The age-herald., 1901-04-24

Heavy losses threaten thee In every direction. this being thy birthday; thy business will so sadly wrong; sickness thy footsteps"
 "Very unluclxy all through life and often in dire poverty will be the child born on this day. If female, she will get into trouble early in lIfe.'
 The National Boom Justified.
 Regarding general trade conditions and the business outlook at the beginning ot the fall trade of 1900, I ventured to say to you, for publication in the Age Herald that considered the promise for great general business to be the most brilliant. in my opinion, the country had ever enjoyed said MT. Emil Loeb. the junior and New York resident member of the great Birmingham department store firm of Loveman, Joseph & Loeb.
 MT. Loeb arrived in Birmingham Mon- day night. upon one of his quarterly vis- its to this city. and will remain here week or two.
 T would emphasize my statement Of
 
 ditions and the business outlook for this country at large and for the south spe- scifically are better than ever before" continued MT. Loeb.
 Yesterday in Wall street was the greatest day in stock transactions ever known in the world. Two million three hundred thousand shares changed hands, and making the par value of $1oo share the general average, the days business aggregated $230 000. .000-fgures hitherto undreamed of in our widest imagina- tion!'
 But Isn't that simply wild speculation "a swift riding to a mighty fall?" was asked
 Why so?" demanded MT. Loeb. Stocks and bonds, especially as to railroads, have increased enormously in value, but traffic receipts and income generally jus tify the increases. 1t is the earning ca- pacity of any stock or security that fixes the value. Take the Southern Railways per cent preferred, for example. That company Is earning the dividend on the preferred and that security is worth S4 That makes the common stock worth, say, 40, and a ? per cent dividend, which Is well In sight, will make the common worth 55 or Go. Not so very long ago, you might have bought the Southern preferred un- der 20, and its common stock under TO-
 Take Southern farming lands. The re- cent increase of $200 00O,O 900 in the value of the cotton crop adds thousand millions of dollars to the actual value of farming lands in the South. Make any slOO in property, be it railroad stock, merchan- disc, or farming land earn an additional five dollars and you double it's value; you make SlO0 to be worth $20O!
 Here is a sensible and graphic illus tration of the value of earning capacity: Some friends of mine owned a business which they sold to syndicate for $40, OOO,- 900. Yet their stock and visible possess sions might have been duplicated for $S,- 100000. or one-fifth of what they received, But they proved that they were earning $4. GOO, 900 year which made the selling price of $40OOO 900 reasonable enough, in- asmuch as their net earnings were ten per cent upon that sum. And they had spent twenty years in building up their trade and their character, and thus their goodwill had substantial monetary value.
 "One prime consideration to be borne commercial and industrial consolidation that is now so strong, and which has found its most powerful exemplihcation in the so-called Steel Trust, is that these consultations cause the release of a vast amount of money which must be rein vested. My friends who sold their busi- ness for S4O,OOo, Ooo to cite a case, must find profitable investment for that great sum. However rich they be, they cannot hold their wealth idle and unproductive Thus all those business men who have sold and are selling their businesses to trusts or combinations must purchase stocks, bonds, or real estate, or in some other direction re-invest their money.
 Let us come home here to ourselves In Birmingham. Assume that a syndicate be formed to buy the properties of the largest twenty holders of real estate in Birmingham-don't you know that the money received by our local real estate men would have to be re-invested? Can't you see that such consolidation under one head of Birmingham real property would greatly enhance the value of every other piece of property in Birmingham? Can't you see that thereby Birmingham would be greatly benefited?
 "So I hold that the extraordinary ad- vance in values in Wall street and throughout the country Is legitimate, since it Is based upon sound business principles. The trade of the country jus ties 1t. and justifies the rosiest anticipa- tions of the future of American business in every direction, in every locality.
 Why the balance of foreign trade in our favor so far this year is something like s6O0, 0OO.OOO or s700 0OO. .0oO or more than we In recent times could have hoped for In an entire year of our foreign trade. and a net balance in our favor greater than the total net gain for the first cen tury of the existence of the Republicv'
 Mir. WiIlett's vice-Presidency.
 "A man on the train coming from An niston to Birmingham demanded to be in- formed of the bulging contents of my handbag, and I told him it was my speech of acceptance of the Democratic nomina- tion for Vice President" said Hon. Jo- seph J. Willett of Anniston.
 sW-h-a-a.atp he criad clouviv Itp