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Show iUSINESS !N 11922 STAGES 1 BIO COMEBACK Ahdustry Within Stone's I Throw of Genuine Prosperity WARMER IS LAGGING 'Reduction of Unemploy- s Jl Inent One of Outstanding Features BY HARDEN COLFAX ''fecial Corrc-pondrnl of The Stainl- nrd-I unilncr. (Copyr I'-'l The Standard- Examiner.) WASH1X' 30 Business Atared a i tfvtd !-; ,pi ir I known to In- SgjjKutn-. tBrow 'of p Htre great in ! ... : rl. s swung high up e ladder of progress with new Ecor 1.- isi.-M-ru.-nt. Labor shot Kbcss Into i dbvard. pushed up wage seal' a and ended the twche Mthb with a general shortage 1 JffAll Industry wo on tllf march to- lAftrd prosporr.v Ur-,.ivhont the year. "The fannei ai,i; d behind I frfcrocetsi-n . . . I- ' ''; P ' ' ' aKn the closing months and bettered Ki aitua'i...:. 1 mg his income ""EpprovlmatC-. i I . mi'i."i.h."UU ov-.t HSie total voiume of business perdlnc to 1 1- 1 a ;' car loadings tpt by t . " fcitlon. in - nppr.ixlniati Sir ceDt om r ! '- We failed to rca-h he hlgi. . . 1.. ... 1 .-'c however, by fcout 0 per cent. Indication? k n ra ly point to the itU!:j!- ' .iter measut - zXt pro: rc m Tli' present Sar closes with aiC'.dy in mosl Hn-3 Bear .jBfovembi r iin.j i comber from the mth marl. b. attributed largely ij Bttsonul (lf-r.ii,, . m n-'.eral major ln-. ln-. hitrlu. notably bui ding consti u U : Bid ii . automobiles UjBonM v.mhm. im 1 mkxts. gMOu: '. t 1 1 mj. .-, . ai-'s industrial Butor- a; hik achlevo- jjA !. natrd by tho Bor dei, iriin. in . , - " " workers -iBthe beginning of the year. WSM Bec out .m j j inrtage, la jjBlrtualh Ml lin v..j., reported as ,JBrl as last Si ptembcr ,X0ne million men w nt out on strike jjftnng Ihc year, b'lx hundred thousand then. indu' try ill BBlT r i jjt . . t I- irmdrrd thousand) ."wallr" 1 Bho iri.n and steel industry ended dBV ' ' wth outut virtually twi . Sie vol b ginning. , I Ail'..:. 1 WVl i. 1 . I (S l'-i 1 urncd 3; Piu ii. ,00D m B HIk'.ivu.. . instruction hung UP 1 BYhcuni. Bwrox.'i' itir, j7.".m. ""ii ByilMuu 1 the grca BV cm tidal ncarlny B1 11 A cut hi Bpisi. . Bkl:4' 'Mm. 1. luring the last six ByOtl.i hi i,,,. , .- i!,, ,,. riu.J duru;-Blch duru;-Blch the cut a- but. not- : LBbat?.nilliiK the railroads, as a whole iBFaaec thvii 1-. ; income by not lee IB11 . I - i,..r the l-'-l fll'" Hbposlts in the chief national banka IBwcd during the year by $ 1 .500.- Blivi, 'BV'it figures by at least J1.000.00U,- Bfccs of the chief farm products ( jfrBV1, 'J months from 1 iBjc"'- I'" ! Hi.- nation 1:1- !BTf'j--'J. . . - ri 1 Bjpe labor department, upon which Bw0fflclal estimate was based, lV jBjjf'Ilro-r'i' ' 1. uno B Wj.MK ti SHADOWS. iBWUeh uro the high lights of tho 1 Brre 0( 1 Tne da'101" shuJ" I !BBS show IP Wo' rollroads failed, by about J300 -;W'J0. to earn the o per cent do- BT?.'1 ''l- .. ..B;.rri1 Hinrli::;,.j :i ri'J other dc ,ti V1 hang i,r-;i .. 11 , 0L.r ;,rriculiure an-J LBr 'armrr is virtually out of the roar- lBr ".u-pt ,,,, ,., , v,,n). s. tin MS. of 1 .. U l BjP'f'I'lnK conilno..l hi (he doldrunr. jmn many millions of American ton-iSB? ton-iSB? oft up for lack of business. iaJBVtKrta fell short by approximately iBX00'000- of the 192 1 dollar total, B0ugli tho volume of exports was aBw tho Sflmc a9 la8t year th0 IBBM in value being due largely to BviuId,, fanre8 reached the hlgh-TjjM hlgh-TjjM "' 1 ' ' h 1 9Ui passing uy ,Byi nil ; $627,000 - ln '.ota l !lfli,imin ii 11 ri n r 13-1 'jfjm " sv'," " fciUontluued on l'ue Threc.i COMEBACK FOR 1 U. S. BUSINESS Great Obstacles Overcome In 1922, Reports Show (Continued from Page One ") continued to record strength, almost to the. point of accumulating too great ! reserves. This was attributed largely to the continuance of the gold movement move-ment to America, our total store of money gold rising to about $.1,900,-000.000 $.1,900,-000.000 This is more than 40 per cent of all the gold In the world. About $200,000,000 In gold was added to our store during the year, sending the reserve percentage, fixed by law at net less than AO ptr cent, almost ItO 80 per crnt at one period and kecp-I kecp-I ing it well above 70 per cent throughout through-out the year MONEY GOES INTO SECURITIES. The Immense stock of idle inonev 'thus treated found outlet in the, sc- jcurtty markets For months virtually every Issue announced was oversubscribed oversub-scribed on the day the books wcro thrown open. Unofficial estimates place Hi. volume of foreign securities absorbed In the American money mar-kets mar-kets during tbe year at from $S00,- i "l to $ 1 ,000.000.000 Bonds totaling approximately $4,-5 $4,-5 a Q0( par Value were sold on the I New ..rk stuck exchange during the