The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-05-16
Money Needed for General
Business Purposes
WATCH FARMING OUTLOOK
Crop Prospect In Lower Hall of
County Is Not Considered
Up To the Aver
By w. ]. NICHOLAS.

New York, May Especial THE I'M
certainty in the market is as to whether
the public Will step in and take the
stocks as the big people who are now car
rying them largely on cheap money Dor
rowed from banks gradually work out of
their holdings This process is now go
ing on and has been for some time. It
will continue to go on and very likely at
a more rapid rate than heretofore, as
money begins to be needed for general
business purposes at advancing rates of
interest. Mr.. John J. Mitchell, the great
Chicago banker, goes on record with the
prophecy that by fall money Will be up
to per cent. This view is being in
dorsed by a good many of the more i'm
portant bankers of New York. who have
their hands on the pulse Of business
and feel the situation hardening and i'm
proving every day. 1t goes almost with
out saying that as the volume of money
required for general business becomes
larger there will be less for Wall street
use. That means less for speculation. AS
has been mentioned in this correspond
ence many times of late, great sums of
money are employed in The stock market
for the scalp between the borrowing
rates and the amount realized from div
idends the scalp ranging from to 4
per cent, enough to mount up into big
figures while conditions remains as they
are. 1t was not so safe to indulge in
this line of operations a few months ago
as it is now, for the reason that neither
banks nor borrowers felt that Astounding
sense Of general solvency that has been
prevailing since the presidential election
last fall That seems now to have been
the definite turning point from uncer-
tainty to certainty. 1t is easy to sec
just where the new era of returned con-
fidence began.
The gamble is as to whether the mis-
cellaneous public will take the place of
the concentrated capital now under the
stock market, as the readjustment pro-
ceeds In the opinion of many expert
enced people in Wall street there will
follow quite an important decline in stock
quotations as a result of the shifting of
the load. At this writing there Is a very
general famine of stocks in commission
house hands. The floating supply is I'M
usually small. This does not as many
people believe, prove that the great mass
of stocks have gone into investment
hands. 1t does show, however, that the
stocks are being carried directly by banks
and trust companies for account of i'm
portant interests and for large and IA
Vored customers. To such an extent has
the dividend paying stocks been thus
taken out Of commission houses and viz
tually out of the street, that speculation
is perforce turned into the semi-specula-
nd xtrhn LOT fSGtI hn
latter including a long list of cats and
dogs 1t thus transpires that some of
these issues of doubtful value are at the
present time selling for more than they
are worth. Al. the same time the really
good things are so high and SO hard to
get that they have lost their attractive
ness and spectators let them alone. They
are afraid to sell short and do not want
to buy. 1t will not be surprising, how
ever, if from day to day these good things
reappear in the street in increasing vol
ume AS stated In the first paragraph
of this dispatch, distribution is going on.
Apparently this is no time for the Jere-
mahs to obtrude themselves into view,
but there Is none the less a well-defned
fear that the market may be on the edge
of a severe setback. The stock market
took the lead in a recovery of business
confidence and is now far far ahead of
the procession. Either business will have
to bound forward with great jumps ito
catch up or stock market prices will have
to settle back. They are startlingly out
of line.
This is the time of year when wise
men are keeping a close watch Of farm
ing conditions. The crop outlook in the
lower half of the country, taken as
whole is not considered up to the aver
age In the northwest 1t was bad up
30 a short time ago, but within the last
few DAYS there has been decided improve
ment. especially in the Canadian pros
poets. Advices from the Canadian north
west are coming in unusually fine. As
the agricultural authorities have been
saying for many years past, the country
is getting so big and farming carried
on with such high intelligence, that We
have no longer reason to ever fear dis
astrous crop results. Deficient yields in
localities may and do/occur every year,