Newspaper Page Text
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yMm*m*»*»*
News and Views
rts or
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Finance, Industry, Crops and Commerce
ERCE IS F
E
Wall Street Soon Is To Be Brighter
With Hope Than the Avenues of
General Trade—Banks Nearing the
Limit of Power to Make Loans.
cleariug, bul (toin-
By B. 0. FORBES
NEW YORK, May 3.—Financial skies are
inercial clouds arc gathering.
Wall Street is steeped in gloom, but I believe a decided change
is near.
The dreaded ‘‘European conflagration" is
most unlikely to occur.
War between the United States and Japan
need not be taken into reckoning. The Mexi
can situation is occasioning morp concern in
international banking circles, for stability
there appears extremely uncertain.
Domestic politics soon should quiet down.
Tariff-wise, the worst is known and largely,
if not wholly, discounted; developments can
lie only for the better, from a business view
point.
Agricultural prospects are brightening daily.
More attention will be devoted to crops than
to politics. /And nature usually deals bounti
fully with this favored land.
Should the Interstate Commerce Commission allow llie rail
roads serving the East to advance freight rates five per cent, as
desired, the whole financial and investment tide probably would be
tnmed, causing later a revival in general trade.
My own opinion is that the railroad
<a9o will he property handled this
time, and that the railroads will oe
able to convince the regulators that
a modest Increase in freight charges
1s necessary If the development of
•America's acarcely scratched re
sources Is not to he prmvply retarded.
I have been bitterly condemned for
havlnsr warned readers of these arti
cles that a marked recession In busi
ness loomed ahead, (/ertaln critics
went the length of declaring that such
sentiments could have been prompted
only hv bribery, by the acceptance of
graft from stock market bears.
READING THE SIGNS.
Well, what do these charitable-
minded people now think of them
selves and of recent commercial hap
penings'.' Is the forecast proving
wrong or right'.’
Is no decline in activity creeping
Into view? \rr no unpleasant Inci
dents cropping up?
Commercial failures have been ab
normally heavy and threaten to be
worse before the year ends. Bank
clearings are falling off. week after
week the total for the week Just end-
«d (Dun's compilation! was only $2,-
745,00(1,000 as contrasted with $3(208,-
00#,000 a year ago and approximately
JS,000,000,000 In 1911. Watch also the
course of our oversea trade, and '?
there be no shrinkage in exports,
present signs will be falsified.
There Is another ugly phase of the
outlook for American trade, one that
prudent students ran not ignore.
BANK LOANS EXPAND.
National bank loans continue to ex
pand at the rate of $1,000,000 every
business day, despite a serious deple
tion of the amount of cash held hy
these Institutions. During 1he two
months from February 4 to April 4
loans increased $03,000,000 In face of a
cash loss of $40,000,000. As compared
with the returns of a year ago, loans
been Inflated
on'
cash, but In spit
of fullv $4:1.000,000.
New York hunks have pulled In sail
and are urging their country corre
spondents to do the same, hut w ith no
success. Optimism is a virtue, hut It
may, under certain circumstances, be
come a vice. Blind optimism may lead
a business man over a precipice. If
disaster befall any regular reader of
these articles because of over-exten
sion of ids credit, he will have only
himself to blame.
The hanks simply MUST call a halt.
MANY NEAR LIMIT.
They can not go on weakening their
position month after month as they
have been doing for more than a year.
They can not lend after they have no
more to lend And some of them—
many of them—already have reached
(he limit of safety: they sre enter
ing dangerous ground.
The intelligent business man before
entering upon enlarged commitments
should step into his bank and have
a talk with the president or other
responsible officer. Mention these fig-
ores to him -show him this article if
need be—and ask him how he feels;
he particular also to Inquire whether
lie stands ready to grant alt necessary
remainder of the
financing would be resorted to in the
hope of a more propitious market for
bonds in the not distant future. There
has been prompt confirmation of the
"strike” intimation.
Stocks look cheaper than they did.
There are certain Indications, how-
ever, which still Impel caution. Sell
ing has come from one or two very
influential sources. At least two pow
erful financiers are understood to he
liquidating consistently and both nre
men of uncommon acumen.
The "turn" of the market, neverthe
less, should be very near. It requires
courage to refrian from giving the
word "go."
