The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-04


 The stock market situation has been in-
 trnsieally weak, and 1t continues 10 be
 weak, due to a certainty that the season
 of monetary stringency will be unusuall.-
 acute this year; that industrial and busi-
 ness depression Is impending, and that oo-
 litical discontent has assumed such heal.
 way that it is sure to still further dis
 turb enterprise and impair confidence. Money is getting on the nerves of the stock market The whole world is in need of funds and borrowers of every class are in hot combetition for whatever may bu available or come into sight. Call money continues to be quoted at reasonable -ates -212 to 4 per cent-but call money docs not reflect the general situation. It Is time money that counts, and so long as the strongest and most highly favored bor- rowers are more than willing to pay usuf- ious rates for cash as fast as it ac-
 cumulates, the outlook cannot be tortured
 into anything favorable. The west and
 southwest are just now the bankers
 trouble. Reports from those great sections
 are dlsquieting Interior or country banks
 in the pride of their prosperity were i'm
 prudent enough to take on quantities of strange paper.
 Amongst other things punches of short time notes issued by railroad and indus . trial corporations yielding and per cent interest. This paper was showed on them by the city banksi Latterlv the country banks, fp3tng urgent use for thei money at home, have been endeavoring to rediscoht the paper at the reserve cen ters, oafy to be informed that the city banks have use for loanable funds, and were afflicted with troubles of their own To make matters worse, the comptroller at Washington has been dropping hiris that these country banks have been carry ing too much, of this sordld collateral and suggesting the wisdom of putting themselves in better shape to meet local requirements. Ii is stated on good au- thority that the country banks of south- ern Illinois (EgypD had been found to be carrying $7.000,000 of corporation short time notes, and were told hat-footedly that the exhibit was unsatisfactory. These bankers appealed to St. Louis for relief and met with a glacial reception Al last accounts the comptroller of the currency was making special examination into this case.
 If he pursues the matter far enough ne will discover that the trouble is gen eral throughout the west and southwest and that instead of S00o,00o of hard earned western money being employed In the manner described, hundreds of mil Hons are involved. The territory tribu- tary to Chicago. Omaha, St. Paul. Kan sas City. New Orleans, Galveston, Cin- cinnati, Indianapolis and every important banking point west of the Alleghanies has been similarly plastered The result is that the western and southwestern banks which were supposed to be in a position to finance the crop movement in large part, are already beginning to draw on their reserves in the big city. Further along they will be compelled to send their corporation notes back to New York which will, in the end, have to tanc care of the bulk of the entire output. It is knowledge of this inside banking wkich has been the inherent weakness of the stock market, and which has moved insiders to unload as fast as they could, not having time to await