The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-09-09

ceived for their bumper product O
last year Wheat prices, for instnce
/ are about % cents per bushel highc
! than at this date last year; while corr
Is selling about Is cents per bushe
higher-figures which when appliet
, to products aggregating hundreds q
: millions Of bushels mean a tremen
, dous increase, not alone in the wealth
of the agricultural sections, but ii
the additional credit that such wealth
i provides; and which In turn must
necessarily be reflected In the in
creased purchasing power of Injuries
and the more staple products Of in
dustry. The increase in the Chicago
Burlington & Quincy dividend from
a to an s per cent basis and the
additional 6 per cent distribution nal
a stimulating effect on Thursday on
Great Northern preferred and the
Northern Pacific, which Jointly con,
troll the road, and through them on
| the general market. On the other hand
the decision to dissolve the Union Pa
citic convertible bond syndicate with
out having disposed of the bonds sug.
gests disposition on the part Of keen
bond experts to look for slight. If
| any, Improvement in the bond situa-
ton In the near future. The decline
in the official price OF copper to l7h
cents was of slight Importance. 1t did
not attract new buying OF the metal
on any large scale for it merely re
flected an official recognition of 4
price that had been actually current
for some weeks, and no increased IA
ducemnt existed to purchase the sup.
plies at an official than at an un
official price. Th>re are excellent in
dications that the Industries In which
copper figures prominently are sta
doing good, steady business the
period of extreme activity has, how
ever, evidently passed, which is merely
a repetition of conditions existing in
other important industrial depart
ments.
There is, however, little change, in
a broad sense, In financial conditions.
The stock market has undergone a
reimbursement represented by some.
thing like s3,000000,0 900 and 1t is ONLY
NATURALLY that a corresponding read
justment perhaps not SO Spectacular
shall follow In mercantile and indus
trial circles. The fundamental trouble
in both the financial and commercial
markets is that capital has been In.
vested more or less permanently--has |
lost it's liquid form-and Is not avail |
able either for stock market purposes,
for the regular channels of trade dis |
tribution, or for the working capital |
of the industrial world. Under such |
circumstances the necessity for an
caution In undertaking new
ventures is at hand and cannot well |
be ignored In stock market considera. |
tons. The records of the mercantile |
agencies are Illuminating in this con.
nection, showing for August. for in
stance, an increse in commercial EN-
parrassments compared with the cor
month of last year, and
it is significant that the Increases are
almost exclusively In Industrial cir.
cles, thus giving practical demonstra-
ton OF the widespread scarcity of cap
ital for legitimate business enter
prises. The liabilities for August fail
ures, for instance, aggregated more
than si5.00O,000 as compared with
about s90OO.OOe in August, 1906. In
departments other than industrial
there was sharp decrease In liabili
ties, those of brokerage. insurance and
real estate concerns, for instance, +
footing up less than those OF August,
1906, while banks and trust compan-
les failing during the month of Au-
gust had liabilities of about $4,000. 900
Or S5,000,000 less than in August.
1906. A rather good evidence Il the
of the demand for lux.
lries is contained in the monthly ro.
port of the Appraiser of the Port OF
New York. The imports of precious
stones. for instance, during the month
Of August amounted In value to 81
1S3,S62, comparing with $685.. 29G In
AUGUST, lJvt. since january 1 the
number of automobiles imported has
been s04, comparing with 935 during
The corresponding period OF last year,
and the value of such autos. as off.
,ially declared at the Custom House.
was s2.S16.5s9. as against s3,15s,143
There are signs that a period of con.
traction to a sound and sane basis of
living is at least beginning; the un.
,ertainties of the political campaign.
though necessarily of an on year. Is
! factor that is calling for recognition
n the financial situation. while the
that the presidential cleo
ion year of 1908 is approaching and
hat the contest is undoubtedly to be
strenuous is still another
feature suggesting the desirability of
aking frequent reasonable profits
when obtainable to admit of buying
back ON the reactions. we are now In
or a more active trading market with
vide fluctuations.
HENRY CLEws.