IS
SID IS HISTDRT
Experience Teaches That Orient
and Occident Always Must
Remain Divergent.
like
By BOERSIANER.
CHICAGO, May 3.—For two days
of last week the Japanese "question"
was the pivotal point in American
finance. To It the stock market was
more susceptible than to what came
from the Balkans or from London.
In their anger at being confronted
wlth « fresh impediment, denizens of
$290 000,000 not I financial district charged Callfor-
V without n single dollar additional I J' lan * with being headstrong and
Fib. but til spill of a cash shrinkage headlong, with only a slender regard
'° r their country. The charges are
far more applicable to the people who
made them.
The Japanese “question” Is not a
California “question." It is a world
problem; or. looking higher, It al
ways has been, and Is, and probably
It will continue to be. a matter of
manifest destiny, since it involves not
Japan alone, but the entire Orient.
The Occidental’s conception of what
the Oriental calls destiny or fate is
more purely spiritual than the East
ern mind conceives it. To him his
tory suggests it is the purpose of
Providence that the Occident and the
Orient should ever remain distinct
and separate; yet act and react upon
each other beneficently, in the man
ner of positive and negative poles.
The experiences of Eastern and West
ern nations are certainly confirma
tory of this.
The Chinese were learned when we
of the West were man-hunters. Egypt
taught Greece, as Persia taught Egypt.
And now the West is teaching the
East. But while the Orient and the
Occident have acted and reiroaetei
upon each other at long interval*—
serving in a universal sense to keep
a world balance—they have remained
rigidly unaasimtlative. The Omnipo
tent Power, apparently, has meant
that they should be apart.
Each side has gone so far and then
rapidly receded. The Turk was re
pulsed from Vienna by a Polish gen
eral centuries igo. To-day he is prac
tically out of Europe. Russia tried
for supremacy in the East. She was
thwarted by Japan. England nominal
ly has ruled India since Warren Hast
ings’ time. Were she to retire or be
driven out, the Hindus would un
learn in a quarter of a century what
England has tried to impress upon
them for three centuries.
This is because the Oriental brain
structure is radically different. It
seems ordained that this should be
so—ordained that the East and th?
West must act as counterparts in the
world scheme: must, therefore, re
main where they are.
The man of the East and the man
of the West are permanently benefited
by the interchange of things commer
cial and esthetic, but their mental—or
spiritual—outlook is sheerly diver
gent. In all their martial victories
there lias been nothing abiding, moral
ly or ethically. To the Occidental
there must be always something mys
terious about the Orient. To the
Oriental the Occident always must oe
strange.
Californians are not settling
Japanese question. That question
solved at the dawn of humanity.
BUYS NEW MACHINERY.
WEST POINT. GA.. The la
Cotton Mills have hought 25.000 >
credit during th
year
The sobe** trutl
* truth is that it is « good
> is slackening Anything
n would have brought on
ng crash.’ Commerce calls
and the banks could not
led enough to finance a
PROPHECY VENTURED.
er dist
er.
stuff this? Howev
pondering it and dis-
Your banker, you will
ounder position than
as been reading noth-
ne” articles, who has
ve that 24-karat pros
ed. who has borrowed
rith never a thought
sudden tightening of
land
lull
Pro
erous.
Yet I
nti
The bluest
this moment,
DgU ■
now, and tho?
nothing but
now rules the
of Wall Stre<
The hot to
?veri
isini
the country f
Street, will I
d months froi
•s-n circles wh
unmitigated
■t’s glumnem
n already
bond marke
re
Dptimlsm
g a taste
en
readjust!
?mains to
FINANCIERS
, I believe,
gilt-edged
rented, but most
at bedrock.
STRIKE."
that Hiort-term
Millers Slashing
Throats of Eivals
Prices Cut Deeply—Wheat Business
In Chicago Simmers Down
to Professional Trading.
By J08EPH F. PRITCHARD.
CHICAGO, May 3.—Business in the
wheat market at Chicago has drifted
downward until it has reached a
semi-professional attitude. Hedging
transactions are a thing of the past
and there is very little trade on ex
port account in either the nearby or
the deferred positions. While the
crop prospects could hardly be morp
favorable, and this has doubtless been
discounted in the present price ot
the cash article as well as the futures,
the foreign situation will, from this
time forward, cut quite a swath in
the matter of price making. When
the foreign situation is gone over
carefully, It will be seen that the ex
port demand from America is not
likely to show any great improve
ment unless the market level of Chi
cago and the other points is some
what. lower.
