The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-01

provements have been completed ruring the past year, additional ones are con- been doubled. but 1t Is still months be- hind with its orders. Work Is taking the capacity of the plant. The shops are running over time to i'll orders. The plant Is running over time or working night and day to fill orders. The orders are far in excess of those in any pre- ceding year. Orders for machines taken in April were greater than in any one month before. Even should this years business not prove as good as la3st years. was a banner year.
 This last sentence inclines toward the proposition worked out in one letter that ther care cycles of prosperity and adver- ton to look for less activity in the future with continued increase of cost on all finished products. the gentleness of the in- clination seems to be promised in the be- assuming more normal conditions. One writer sees danger in over-capitaliza- tion, though another finds no cause for apprehension in Wall Street being over-charged with unmarketable se- curities, and a third Is convinced that the situation will remain safe as long as the country does not again over-estimate the extent to which investments can be car ried, as it did in the early nineties. The question of the currency. Is also consid- O0s next November is expected to meet "the crying need for more elasticity in the currency"
 The only portentious cloud above the horizon of the vision of quite number of manufacturers is the possibility of difficulties with labor assuming such pro- portions as to temporarily paralyze tn- dustry to the detriment both of employers and employees Suggestions on that point are varied. One is that there would be several years of fairly good times were it not for the aggressive position of labor, another Is that much depends upon the satisfactory settlement of the labor prob lem generally, while another Is that both material and labor show a rising tend ency, which If continued may check the promotion of new enterprises and the en- largement of existing ones. It Is point ed out that extraordinarily good times are needed to justify prices now ruling in certain lines of material, and that the restless situation in labor circles is un- satisfactory. Where there are strikes and a plentitude of labor in some parts of the country, the letters show that in oth- CTS wage earners are well paid. and gen. erally contended that everyone willing to work is profitably employed, with great difficulty being had to obtain intelligent help, or that skilled help enough can not be found to meet the requirements of trade. If 1t were possible to solve the problem of the distribution of labor, there might not be any fear as that ex- pressed that the great unrest in the labor market may induce a crisis destructive of the unparalleled prosperity which the country is now enjoying.
 Distinction Is drawn, however, between the just and the unjust demands of or ganized labor, and there Is strong hope that with the serious consideration the subject is receiving among employers throughout the entire country and with the possession of sufficient foresight on the part of some leaders not to allow un- wise and irresponsible minority to mis- lead the conservative majority to the blocking of prosperity and the cutting of of their own income. good judgment and common sense on both sides will ulti- mately prevail in @ better understanding between labor and capital. The truth is enforced. notwithstanding the fact that mechanical labor in this country is re- ceiving much larger pay than in foreign countries. that we have been able to pro- duce goods here by improved methods at cost that has enabled us to export goods to foreign countries at a. profit. but that unreasonable demands of labor may make it harder to compete with foreign manufacturers and reduce Amer ican labor to the position 1t has reached in some foreign countries.