The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-04

New York, Jan. 4.-Henry Clews,
the banker, in his annual review of the
business situation, says:
The year 1908 passes into history
with few pleasant memories. To
great number of individuals it has
been a year of disappointment and
loss. To the very few it has been a
year of golden experience; demon
strating anew that real success only
comes from rigid adherence to sound
business principles and abstention
from illegitimate speculation. Those
who remained steadfast to well-estab-
lished methods of finance and business
have weathered the storms of the year
just closed with little injury; while
those who defied economic laws and
ventured on the untried highways to
success are chiefly engaged in repair
ing battered fortunes and gathering
together their scattered senses
The year was chiefly conspicuous as
marking the elimination and collapse
OF the great trust movement which be-
gan five or six years ago. The coun->
try had fairly gone, combination mad;
both capital and labor emulating each
other In the furious race towards COM
bination and monopoly.
Whoever pointed out their inherent
defects, their defiance Of natural eco
nomic laws, their ineradicable opposl-
ton to human nature, their soclallsuc
tendencies, their opposition to 1ndlVld-
uality, their inability to suppress COM
petition-whoever was bold enough to
oppose these tendencies on such
grounds was swept aside with con-
tempt and Indifference.
This phase of the movement, how
ever, was by no means the end Of the
trust mania. 1t received an enormous
stimulus from Wall street, where the
clever promoter quickly discovered in
the increased profits and power OF
III
capitalize.
Not less than $4,000, 100000 of
these new creations were made with
in few short years, forming the pa
sis of a colossal speculation, packed
by unequaled financial power and
launched upon an unprecedented IN
dustrial boom.
Next to the trust movement the
most potent influence in the business
world was the simply phenomenal
boom in the iron and steel trade. The
world had never seen such rapid de-
velopment before.
The big car and the big locomotive
necessitated heavier rails new bridges
and new terminal facilities; so that
hundreds and hundreds Of millions
were thus expended very largely out
of current earnings, but in many
cases, also, by the creation of new
capital issues.
Another powerful stimulus to the
iron trade was the use Of the steel
frame building for office purposes.
Last midsummer we were produ-
cling pig iron at the rate Of over 90
100000 tons per annum. or more than
Great Britain, Germany and France
combined. Such a pace was too rapid
b to last and the reaction came with
unexpected severity in the latter half
of 1903. =
The next chief uncertainty Is the
situation in the far east.
Upon Japan, in case of conflict. will
fall the task of checking Russia, a
struggle in which the United States,
Great Britain and Germany are vitality
interested.
Whatever the drawbacks in the in
dustrial situation, it must be remem-
bered that the agricultural classes OF
the United States are still unusually
prosperous.
But prosperity is not confined tc
the agricultural classes. Consump
ton. of merchandise is still going or
at an unprecedented rate. There are
few signs of overproductiOn, eXcep
where high prices or speculation have
arrested the natural flow Of business
as in case of the steel and cottor
trades. Elsewhere labor is we'll EN-
ployed at good wages, and the only
signs of reaction are where the leve
has been too high