Millers are cutting each other’s
throats In order to place at least a
part of their output, and In the hope
of securing new customers. As an
illustration of the manner in which
prices are being slashed by the larger
millers of Minneapolis they are send
ing out quotations of $5.60 for their
best hard spring patents, In wood,
while this same grade of flour may
be purchased from Chicago millers
at $4.75. which gives the miller in
this market a small margin of profit.
The bulls in wheat have left no
stone unturned In putting ln« circula
tion news favorable to their side of
the house. The cash wheat situation
is dull with about all the business
passing on interior milling account.
The cotton crowd has stepped down
and out of May corn and has a hand
some profit tucked away. The crowd
made a fight against big odds and
won out. The traders now are In
September in a liberal way as hold
ers.
t>ats are likely lo follow corn in its
price changes and hog products will
be governed entirely by the run of
hogs at Chicago and the Western
markets.
Estimates Expense
of General War
Paris Statistician Say European
Conflict Would Cost Close to
$55,000,000 Per Day.
If war were actually to break out
when Austria and Servia were quar
relling, and If Germany, England.
Crance, Russia, Italy, Austria, and
Rumania were have been drawn
in. what would it have cost? Dr.
Charles Richel, a statistician of the
University of Paris, has published
detailed and elaborate estimates.
From them he concludes that the dai
ly expense of the actual campaign
would be something like $55,000,000
per day.
He bases his estimate on the as
sumption that, roughly, twenty mil
lion men would be called to arms, of
whom nt least half would be sent to
the front. On this basis, he works
out the daily expenditure for the
seven Powers, as follows—the figures
being here rendered Into dollars;
Provisioning of troops . $12,500,000
Feeding of horses 1,000,000
Pay 4,250,000
Wages, arsenals, and har
bors 1.000,000
Mobilization 2,000,000
Transport of foodstuffs.
weapons, etc 4,000,000
Ammunition
Infantry 4,000,000
Artillery 1,250,000
Ship artillery 875,000
Fitting out of umy 4,000,000
Ambulance service 500,000
Movement of ships 500,000
Deficit in taxes 10,000,000
Support for. population
without means 6,750,000
Requisitions, damage to
towns, bridges, etc. .... 2,000.000
Total $54,125,000
If such a war lasted only as long
as the brief Franco-Prussian conflict
of 1870, the outlay on this basks would
exceed 85,000.000.000 irrespective of
war indemnities.
Whence Will Come
German War Hoard?
Reichsbank Has Amassed Huge Sum
in Gold, but Hardly Enough for
Kaiser’s Demands.
itement was l
cere going to I
rs of bonds, but thi
rs; total cost
spoon
about
Where will the German Govern
ment procure the 12.000,000 marks of
gold coin which, it is announced, is
to be added as "war treasure" to the
similar amount of 12.000.000 marks
taken from the French indemnity
payment after 1871 and locked up
since then In the castle of Spandau?,
The Berlin Tageblatt answers the
question, after pointing out that Im
perial Treasury Fonda will be issued
in payment;
"How Is the gold to be obtained?
It must either be withdrawn from
the Reichsbank or from circulation.
It is not possible for the Reichsbank
to hand over so much. It is known
that the gold currency is more im
portant in Germany than in other
countries, and the Reichsbank for a
considerable tim has been endeavor
ing to attract gold from circulation
to the bank, first of all by the issue
of banknotes, especially of smaller
banknotes, and also by increasing
the amount of silver in circulation.
“The efforts of the Reichsbank have
been successful. At present the re
turn is nearly 200,000,000 marks more
unfavorable than at this time last
\ear. bur tfta gold ha increased by
almost 60,000.000 marks. The Heichs-
bank hopes to have concentrated in
Its vaults about one milliard marks
in gold in May of this year, which
would be a record amount.”
Whether this is enough to provide
the extra 12.000.u00 marks, or $30,-
000,000. lor the Emperor’s war chest,
is not yet apparent. The bank re
garded its own gold reserve as none
too strong a year ago. and It now
holds v>: t 1 n '18.000,000 in excess
of April, 1012.
