Bisbee daily review., 1910-12-24

Co be stiil in very conservative
 frame of mind. snd disposcd to
 restrain undue speculative operations
 Ths4 policy of siqw and forced liaui
 dstion. ws,sch has been cafried oui
 for the last six monthe. has been
 undoubtedly beneficial. ft nss
 checked a pace that was altogether
 too rapid. and has facilitated the
 restoration of equilibrium which may
 pave the way for fresh activity lat. CT on.
 The feeling fs stiii abroad that values generally are upon an in- fiated basis. This may be true or commodities. but not of securities. which arc now selling considerably below high levels. As to comnodi- ties. some reaction has already set in, particularly in food products: and the recession there rust ui- timately. result in a partially re- duced cost of livng As yet. how ever. these reductions have not reached the consumer. largely be cause middIemen are endeav ring to maintain their old scale of profit as long as possible. The most serious problem which producers have to face is the high cost ele- ments- How thls is to be reduced. is a problem yet to be solved. Some reduction may be had in raw ma teriais. but this will not be suffi. cient, and cannot offset the greatly increased cost of wages and ad. vances fin rents. taxes. etc. The best solution would appear to be in securing more efficiency in lab or Wages have risen, hours have been shortened and output restricted until these factors have beer q very serious element increased costs Under present conditions it is ai- most impossibl to ask labor to ac- cept lower wages. Labor. however, can materially relieve the situation to its own advantage by encouraging a policy of greater efficiency and larger production. Labor fs after all the chier consumer, and white insisting upnn advanced wageE. ms been unconsciously diminishing the power of its wages anS increasing it's own cast of living
 As the year draws to !, close general business IS quiet in nearly ali departments Fortunately there are no serious indications of un sound conditions. At the West some financial strain is reported, the lower prices for farm products hay ing induced farmers to hold hacs but in this there is noth ing serious The south continueS owing to the large prof its of cotton growing; and the con try as a whole shows the activity and energy inevitable with a rapid growing popoulation. The east .s still decidedly pessimistic,. while the west maintains its characteristically optimistic attitude. Tha true course probably lies between the two eX- tremes. Our iron trade, usually considered the best barometer, coH- tinues unduly depressed and Is run ming only about nalf its capacity This state of affairs is due to the inability of the railroads to raise
 funds. Should they succeed in placing contemplated issues, and should the Interstate Commission al TOW some reasonable advances, the prospects are that this situation will soon be relieved and that iron and steel, will once more place their orders for construction and the railroads, the large buyers O: equipment with customary freedom. If much longer delayed a rush of orders must follow, if only to fill the vacuum created by long post
 ponement. This immediate out
 look of the stock market is en,
 couragiDg rather than otherwise As
 for the more distant future, that
 can be more accurately gauged when
 we have fairly entered the u-W