Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-25
INVESTMENT AND SECURITIES.

INVESTMENT AND SECURITIES.
 The commercial and financial editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, has been .sizing up" the investment and seculf- ties situation of our country, from which the State Herald herewith reproduces the following:
 "The returns upon Sate lnVestHielttS have fallen so low as to become a sefious matter to persons relying for their In come upon invested capital. In the next ten or fifteen years most of the ralIrodu bonds issued years ago at anu per cent interest falf due, and as they are abundantly secured, they will be extend ed at a greatly reduced rate of interest. Two such cases are before Philadelphia investors at the present time. The nrsL mortgage per cent. bonds or the Noflh- ern Pennsylvania Railroad company, a perfectly safe investment, are being ex- tended at 4 per cent. The first mortgage T per cent. bonds of the Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Railroad company are being replaced at AZ per cent. Both these issues were put out rhlrty yedi 5 ago, and now the new holders have thelr income cut down from S5 to 4S per cent. Other instances readily can be found Twenty years ago the consolidated mort gage 6 per cent. bonds of the Pennsyl- vania railroad sold at par; within a IeW months the company has sold ponds secured by the same mortgage at S1s per cent
 consols have lately sold up to IA per cent. They bear ? 3-4 per cent interest, which is to be reduced to 2 1-2 per cent. in 1903 while the bonds are absolutely payable twenty years thereafter. The rate of interest is falling throughout the civilized world. This has been in course for thirty years, and there is no reason to suppose there will be any change. The wealth of the world Is increasing every year at most wonderful rate. Every in- dication that tends to conserve energy. to augment production and to facilitate business is one more influence that aids in the creation of wealth. Never was the human intellect so busy as now, so ln- genious, so we'll supported. And with every year the pressure for good invest ments increases. The supply is not at all equal to the demand nor can it be. It Is still possible to secure investments that yield 6 per cent. interest. but they are mot ordinarily such as trustee would select for his beneficiaries. A risk must be taken. And even these opportunities are not as numerous as they were few years ago. The truth must be recognized that we have no longer a frontier, our country Is developed, all the best favored spots are occupied, and there is no longer a necessity for good borrowers to pay per cent. for money"
 We differ ith him, however, when he writes: Our country is developed. all the best favored spots are occupied,' for right here in Alabama some of the most favorable locations for the economic pro- ductiun of iron are unoccupied, as is also true of the coal deposits; also of the tim- Der resources, we are informed. Two or more years ago it was claimed that our blast furnaces, them producing 90 to 120 tons of pig iron daily. were about per feet; yet, within the present month, we are informed, one of those furnaces has shown an output exceeding POO tons per day, and with less cost for labor in oper- ating it.