WILL ADD 10,000 LOOMS.
GASTONIA. N C.. May 3 The
Oxark Mills, recently reported as to
double its capacity, will add about
•,u00 spindles in a three-story-and- I
1 basement 100x75-foot building. i
RETAIL BUSINESS
SHOWING GAINS
OVER LAST YEAR
Big Stores Increase Sales Each
Month, but Buy Less, Thus
Decreasing Stocks.
FEEL NO PINCH AS YET
Surprised When They Talk to
Bankers—Spot Cotton Dull.
Crop Prospects Good.
By M. A. ROSE.
"Small retailers come in here for
conferences, and are amazed when we
tell them times are not of the best
and that money is scarce," said a
down town banker.
This means, of course, that retail
trade, strangely enough, is above that
of last year at this time, with every
indication of its staying at present
levels.
Big and little retailers tell the same
story, except, of course, that the big
fellows study general conditions more
closely.
With all the talk of caution, of re
trenchment, and of decreased buying
power, the retailers, who get quick
est intelligence of changed condition?,
declare business exceeds expectations.
Whitehall Street stores say their
balance sheets show increases ov-r
last year, that March was one of the
best months they ever had and that
April will exceed March.
Gains Every Month.
"Every' month this year has shown
a gain over the same months of the
preceding year.” said the head of om;
of the largest department stores, ’‘and
I believe this is the case all along the
street in the retail district. Increases
are not phenomenal, but healthy.
‘We know, of course, that money
will be more or les9 scarce until af
ter the new crop comes In. We are
buying cautiously from Jobbers. My
purchases In April were nearly $10,-
000 under my purchases for April last
year. At the same time, sales for
April show a gain over the sarri'*
month of 1912. That means, of course,
that I am eating into my stock. This
is what I want. I want stock down
to the lowest It has ever heached.
Then I shall buy to supply actual
needs, in small quantities and often,
purchases of woolens. We do not
purcahses of woolens. We do not
want to be caught with a big stock
of them when free wool goes into ef
fect.
Order Novelties Freely.
"The only lines we are ordering
with any freedom are novelties. This
is necessary. Manufacturers have
ceased building up stocks in such
lines. They produce only,what is or
dered in advance of production.
"With our stocks down, and our
finances in healthy shape, we will be
ready to Jump in and buy to the limn
of olir ability if the crop outlook m
the fall warrants expectations of a
highly prosperous season."
In general, the week has been un
eventful. (bearings are not so large,
but deposits hold their own.
Demand for money continues lively,
but bankers have not changed their
policy of conservatism, and loans are
made to cover only pressing needs.
New enterprises or extensions are
frowned upon.
Farmers Not Hampered.
Farm work progressed well for the
week, with fair weather. It was too
cold, however, for the cotton plant
in many parts of the belt, including
the Atlantic States, and seed is not
germinating. In general, however,
the ground is in excellent shape. Au
thoritative reports show the cotton
and grain prospects to be excellent.
Spot cotton seems to be in little or
no demand. The tone in the Atlanta
market is merely nominal, with prices
shaded somewhat from recent levels.
Holders do not want, to sell; spinner
do not want to buy. In this deadlock,
there is no profit for the dealers.
What few sales there are for the most
part supply foreign needs. Domestic
spinners consistently refuse to »how
any Interest. Warehouse stocks re
main about the same.
The week has seen queer doing.?
in the New York future* market.
Tuesday, in particular, was an inex
plicable mess, closing with April
down ten points. May up twelve
points, and the rest of the positions
from one to a dozen points off from
the close of the day before.
New York Future*.
Everything, it is said, has been dis
counted save the weather. Futures
are selling at a big discount under
the actual cotton. Liverpool is sail
to intend taking up big batches of
New York cotton on May contrac'.-.
New York is not anxious to have this
happen, as a depleted stock would
leave July shorts in a precarious con
dition. So the war goes merrily on
with the Southern farmer holding the
balance of power, and refusing stead
ily to unload.
Interest in fall lines of dry goods
is beginning. Some of the more im
portant houses opened their fall lines
May 1. A few buyers are in town,
but not many. Country retail stocks
are not moving so rapidly. War n
weather will Improve trade.
