The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-12-05

prejudice will become less acute. At |
the same time it is fully recognized |
that these great corporations and the
enormous powers which they have as
a'G I'd are not readily brought under |
the infuenca of the law. Some sort |
of reasonable regulation must be de
yised; not SO much to satisfy popular
clamor as to prevent abuses of the
great power which they inevitably
possess. Whether suitable regulation
can be developed by further amend
ment Of the sherman Law OF whether
an Industrial Commission will be pro
vided for the regulation of big con
Germs on similar lines to the Inter
state Commerce Commission remains
to hc seen. The latter idea has many
advocates and is worthy of serious
discussions Until tho settlement of
Ibis trust problem is i'm sight. bus
.e Win hesitate moro or loss be.
amse m. lenders I'm big business com
have mo- ...1 .5e. a,n r'Ht tai.
their oNs"... oar g.. conduct .t.
/ Tlc UliG oils. viii bc an s'ams. o.
uealaiu.. sot mo- worry aorious or
Important changes arc go DE npucipat
ed, except u Instance. of absolutely
unnecessary and extreme protection,
Tho Presidential campaign is, Of
course, a distracting element. but
when the political atmosphere be
comes clearer, its Importance will be
on the wane, so far as its effect upon
business are concerned After all, lit
tie real legislation will be accomplish
ed, simply because this is a Presden-
tial year, and each party will be en-
deavoring to put the other in a hole
rather than solving problems.
So much for politics, which are at
! present the chief hindrance to bust
ness recovery.Were it not for the noisy
political agitator commerce and in
dustry in the United States would
quickly return to the normal. In 9TH
er respects the business situation
shows slow but steady Improvement.
Tho iron trade is still leading the
way, and November proved the most
active month of the year for that in
dustry. We are now approaching
midwinter when much structural
work has been abandoned,so it should
cause no disappointment if there fol
lows some slight cessation of activity
three months Nevertheless. condi-
tions in the iron trade are much more
satisfactory, and some Of the most
important manufacturers have al
ready openly declared that a turn for
the better has been reached. Prices
are still low for many steel products
and the fact that there is still large
idle capacity prevents any advance
This, however, does not detract from
the fact that conditions have improv
ed Over a million and a half tons OF
finished products were sold in No
vember; upward of 100000 tons o.
this amount going to the railroads
which are always the earliest anC
shrewdest buyers at such times
There is also continued improvement
in the textile trades, and while the
volume of business is not up to nor
NAL there is a decidedly more conf
dent undertone. In the West bust
ness is fair in volume and a further
increase of confidence is reported by
bankers in that section. In the South
too, conditions are fairly satisfactory
The volume of traffic on the railroads
is well sustained, and although the
price of cotton is comparatively low
the size of the crop insures a larg'
monetary return to farmers, not t
speak of a good tonnage for the rail
roads. In some lines of business
there is a disposition to quietncss in
cidental to the approach OF January
! and the oncoming winter, but thi.
tendency is not more marked than
usual at this season.
In spite of present weakness ant
4 profit taking Wall STREET breathes east
\