Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-12-17
Bradstreet' 5 Expert
on Business and
C DINNER rel al
Outlook
. UPT. FRANK II. wIIITzEl. of

Ixa the Bradstfeeti company, III an
J expert review of the business ana
commercial outlook, gives the fol-
lowing statement that will be read with
general interest. He says:
t'rhc business history Of 1910 presents
curious anomaly. With people on the
whole out of debt, with wages and crop
prices at the highest mark in four de-
cadcs, with granaries bullying with
surplus products, with factories run
ming at nearly full capacity. with
banks ovnInowing with deposits, with
transportation facilities heavily taxed
t6 hacdlo traffic, the country has seen
business dun in every line, collections
exceedingly backward, and bank clear
.ngs showing either an actual decrease
or an increase so far below the normal
as to amount in effect 10 decrease. In
short we nave had the conditions of
prosperity but tbs actually OF stagna-
ton.
1T is difficult to discover. not the
reason, for reason there is none, but
an adequate explanation of this unique
state Of affairs. An election OF great
uncertainty III prospect. II general
doubt OF 81 continuation Of prosnerity, ~
recollection Of the causcless panic of
1897 when we were extended financial
ly exactly as we were at the beginning
of the present year, the increased cost
of living by no means balanced By
higher wages the helpless despair with
which the people contemplated the 81
gantic combinations which controlled
all transportation, all necessities and
most luXuries. the unbridled greed and
the skcpticism With which people re-
garded the power or the willingness OF
courts or legislatures to AFFORD protcc-
tion from such oppression. a skcpticism
enhanced by certain surprising court
decisions, the distrust on the part Of
capital, Of the attitude of the people
and their representatives toward or
ganiZcd business, the punishment Wis
itcd upon honest enterprises through
the misconduct Of certain large cod
Germs, the constant prosecutions war
rantcd ard unWarrantcd of So-called
truyts-all these, combined with the re-
lur:ance, not to say timditv. of bank
ors everywhere to advance fruds. no.
matter how worthy the enterprise,
lYr been aAduccd as the cause of the
stuGnancy.
Indeed, the bankers have come in
FOR the greater part Of the blame. They
have held the purse strings amazingly
tight, and throughout the year they
have loaned money only under heavy
pressure and in minimum amount They
are perhaps right in calling their at
tilude conservatism. What some others
call it Is hardly tit for publication. They
may have avcr,ed u panic rs they
claim but they have certainly checked
the circulation of the blood of bust
ness hamDcred going institutions and
prevented or delayed the establish
ment of new concerns.
~ The result is apparent locally In the
sudden reaction the real estate market
took from the rosy promise of last
spring. in the ,,ncompletcd buildings
over town of which the Newhousc hotel
Is conspicuous example, and in the
scarcity Of large building operations In
projection.
"A year ago in these columns / mild
~ predicted strinsency, judging our
condition to be similar to that of 1907.
Now | am inclined to prophecy II much
better fate for the coming year. The
Immense crop of 1910 with the good
prices obtained therefor. the great i'm
provemcnt noted of late in collections
ana bank clcarings, the more general
employment Of labor which look TO
see still further extended, the encour-
aging decrease in the cost of certain
staples, the tendency toward libelality
on the part of financial Institutions, and
the widespread increase of confidence,
upon the future with optimism, In suite
Of such disquicting possibilities us 4
tampering with the tariff and continued
court proceedings in reference to trans
portation charges. However righteous
such proceedings may be, they always
affect business adversely. Neverthc-
less the outlook on the whole is cncour-
aging, though ! expect no wave of pros
ncrlty-merely gradual Improvement
In trade and a reasonable margin OF
profit to all concerned, laborer, mcr-
chant consumer alike.
Local trade has followed the gen
eral market more closely than hereto
fore. The whole country seems in the
same situation. modified but slightly by
local conditions. Few concerns have
shown II pronounced profit the past
year. and many have had difficulty IN
making ends meet. On the other hand,
faiures in this section have been sur
prisingly infrcGucnt, considering the
strain and the general Willingness to
grant extensions ana to show every
cniency has worked to hold down the
losses To a point Ear below the aver
age. This speaks volumes for the basic
soundress Of orr business methods and
financial condition. and Is II further
reason To predict n moderately pros
Porous year to come"