Wholesale grocers have little to
say of the week's business. They arc
satisfied, but claim they have not
cast up the figures for April as ye.,
even roughly, though they think the
totals will be satisfactory.
SOUTHERN IMPROVEMENTS.
During the fixe years from 1908 to
1912 eight railroads operating in
Southern States have spent $122,230,-
000 on Improvements. During the
same period only three of the roads
included paid dividends, the total
amounting to $24,164,000. The expen
ditures Cor improvements, as compil
ed by the Manufacturers Record, in
clude $55,241,000 for Norfolk A Wes
tern. $20,910,000 for 'Frisco, $14,688.-
000 tor Seaboard Air Line. $19,736,000
for Florida East Coast. $6,951,000 for
Carolina. Clinchrteld A Ohio, and less
than $2,‘>00,000 each for three small
loadb.
All Favor Return
To Old Methods
Naval Stores Factors and Producers
Meet Tuesday to Discuss Means
of Selling Crop.
THINKS TIME RIPE
FOR SHARP UPTURN
ON WEATHER NEWS
8AVANNAH, GA., May 3 —Naval
stores factors will meet In Savannah
Tuesday to discuss a number of ques
tions for the good of the industry. All
factors from Pensacola. Fla., east
have been invited to attend. The pri
mary object is to arrange for putting
into effect the old-time plan of mar
keting rosin, which has been revived
by J. A. G. Carson, president of the
Carson Naval Stores Company, and
other factors, following the suspen
sion of the American Naval Stores
Company, which marketed practically
the entire crop. It is understood that
practically 86 per cent of the produc
ers have signified their desire to Join
in the scheme. The plan is for the
factors to carry stocks and rosins on
hand and sell direct to the consumer,
through a broker, thus eliminating the
selling company and minimizing the
chance for the speculator.
With the elimination of the Amer
ican there has been no selling com
pany to market the product, with t,he
result that the market was absolute
ly stagnant for several weeks. As
soon as the factors determined to
take the matter into their own hands,
the market revived, and during the
past week there has been more or less
lively trading, with a corresponding
rise in prices. The condition of the
market now is satisfactory, and the
traders are optimistic.
The stocks of turpentine and ros
ins on the market at this time are
not unusually large. The bulk of
the old crop had been marketed be
fore thea uspension of the American,
and the new crop has not come in to
any extent. Prices have not been
sustained, especially on rosins, sub
stitutes for which have been used to a
large extent on the foreign markets,
on account of the difference in price.
The meeting next week will set
tle for all time how the navai stores
business Is to be conuucted. The ac
tion taken will have a considerable
influence upon the future of the in
dustry. The producers generally are
in favor of the scheme advanced by
the factors.
The market is now easy, and both
turpentine and rosins are selling well
Bend All Efforts
to Crop Movement
Banks Prefer Short Loans to Mature
in Time to Give Funds for
Harvest Days.
Bankets do not discuss freely the
prospects of money next fail, yet it
is plainly evident that their policy is
one of caution. The rate for six
months’ collateral loans in Wall
Street lias been lowered to 4 1-2 at
4 1-2 per cent., nut even at that level
It compares with 3 1-2 per cent, quot
ed for similar loans at thlts time last
year, and 2 3-4 per cent, two years
ago, -ime loans ■ least difficult to
obtain are those which run as nearly
as possible for periods terminating
at the time next autumn when the
West will begin to call for funds to
finance he crop movements. Not only
at New York, but at Chicago and St.
Louis it is testified that while six
month*' loans are the limit, the banks
prefer not to go beyond four months
on time-loan accommodations. What
the demands for crop movements wil.
amount to cannot even be guessed at,
hut if the exceedingly favorabi- win
ter wheat indication is later on re
fleeted in spring wheat, corn and oats,
there will be little question concern
ing the extent of the fall demands for
money.
Commenting on these precautions,
a hanker of wide experience at the
West and South pointed out that if
many of the banks adopted such a
policy there would be a far more
comfortable money market in the fall
than is now anticipated. One fac
tor which has helped the situation so
far has been the reduced borrowings
by railroads and Industrial concerns.
Requests from such sources have
been light compared with the broad
borrowings that were looked for a
few weeks ago. Some roads have
deferred fresh financing until the
investment outlook is more settled
and the new taiiff law is on the
statute books.
