the Philippines Philip-pines show no improvement, with credits and collections difficult. In-du: In-du: trial activity is at a high level in Japan. Little change in England. Italy showed a heavy unfavorable trade balance in 1932. Conditions in Austrian industries are unfavorable. In Finland, the low exchange value of the mark during 1932 enabled export industries to increase sales abroad, and marked gains were shown in textile, tex-tile, foodstuffs, metal and other industries. |