year. I mi ring the greater portion of the 'year the slock market was extremeiv active million-share days being ro-ported ro-ported donsecdtively for many weeks. The volumo of trading, based on a turns for tin first ten months, was TO per cent cr. atcr than In last ear. LI1 mg costs rose In response to the increased Industrial and commercial com-mercial activity The bureau of labor statistics gives tbe increase during the year ut about 14 points for all commodities, com-modities, placing prices on an average nt about u3 per cent above the 1 'J 1 3 level. Dun's Index places tne rise ai nearly 20 points and the leei abo 1913 prices at about SO per cent. COMMODITY PRICES SOVK. In the field of basic commodities inn and 6teel production staged a spe ta ui .r return to high figures and high prices The average daily production pro-duction of pig Iron rose from 53 000 tons In January to the high point of 85,000 tons in October and the estimated esti-mated dally production of steel Ingots from TO 000 in January to 126,000 'n October. I'nfllled orders on the books of the I nited States Steel corporation climbed upward steadily from February Febru-ary with 4.14 1.000 tons to November With nearly T.OoO.OOO tons. Prices of these two products shot skyward during the year, rising in tho case of T'IP Iron from an average of Jis 44 to $31.76 per ton. and in tho case of steel from a composite average aver-age of I 09 to 2.57 cents a pound onsumpllon of Iron and steel was greatly Increased by railroad equipment equip-ment orders. The American Railway association, which compiles such sta-tlstlcs, sta-tlstlcs, figures that tho total number of freight cars Installed and on order from the llrst of the jcar to thj middle of November was 1 21.205 as compared with only 48,737 during tho entire yr"ar of 1921. Virtually every steel car company In the country worked overtime from early In the year till its close. So dll the locomotive works. L'p to November Novem-ber 15 the railroads bad installed and ordered during the year 2 24H locomotives, loco-motives, rfs compared with 1,382 during dur-ing the previous year. (ii vr. firnni ( i i nit, i( The coal industry was wrecked by a strike which extended into its fifth month. Notwithstanding, production of bituminous coal during the present, y. ar. according to all Indications, will surpass last year's output by a few million tons Anthracite production was limited by mine capacity and slumped about 25 000,000 tons under the previous year's output. Coal prices also soared but tho establishment of limits by the government govern-ment curtailed somewhat, the r'sln tendency Estimates based on data obtained by the Geological Survey and the coal distributor Indicate that coil consumers will have to pay about $500,000,000 more this year for their fuel than they paid last year, tho tc.nnngc being about the same Tho labor situation in tho coal Industry In-dustry remains unsettled. Resumption of work last August left the issue between miners and operators undecided unde-cided and with fair prospect of another national strike when the present agreement expires on the first of April next In the group of non-ferrous metatl the copper mines showed toward Iio end of the year a tendency to increase in-crease production under the stimulus of Increased demand: zinc worked off Its stocks and Increased Its production to about 70 per cent of tho 1920 record; aluminum prices hovered I around the is cent ke but rose at spurted upward more than 30 per cent In eight months, duo to betterment of general conditions RECORD DEMAND FOR AUTOS. The S'atlonal Automobile Chamber of Commerce forecast In tho early months a fair average year's business busi-ness A record demand however, gave the automotive Industries such great I momentum that to their own surprise they excelled the banner year of 1920 I Tho movement has carried forward through the early winter with such force that another high record may I be established next year. Ford is i j planning still larger production an 1 hi-- nearisl i om petit or has quit taking 1 orders for 1 923 claiming that the cn-! cn-! tire factory output of 231.000 cars already lias been sold From lowly levels of ten years ago, I gasoline production has climbed up-I up-I ward with the growing use of the automobile till It ranks now well among the major Industrie a Dew ' rocord for consumption was created j during the present yoar. according io data obtained by the bureau of mines, line total being estimated at ." ;oo -ooo.OOii gallons as compared with 4.500,000,000 gallons last year. According Ac-cording to this estimate every automobile auto-mobile in the country consumed, on the average, 10 