NEW ORLEANS, May 3.—Although
manipulation of the New York mar
ket resulted In a big break In con
tract values, Southern spotholders re
fused to be frightened by the tactics
employe^ to pound the bulls into in
sensibility, and buyers of actual cot
ton find that they must pay the price
If they want the goods.
Of course, spots have sympathised
to a certain extant with the decline
in the future markets, but the shad
ing of quotations has been a very
gradual process as compared with
knock-down and drag-out methods
that have been used to put the long
speculators out of business. It is the
head of this firm who is said to have
given out the Information which led to
the prosecution of Messrs. Brown,
Hayne and Patten, leading bulls, in
the famous cotton corner case two
y»a rs ago.
Having secured a Supreme Court
decision, by which bull Interests are
prevented from combining their
forces for the purpose of taking up
cotton on contract in New York, the
New York bear Interests, led by Mr.
Craig, have resumed their old-time
occupation of holding up the South
ern speculator, by means of breaking
the market under threat of delivery
of the entire New York stock.
In the present Instance, however,
threat of delivery, while it had the
effect of forcing out nearly all the
speculative long Interest In that mar
ket, was not of Itself suffieleht to
break the market. Certain Liver
pool Interests, which had bought
reams of contracts in New York
against sales In Liverpool at differ
ences that had worked very much In
their favor, Insisted upon staying in
the market and receiving whatever
cotton came their way.
The result was that when May no
tices were Issued 1n New York, they
were promptly stopped, and the ini
tial decline that followed the Issuance
of the notices was promptly checked,
and the attack on the market was
resumed Tuesday. Bears had the
market going, when all of a sudden.
May contracts in New York began to
advance with a rapidity that swept
the shorts off their feet. A twenty-
five point advance in the New York
market was the signal for a sharp
covering movement in this market al
so, the upward tendency being check
ed, however, as soon as the May pos
ition In New York became easier.
Favorable weather conditions, as
interpreted through the spectacles of
the prevailing bearish sentiment, to
gether with warlike rumors cabled
from Europe, encouraged another at
tack on the market Wednesday af
ternoon. Liverpool tvas discouraging
Wednesday morning, and the market
again slumped under bearish pressure,
here ana New York. In the local
market. May contracts sold as low as
11.90, but even this price was a
premium of 100 points over October,
which sold as low as 10.90. At that
level, however. Continental interests
were heavy buyers, and the market
lias since iiad a fairly good re-action.
Reports being received in this mar
ket Indicate that the cotton crop is
not as well advanced as Dearish cir
cular writers have tried to make out.
In fact, complaints are general as to
the effect of the cool weather In
Texas, where the crop is now report
ed as from two to three weeks late.
Unfavorable crop reports are also
being received from some of the At
lantic States, conditions being ad
verse in Georgia and Alabama espe
cially. The market having recently
been sold to a standstill Is now in
good technical shape to respond to
bullish weather and crop develop
ments.
SPOTS NOT WANTED;
CROP DOING WELL
MEMPHIS, May 3.—Demand for the
remnant of the cotton crop has been
slack here and throughout this terri
tory all the week, despite some dispo
sition to shade prices. The apathy
seen in so many other lines appears
to have hold of the cotton trade, and
It remains to be seen at what level
there will be a revival of buying in
anything like important volume.
That the weakness iji the specula
tive markets has had much to do with
the paucity of buying orders is' not
doubted, and behind that has been the
continuation of the unsettled feeling
abroad and the probable effect of
tariff changes in this country. The
firmness in the money situation is
regarded as due partially to these
things and also to the great amount
of refinancing that will have to be
done during the spring and summer
consequent upon the maturity of
short term notes issued a few years
ago in an effort to tide over to bet
ter conditions. The cotton trade ap
pears to have had its confidence rude
ly shaken by the realization that the
tariff rates are to be an actuality.
That the other conditions now exist
ing. largely because of the failure of
peace to be realized in Europe, have
probably accentuated this feeling of
pessimism is generally admitted, while
a favorable start for a new crop has
also given a distinct bearish temper
to the trade's opinion.
Receipts have been small enough,
the trouble being in the fact that
movement toward the spinners Is so
slow and stocks decrease so little. The
banking situation is such that there
has been no special encouragement to
hold for better prices, yet selling has
been restricted because there were few
buyers. There have been some re
ductions, yet not proportionate with
the break in contracts.
