Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-20
Calamity Prophets Are
At a Great Discount
Pessimstic Grumblngs Are Not Warranted
American Bankers the Country Over Are Cheerful
Mo Logical Basis for Business Scare

! conditions locally" Industrial conditions in
the west are described as excellent you
must turn your eyes away from Kansas If you
/ are looking for any financial trouble to start"
declares the president of the Kansas National
bank of Wichita; and bank president from
Salt Lake City asserts that the financial
condition ir Utah is practically all that could
| be desired at this time
Business 5ituation Sound
Conditions in the southwest are described
as much more favorable now than sixty days
ago. Edwin Chamberlain president Of the
Texas Bankers association, reports favorably
! of the general condition Of his state, both
, financially and commercially. despite the fact
that the cotton crop is below normal A wit
ness from Arkansas tells us that every manu-
featuring industry-especially the tile and
brick plants and the creosote industry-is very
prosperous. From the new state of Oklahoma
we learn that "90 per cent of the state re-
ports trade conditions excellent and collec-
tions very satisfactory" Attention is called
to the fact that ''431 banks in the state with
cent IN th, last year" And from the north
west comes similar testimony. 'aThe prosper
ity Of the state Of Washington says a Ia
coma banker, exceeds that of any prior date
with enormous crops far SURPRISING any year,
Another canvass of the country is summar-
ized in the crop and business report" of the
Commercial National bank OF Chicago and the
results are chronicled in the Bankers Monthly
(Chicago). In this inquiries were sent to
some 0000 banking manufacturing and mer-
chandizing correspondents throughout the
United States. and the gist of the answers is
that the business situation Is sound and sat
isfactory," although 'the high cost of mate
rials and labor, ane especially certain inef-
ficiency of labor noted by some of our
informants as unfavorable factors in the stu
alton" The Bankers Monthly points out that
stagnation is found only in the purely specu-
lative department. of affairs" But it is this
speculative lethargy which looms so large In
the financa, news from day to day.
1t has been shown by a French statistician
that the money ''tightness" SO much COM
planned Of is worldwide phenomenon. and
that the worlds demand for capital, as repre-
sente by new security issues in 1906. was
estimated savings available for investment in
that year.
Bank Transactions Are Good
The pessimistic utterances proceeding from
Wall lstres: are denounced by Senator Foraker
in recent address as tending to bring about
their own fulfilment by undermining the peo-
ple's confidence in the country's prosperity.
But an even more authoritative voice ranges
itself on the side of the optimists In the Oc-
tober Circle where President Van Cleave Of
the National Association of Manufacturers
declares that mo menace Of any sort to bus
iness is in sight" Especial interest attaches
to Mr. Van Cleaves opinion in view of the
fact that the National Association of Manufac-
turers represents capital to the amount of
fifteen billions Of dollars. If business scare
should come in 1903, he says. 1t would be
psychological and not logical To quote
further:
''The bank transactions In all the great CEN
tiers except New York are above those of any
previous year. and in New York they are
Diminished by the lull in speculation. which
in itself is a good sign. Railroad earnings and
foreign trado are far in excess of all past hg-
ures, and the general tendency in each is up
yard. On the great lakes the traffic is break
ing all records The heavy gains in our inn
ports of merchandise remind us that though
our factories and workshops of all sorts are
producing more goods than ever before, they
are falling far short of the home demand.
This compels our people to look abroad for a
larger and larger portion of the things they
need. From 1900 to 1907, while the country's
population has grown Is per cent. its pig
iron outpus has increased 100 per cent, and Its
steel production has expanded 120 per cent
'our bank clearpgs, railroad earnings. for
eien trade and increase niron and steel pro-
duction are trustworthy barometer Of gen
eral business conditions. In general way
the expansion in iron and steel production
measures the growth. in most of our great ga
activities Yet, as the increase In our I'M
ports shows the purchasing power OF our
people, as measured by the things they ;, BUY
abroad and at home, has increased In stili
larger ratio Across all our activities prosper
ity is writing its autograph in bold hand.