gallons of gasoline a week. HIGHER GASOLIN'K EXPECTKD. With tbe pick-up In demand for other petroleum products, retail gaso-' gaso-' line prices dropped during the ynr approximately five cents a gallon. The end of tho movemont, however, apparently ap-parently has been reached. Higher prices aro expected during the tarty part of noxt year. I'roductlon of automobile tires kept pneo with the lncruaso In cars, rising from 1,000 000 new tires in January to nearly 3,000.000 monthly toward the close of tho yoar. Prices fluctuated fluctu-ated during the yoar, a substantial drop being succeeded by an advance I of about 10 por cent, GREAT BUILDING BOOM. Building operations In the 2T states covered by the Dodge company survey reflected throughout the WjldneSS Of tho boom on which the building trades wre launched. In I hat area the a io of operations undertaken during tho year will approrlmatc 18.500,000000, a 60 per cent Increase over last year. Labor and material costs rose sharply sharp-ly In the aggregate as much as 30 per cent In some localities but apparently appar-ently did not check the rush ror homes. Brick prlcos soared to dizy heights; lumber mills booked mor"e orders than they could fill, cement manufacturers worked overtime and Increased prices about 15 per cen'.; and labor reaped a rich harvest in rulnir wajf0 scales and bonuses. In New York City, according to ono authority, skilled workmen In tho building trades, such as carpenters, plumbers, plnsterera and painters, commanded up to $30 a day, while vvaufes of $12 to $15 a day wore tho rule NEW RF.fORD FOR HIGHWAYS Mor, ih-in 1 0.000 miles of federal-aid federal-aid highways were completed during the year, nccordlng to the bureau of public- roads This Is a new record, marking measurable progress on the fifteen-year program which calls for the construction of 1SU 000 mll'd Estimates to the bureau from the various va-rious states place the total cost c( new construction In 1 922 throughout the United States at not far from $750 000,000. This Is about 50 per cent In excess of work dono In any previous year. IMMIGRATION OTTECKET). A feature of the year's progress was the small volume of Immigration. i nuer i.iiu i nc-crv -m um- o i i 'n' law. the human tides flowed slowly Figures are Incomplete, but during the first nine monthB of 1922. the Immigration Immi-gration bureau reports, total alien admission ad-mission dropped to 242 000, as compared com-pared with 473,000 during the same period Iflst year It Is doubtful if more than half of the number of las' years Immigrants was admitted In 1922 As the year ended, largo employers em-ployers of labor, In concert with banking and agricultural Interests, had started a movement looking to lowering the immigration bars. PARMER STUdj SICK M VN. The farmer continued a silk man financially Torn and cotton recorded sweeping advances during the fall, to tho benefit of tho southern farmers chiefly. Wheat prices rose slightly, live Ktock, especially hogs, showed gains, and outs and other standard crops moved slightly upward. In contrast con-trast was the plight of .Minnesota farmers who planted thousands of acres In potatoes much of which still lie In the ground because it rust more to harvest them than they would fetqh in the market. Similar too. was the ease of tho melon planters of tho south whose over-prod uet Ion killed the market. In Ohio, according to reports to the department of agriculture, It was Impossible to obtain the services of n rural public auctioneer at any time during the last three months of the year. The farmers were selling out. iiipnldatlng for what they could get with the Idea of squaring up the bur-densomo bur-densomo debt under which they hao staggered for tho past three season and starting over again. Tho farmer's increased Income from his crops, according to figures prepared pre-pared by the department of agriculture, agricul-ture, was more than offset by still greater rises In the cost of ull he. run buy, Howovor. he Is In somewhat ; better shape this year than last, tin-department tin-department advises, largely because! ho baa boon enabled to pay off sonv of his indebtedness. VOIiUME OF BUSINESS. Taking business as a whole, Its vol- unie Is accurately gauged bv tho Dumber Dum-ber of railroad cars loaded with , freight during a given period. Til ! American Railway association's fig-, ures show that notwithstanding the I miners and shopmen s strikes tho rab- roads moved, during the first eleven months of the year, 40,158.000 loaded 1 freight cars as compared with 36.678.-I 36.678.-I OOij during the same period last year I During the first eleven months of 1920. however, the number was 42-972.000. |