The passing of first day for May-
notices In New York, tenders having
been made of the built of that city's
stock, has not been followed bv some
improvement. If the story that Liv
erpool spot people will ship out nearly
half the New York stock proves true,
there may be some lively happenings
in the other summer options, but that
will depend on what develops in Eu
rope and how the new crop fares.
The financial troubles in this center
involving two prominent firms of cot
ton factors reflect some of th e losses
from short yields and two floods in
this territory, but have had no im
portant Influence on the general mar
ket. They might have been avoided
If prices had not declined, but the
cause was not in the lower level of
values.
Preparations for the new crop con
tinue without serious interruption and
reports reaching here are more sat
isfactory than for several years. Tem
peratures have been a bit too low, yet
there is not much cotton up and the
chief trouble has been in delayed
germination. The weather has been
ideal for getting the soil in good shape
and rains the latter part of last week
were favorable. Some of the territory
below here was beginning to need
moisture, but all wants were sup
plied. The waters are rapidly reced
ing and in some of the areas over
flowed planting has been started. It
is expected there will be a moderate
Increase in acreage, but estimates are
yet unreliable. If there is continued
good weather, it will help to encour
age holders of the actual to accept
lower prices for the remnant.
LOOK NR TRADE
Revival of Buying Expected Soon.
Steel in Good Demand—Prod
ucts Move Well.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA., May 3.—
Southern pig iron manufacturers are
expecting some buying of their prod
uct in the near future. A buying
movement is looked for that will re
quire a considerable tonnage of iron
during the last half of the year. As
a consequence of the confidence that
is expressed now, there is no idea of
curtailing the production except it be
to repair the furnaces. There i*
som<* pig iron going to the yards,
accumulating, but the furnace com
panies in this section of the country
are apparently in condition to hold
the product for the good times that
are in sight. The quotations are a
little firmer than they have been,
holding between $12 and $12.50 per
ton. The statement is made that
some of the manufacturer* are hold
ing their iron for $13 per ton, No. 2
foundry, though the eales being made
now are under $18 per ton. Special
brand irons as well a* special analy
sis irons bring $13 and more with
ease.
The production of Iron in April was
not very much under what it wag iri
March, when the high water mark
was reached. There was one fur
nace put out of blast early in the
past month while another Iron-mak
er went out for repairs towards the
end of the month.
Some of the larger consumers of
pig iron are making inquiries as to
the product and quotations, indicat
ing there will be some business plac
ed. Cast iron pipe producers are said
to have encouragement and will keep
their plants in full operation. This
means a good melt of iron right along
the pipe interests being among the
larger users of pig iron in the South
ern territory. Reports have it that
Southern cast iron pipe will shortly
be moving out in train loads.
Pig iron for export is under con
sideration. Several orders for export
are being negotiated and probably
will be landed. During the quiet
spell the first part of last year there
was some iron exported.
Steel products still are in good de
mand. It will be some time before
any lagging will be noted in the mar
ket. The plants are doing exceeding
ly well and labor feels confident there
will be work for the better part of
the summer, if not through the entire
summer. Good wages prevail. South
ern railroads are receiving rail con
stantly from the plant of the Ten
nessee Coal. Iron & Railroad Com
pany. Fabricated steel from the Bes
semer, Ala., rolling mills and wire,
rods and other steel products are
moving well and good prices obtain.
Organization of the Gadsden Pipe
Company, capital stock $35,000, was
announced during the week, the com
pany to take over a pipe fitting plant
at Gadsden.
Charcoal iron is selling at $23 per
ton with the make not very large
but no accumulation worthy of men
tion has taken place.
ALABAMA MILLS BUSY.
Alabama cotton mills are running
on full time and have their product
sold ahead until next October, ac
cording to J. A. Hicks, of Talladega,
Ala. Mr. Hicks is president of the
Highland City and the Chinnabee
Mills of Talladega, which make a spe
cialty of medium hosiery yarns. Mr.
Hicks says that his mills are run
ning on full time, that they have sold
ahead up to October and that they
have all the cotton they need to that
period. The outlook after that time
will depend upon the tariff revision.
