The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-01
FINANCIAL CLOUD
 IS PASSING AWAY Opinion of British Expert Is
 Very Optimistic MANY FACTORS IN PANIC 5pe ,ulatIon In 1907 Went Wild and Many Financial Schemes We're Entered Into Which Brought
 Disaster to Many.

Washington, May 31.-(Special. )-The cloud of uncertainty which has been
 hanging over the business element of the United States is, in the opinion of the British commercial agent in this country, passing away. In a recent re- port to Parliament on this subject, MT. Seymour Bell, the British commercial agent in the United States, says
 "The year 1907 was one of sharp coll trasts in the United States. It was year of great activity and deep depres- sion. During the earlier months all in dustries were exceedingly busy and mills were working at their utmost capacity unified orders had been carried over fom the previous year and buyers aela aetieneing great difficulty in get ting delNars If their goods. The rail- way 4 ge ;ongested wages were at ta6 the high price of con- n a4 ~ the price of living to an extreme point. It was recognized by all shose in 6 position to form an independ- ent opinion that this tremendous indus trial activity could not last; that it was merely question of time before re-
 
 evident that the country was living be- yond it's means. Money was becoming scarce and railways and other corpora tions were encountering great difficulties in obtaining the capital necessary to car " on the improvements and extensions which were in process of being carried out Speculation in mining and real es. tata rif gance was at it's height. This all tended to place additional burdens on the money supplies which were hardly adequate to carry on the industries of the country. The railways were among the earliest and greatest sufferers from the financial stringency. They found it almost impos- sble to dispose of securities at req sonable price and were forced to issue short-time notes at a comparatively high rate of interest to enable them to con tinue their developments. As wages were high, owing to the scarcity of labor, and high prices were being paid for ma terals, the net earnings of the railways were considerably reduced, although the gross earnings showed an increase. This brought about lower quotations for rail way shares and the industrials followed the downward path.
 '"rhe situation was peculiar. On the che hand there were the manufacturers with more orders than they could fill and busy enlarging their plants, mer- chants selling large quanties of goods at satisfactory prices, labor in such demand that even with the addition of the 1,20O,- GOO immigrants it was necessary to em- ploy inefficient workers at good wages. On the other hand there was dear money owing to scarcity.
 "When, owing to a failure in New York, light was thrown on the manage ment of some of the large financial con- cerns in the city, public confidence which had previously been undermined by certain investigations, gave way com pletelv, resulting in an acute money panic Careful students of the situa- tion had foreseen collapse before the end of the year but did not anticipate that it would come with such sudden ness.
 "The panic was entirely financial It has, it is true. brought about a wide spread suspension of trade and industry throughout the country, but there has been no throwing on the market of mer- chandise at ruinous prices the usual ac- compartment of industrial panics. The manufacturers, on the contrary, faced the inevitable, and without delay pro- ceeded to curtail the supply and thus re- duce such chances as there might have been of glutting the market with un- salable articles. Fortunately for the country warning of the trouble was given early, and it was possible to take steps in time to prepare for it.
 "hs to the length of time the present depression will last it is difficult to form an opinion. It must not be forgotten that the farmers, who form the backbone of American prosperity, have not been af- tected by the financial situation. Though the crops in 1907 fell short in quantity as compared with 19Ov, higher prices were 1 obtained and the farmers received con- l siderably more money for their crops l than in the previous year. country | that produces crops valued at nearly | s, ,500, GOO 600 is unlikely to suffer long