FALL IN PRICES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 205, 25 May 1920, Page 7

FALL IN PRICES

GENERAL DECLINE IN ENGLAND

RESTRICTION OF CREDITS

BY BANKS

COTTON, WOOL AND METALS CHIEFLY

AFFECTED

(By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright

London, May 21. There is a wholesale fall in prices beginning with foodstuffs and extending to clothing, concurring with tho American slump. Many lines are already cheaper—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

London, May 22. The newspapers are giving prominence to the fall of prices of commodities, following the slump in America. Some of tliem predict a further general decline, and suggest that it is largely due to the action ot the banks iu restricting credits; but so far the decline iu most commodities has be&i very moderate, and tho only ,effort of the bankers has been to conserve their resources for the . use of traders as distinct from speculators. The chief decline is iu Egyptian cotton, which has fallen by ninepon.co a' pound in a week, chiefly because the Egyptian banks have pressed their customers to reduce their loans, and have thus compelled numerous operators in Alexandria to sell. Favourable news regarding tho prospects of the next orop has also depressed the prices. As the cables have already jndicated, there is a considerable fall in industrial metals and wool, and a less fall in other commodities; but it is not considered likely to make a-very appreciable change in the cost of living at present, owing to forward orders. being booked at tho highest rates. Food prices are showing only seasonal declines, while there is small chance of any cheapening of bread, sugar, and rice. Addressing' the shareholders of tho Fine Cotton Spinners' Association in Manchester, Sir Herbert' Dixon, chairman of the board, likened tho recent speculative activity in the leeapitalisahon of the spinning trade in Lancashire to the South Sea Bubble. A day of reckoning, he snid, would como _as surely as it did then. Ho held the view that a reduction of values, that would lead to the enforced writing down of capital, with consequent serious loss to the present buyers, was inevitable.—Aus.N.Z.- Cable Assn. RECORD SLUMMN BOOTS DEPRESSION IN CLOTHING TRADE. ■ (Rec. May 2i, 8.50 p.m.) London, May 24. The newspapers ore eagerly discussing the fall in prices of the_ necessaries of life, but there aro no 6igns of a permanent fall. Indeed, bread and sugar are likely to 50 higher, and rents are increasing.. Nevertheless, there is a record slump In boots in Northamptonshire, where the warehouses are so choked with supplies that a three days working week is likely to come into operation. The clothing trade in Leeds is also depressed, .tho factorie3_no longer working at high pressure owing to orders stopping suddenly. It is evident that many people are unable to buy at the present prices. The slump may mean the discharge of ' many workers. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Afifm, ,