Omaha daily bee., 1910-10-30
BIC BUSINESS WAKING UP
Successors of Insolent Magnate Are
Changing Front
WILLING TO CONSULT PUBLIC
Men in Touch with Large Affairs
Look for Period of Quiet IN
tn After the Coming EIec-
tiOns Are Held.
BY PRESTON @ ADAMS.

BY PRESTON G. ADAMS.
NEW NORN, oct N.-(Special to The
Bee.l-l called attention recently to the
changed attitude or men at the head OF
great affairs towards the rights OF the pub
nc 10 view IN the management OF bust
ncSses which, in their nature. are semi
pubic. An instance OF TINS Cnangc Of base
rs found in the advertisement OF a great
railway system appearing IN the New York
AS the motto Of the company apparently
appear these words in quotation marks:
tor tho Public Service"
IL mas not been very many years since the
head Of this same company gave utter
ance to the historic proposition THE pub
lie be d Somewhat different attitude
these days.
Business ~ Good.
one Of the largest mercantile banks In
New York unus that business Is. to use
me phrase Oh a usu oIuCer, "COnserva-
lively good NO great uCuWty ~ noted
IRON uay TO day, ana certaIniy no new
iecuEus are beng achieved, yet when ac-
counts are maue up at the end OF the
month IL IS usually round tnat the turn
over has been larry satisfactory in volume.
there are wiue spread complaints, how
ever, that profits have TO be kept down to
a narrow margin IN order TO secure busi-
ness. Inc strongest firms are not encoun-
ltfnB ulGIlCuity IN securing aCCommoda-
uOni tho usual discount rate Tor q prime
SIX months bill Is or per cent, with occa-
SlOha transactions at % per cent. Mer-
chants OF slender resources 90 not fare so
well; even at per cent they cannot Always
prevail upon either bill brokers or local
bankers TO grant accommodation, although
there Is a lar demand for this kind OF
paper from out Of town.
lhe disposition is to look for more or
less prolonged period OF quietness until
the political sky becomes less Clouded and
until the supreme court decides the trust
cases that are to be taken up on January
3 An institution or an individual having
100000 available for use is not disposed
remarked this banker, to 20 ahead until
the sherman law has been Strengthened
out This tends TO restrict enterprise.
Use of the Automobile.
The vice president Of an Industrial cor
poraton located in st. Louis and having
representatives, all over the United States,
IN course OF conversation recently said this
company has taken special pains some
ume ago to ascertain the facts concerning
the purchase and use of automobiles in all
parts Of the country.
RMS investigation was prompted by the
allegations that all sorts of irresponsible
persons were buying machines for which
they could not pay. But the unanimous
verdict OF this company's men was that in
tne great majority Of cases the cars pur-
chased were utilized for economic purposes
more than for sheer pleasure. Country
doctors found them less expensive than
horses. farmers used them freely for hur-
rying supplies to the market and so forth
Il recall" he added, that there was at
one time great cutlery about the millions
OF dollars eXtravagantly spent on pianos.
but do you ever hear a word about this
today, Notwithstanding that the piano bust
ness has increased enormously? Surely
more use can be derived in the strictly
economic sense, from motor vehicles than
from pianos. BY and by this sensible view
will prevail and you win hear less noise
biles."