The mill men have not determined
how the revision is going to affect the
yarn business. Mr. Hicks also is a
cotton grower. Planting In his vi
cinity is generally done. Rain is
needed now.
NEW WALL STREET BOGIE.
Physical valuation of the railroads
of the country is the next bogie Wall
Street has to confront. The new law
requiring the Interstate Commerce
Commission to make a physical val
uation goes into effect this week, on
the first of May. After the commis
sion makes a tentative valuation it
must submit it to the railroads, to j
the Department of Justice, to the
Governors of the States in which the j
railroad properties are located and to
others whom the commission may j
prescribe. A protest against the val
uation placed upon a railroad by the
commission can be filed within 30
days, but if none is filed, that valua
tion becomes final. In case of pro
test. findings of the commission will
be reviewed at a hearing at which
testimony will be heard. There is no
doubt that the recent decline in stocks,
more especially of rails, is due to the
impending valuation of these prop
erties. The railroads do not consider
that fair valuation can thus be placed
upon their properties. Many elements
entered into the construction of rail
roads in the early days when pioneer
work had to he done which a physical
valuation made to-day might not re
flect.
NO EXTENSIVE FINANCING.
Frederick J. Lisman, a director of
the Alabama. Tennessee & Northern
Railroad, says the merger of the Tom-
bighee Valley Railroad and the Mo
bile Terminal & Railway Co. with
tlie former company, represents the
extension of the Alabama, Tennes? t ee
* Northern hy something more than
100 miles of line and involves own
ership of valuable terminal property
at Mobile, including a large front
age on the harbor. Present needs do
not call for larg financing, and the
only thing in this line that will be
done at the present is an issue of
$1,000,000 in bonds, which already
have been taken up. Ultimately, of
course, the development of the Mo
bile terminal will he attempted upon
ft&t$Qsive
Business Is Lively
In Light Linens
NEW YORK, May 3.—As predict
ed, when the latest change in the
proposed linen schedules w r ere an
nounced importers have begun to get
inquiries on lightweight dress linen
and towelings. These goods, which
come in under the present tariff at
30 per cent, are to he advanced to
35 per cent, if the new schedules as
they now stand go through. Large
buyers are apparently of the opinion
that the bill will he passed practical
ly as it stands, and are making in
quiries as to prices on goods w^hich
will be needed later on. importers In
the New York market, when they
learned of the proposed change in
the duties on lightweight dress lin
ens and towelings, stated that there
would undoubtedly be a rush for
goods, and their predictions bid fair
to he realized.
The changes made in the schedules
have been widely discussed through
out the trade, and the general opin
ion seems to be that imports of lin
ens will increase, if the bill passes
as it is outlined now. With regards
to lightweight dress fabrics, it is be
lieved that the imports of these will
not be greatly hurt by a 5 per cent in
crease in the duty. Buyers w’ill not
he able to lose any time if they want
to get goods in ahead of the passing
of the tariff, as it has been generally
intimated that the bill will go into
effect as soon as it is passed. The
mills abroad are already pretty well
under order for the balance of this
year, and it will be a question of
whether th e goods can be turned out
in time to get them here before the
tariff goes into effect.
Retailers are moving out dress lin
ens steadily and stocks are hy no
means as large as they would like to
see them. Solid colors in the popular
shades are in excellent demand, with
some houses reporting good sales of
what are termed "high colors.” such
as reds, purples and bright greens.
Cream shades and white are also good
property, especially In the finely
woven goods. Crashes are in very
short supply, and prices continue to
show* an upward tendency. Domestic
mills are well sold ahead and buyers
are still complaining of the slow
shipment* from abroad.
If You Are Going Abroad
You’ll want, to have your funds in the
most convenient and available shape pos
sible. You don’t want to run any risks of
being robbed or of having your funds tied
up and your trip delayed or interfered
with because you lack the identification
necessary to get a cheek cashed.
The logical way to carry your money
and certainly the safest and least trouble
some—is in
Travelers' Checks
-or-
Letters of Credit
Issued by
THOS. COOK & SON,
AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY,
AMERICAN BANKERS' ASSOCIATION.
If there is any question you want to ask
about either of these methods of carrying
money, any point you don’t quite under
stand, come to see us. We’ll be glad to
explain the matter thoroughly.