The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-18
BIRMINGHAM BOILER WORKS

Office and WOrks-Fortieth S
 
 from Washington having almost the weight of administration announce ment. that the treasury will at the proper time release such idle funds as have accumulated In it's vaults, tn ereby furnishing the funds with which to more the crops and relieve urgent needs which may unduly op- press the banking resources. It Is fig ured out that Secretary Cortelyou can release between $60.OO0,O00 and sS0- 000.000 treasury money should the emergency require it. Congress at it's last session armed the secretary with authority to loosen up and unlock the treasury vaults.
 The relief which can flow from that source supplementing the capital which can be made available in the ordinary way should enable the country to get through the stringent period without the entailment of disas hardship on the real business interests. Rail roads and other corporations are mak- ing a virtue of necessity by curtail- ing their demands whether possible.
 They for the most part esteem 1t the part of greater wisdom to postpone cam paigns for spending money than to pay usurious interest on borrowed money It usually happens that when everybody
 
 for trouble the fearsome emergency passes without ripple, peacefully and without strain. Everybody Is looking for hard times and tight money next fall and winter and putting their houses in order for the expected storm. The unexpected Is likely to happen.
 Sympathy for the telegrap phers in their strike does not seem to deeply affect Wall street and the business sec tion. The prevailing opinion is that the men made a mistake and that they might have accomplished what they are after with out trying to tie up the coun- try and provoke irritation in quarters which might easily have been made friendly. The Western Union has none too many friends and if the men had right clearly on their side, or If they had been more polite in their play 1t would have fared better with them.
 Ne Western Union management has been notoriously hard and the men have been notoriously underpaid con sidering their high average intelligence and the skill required in performance Morally, they had a good case, but one that required careful nursing when 1t came to antagonizing the crafty man agement of the stony hearted and re- morseless corporation.
 The outside business of the stock market has been embarrassed consid- erably this week by reason of the strike, but the long distance telephone proved to be a good substitute where there was important business to trans act which the telegraph company knew when the strike began.
 The industrial outlook does not improve Indications of let-down In many man ufacturing lines are becoming more pro nounced. These unpleasant signs of ap- preaching depression have not yet ma terially affected mercantile business or railroad earnings, or in fact. earnings anywhere but the bookings show un- mistakably a falling off in orders for future delivery. Measured by the pres ent volume of returns there is gross eX- areration to many of the stories afoat about unfavorable industrial prospects
 Unfortunately the future cannot he gauge1 by what is going on at the time being for in every branch of activity the wheels are revolving at full speed. Manufacturing concerns are working un- der pressure fulfilling old orders and railroads have all they can do trans porting the traffic that presses upon them.
 With the beginning of another calendar year. however, there Is ugly promise or q sharp drop. Whether or not the stage of dullness will be of long duration or just enough to give us breathing spell is a problem which puzzles the wisest
 only those who think most vigorously with their mouths make confident predlc- tions either way. Much will depend on the political policies of these great par ties The closest students of conditions whose impulses are patriotic. content themselves with hoping for the pest while fearing the worst.
 By the way whats the matter with Lawson? Where was he through all the wreck of matter and crash or "orld! He was filling the columns Of neWspa- pers and burdening the telegraph wires with advice to buy St. Paul and Amal- Ramated when these stocks were % points higher and telling everybody that he had formed an alliance with important 5people to give the market tremendous boost
 If he had been employed by the big fellows to help them make market for Ian over supply of stocks he deserves to have been well paid, for his great fol- flowing was unquestonably landed with ,onormous lines of stocks at the time the 'sip"p began. As a shepherd chronically
 mbs to slaughter. Lawson has no equal.
 ite..oeis of these letters will remember ,that for months they have been tinged with disbelief in stock market stability During this period stocks have undergone terrific shrnkage. 1 feel that most of the bad conditions have been discounted in the great shrlnkage which has taken place and for the first time since the be- ginning of the year I advise purchases O. dividend paying securities around these prices.
 Good stocks can be bought on [ per cent basis, stocks as Union Pacific, South ern Pacific, Atchson, United States Steel preferred and Norfolk and Western. They can be bought with safety, unless there should occur financial cataclysm which would Involve tho whole world