The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-03-20
Special.
New York March Is.

New York, March is.
A much better understona has de,
velopel on the stock exchange. No
/ thing contributed more to this i'm
provement than the worldwide ease
, OF money. Loanable funds are abund-
, ant everywhere, especially at this
| center, and at exceptionally low rates
Some slight hardening may be. an
. ticipate previous to the April settle
ments, but this will be purely temaor-
airy and low rates are to be expected
Until the approach of our next har-
vest. Along with this plethora Of
money goes material easing OF the
credit situation. Good borrowers
| have no difficulty in finding all ne
cessary accommodation. Under ex-
listing conditions it pays better to
put money into good investments pay
ing ~ or 6 per cent than seeking
employment for money at one-half
those rates. Many financial institu-
tons recognize this situation and
nave been enlarging their holdings of
good stocks and bonds. while these
conditions last it will be difficult to
keep stocks at their present level, pro
al .-gr rtt \ ,,,%1
Money and Trade.
\ favorable feature is the steady
Improvement of the bank situation
as chown by the last bank call from
the comptroller at Washington. In
New York deposits have gained over
$500 100000 since the call wo months
ago, while the Chicago banks reported
a gain of over $70,O0O,0OO during the
same period. The loans at New
York increased during this period
$124,000,000 and at Chicago 100000.
coo.
Another important feature of slow
but farreaching effect is the i'm
proved situation of our foreign trade
Our exports are rapidly returning 10
normal and healthy conditions. In
February our shipments abroad of
merchandise aggregated $4,000, 900,
or S51,000,000 more than a year ago
Importations during the same period
amounted to 1921 100000, a decrease
of $S,400,000 compared with last year
This meant an excess of $4,000, 900
in exports as against an excess of
$5,50O,000 in imports in 1910 and an
excess of s7,400,000 in exports in 1909
This is certainly a most encouraging
exhibit and has immensely strength
ened our credit abroad. OF the total
exports in February $SS,000,000, or
onc,nalf of the whole, consisted of
food products, mineral oils and cot
ton. a year ago these articles
accounted to $50,000,000 in value. The
bhth VI tiio lhtiCdn6g HUWbNGE, occur
red in cotton, which was valued at
$5S,0CG00O in February, 1911, com
pared with $24,O00,O0O in 1910. Our
dependence upon single article,
such as cotton, as an export is per-
maps the least desirable feature in
the foreign trade situation, because
cotton shipments must soon decline
until the next crop begins to move.
Yet the increase in breadstuffs from
$7000,000 in February, 1910, to Sill.
100000 in February, 1911, must be ac-
cepted as satisfactory sequence Of
declining prices; and it is also to be
remembered that our exports of man.
ufactures, especially iron and steel,
are steadily expanding.
Cost Of Living Lower.
Still further evidence that the need
ed economic readjustment is pro-
crossing will be found in observation
of the tendency in commodity prices.
The latter show persistent dropping
tendency. Bradstreet's index number