Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-04-01
THE BUSINESS SITUATION.
Springfield Republican Refers Whimsi
caIIy to Disturbed Conditions.

/
march down again. What they gain I'm
quotations during one day or part OF
the week they lose the next. AT one
| time last week very substantial price
gains had been achieved, but they were
nearly all lost at the close. 1t is still
purely traders market, with the pub
lie standing far aloof, and all hands
] waiting for somewhat clouded way
ahead to clear up. Strikes, impending
trust decisions, adverse foreign trade
tendencies, possible tariff war with
Canada, parliamentary revolution at
| Washington and political upsettings
| throughout the country are proving
| highly deterrent to speculative COM
| mitments, and somber views of the
outlook seem to be gathering volume
and weight, says the Springfield Re-
publican.
Persons of ordinary optimistic tenn
per are seeing men as trees walking.
We hear Of one, large western cap
italist, who anticipates social revolu-
ton which, he thinks, will center at
Chicago and begin with strikes and
| riots after the Philadelphia manner,
but in real western intensity. So-he
says-he has sold all his investments
| in Chicago and in railroads running out
therefrom, and is putting his money
| out in the country somewhere. Simi-
larly a New Haven capitalist is cited
who says he has sold mis- New Haven
and other railroad and industrial stocks
and Is putting the money into local
| lightning and manufacturing plants
| where presumably he can personally
stand guard with a shotgun.
This Is all very droll and Is given
merely to show the density of the dark
| ness which is gathering for the mo-
ment mere and there among those who
| follow quite too closely the superficial
| signs of the times. The need Of the
| world may come, but il it does it will
be as a thief in the night, and the man
| is fool who drops his work and be-
gins to wait expectantly thereon. And
| so Of a social revolution. Meantime
widespread strike fails to develop. The
| country is improving in its manner Of
and capacity for handling labor trou-
| bles. The old-style method Of a fight
| to finish without parleyins is disap-
pearing. Philadelphia has suffered
immensely and needlessly by permit
| ting its arrogant street railway mon
| opoly to resort to that method, but
even there the new light seems to be
| breaking. In striking contrast Is the
Baltimore and Ohio railroads peaceful
settlement Of threatened strike
| through the offices Of Federal officials
under the Erdman act; and similar
methods are being applied by the west
ern roads with every prospect Of sue
cess. The week opened with threat
ened strike Of trainmen over nearly
half the mileage Of the country, but 1t
ended with Federal conciliators max
ing most hopeful adjustment. II all
employers will follow the example set
| by the managers of these great rail-
roads, strikes will not be the common
experience of the industrial world as
they are now.
Th next week or two are likely to
see quite a general clearing away Of
disturbing factors. President Taft's
! obviously great anxiety to avoid pre-
cipitating tariff war with Canada
makes it highly probable that some way
of excuse will be found for not impos-
ing the maximum schedules. The rev.
olution in the house at Washington is
practically over, and even "the inter-
ests," which are supposed to have had
large stake in the preservation of the
Cannon machine, must feel relief in
being rid Of the suspense. The clear
ing up of the work of the session In
some faithfulness to the spirit of Pres
ident Taft's reform programme Is now
made a matter Of less time and
greater certainty.
Retail trade is in the between hay
and-grass season, and complaint Is
heard Of the slow movement Of goods.
Leading dry goods concerns at New
York and Chicago last week reduced
their prices for cotton 10 per cent in
order to quicken their progress into
consumption. But labor continues ex-
ceedngly well employed-no doubt
about that, and at high wages, even
though not high enough to suit And
there is equally no doubt about the
general soundness and solvency of bus
mess concerns, nor will the situation
become otherwise in the absence of
great speculative imitation as long as
commodity prices under large gold
production retain the element Of stead
mess Of buoyancy. 1t is not upon such
consideration that an industrial socie-
ty drifts toward bankruptcy or revolu-
ton.
Money has worked a little closer un-
der the influence Of reduced New York
bank reserves and a sharp upturn In
the London discount market, where
the English bank has raised its rate
from to per cent, and will go high
er If this fails to draw in gold. This
has had the effect Of advancing ster-
ling exchange at New York; neverthe-
less, Europe continues a buyer OF
American securities and is likely to
take considerable amount of the large
New York city bond offering to be sold
today, in which event foreign exchange
will continue to be held below the gold
export point. Meantime the New York
banks, while showing on the weeks
average a further and slight reduction
in surplus reserves, reveal in the ac-
tual figures at the weeks end an in
crease of no less than s7,223,450, which
brings the actual surplus reserve up
to a figure that does not compare badly
with the $19,4O0OOO reported a year
ago, when the stock market began to
move out from under the depression
caused by price-cutting in the steel
trade.
lncorrigible.-He asked so many
questions that day that he finally wore