The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-11-26
COUNTRY ENJOYING
ERA OF PROSPERITY
People Are Making Comfort
able Living and Are Hope
ful of the Future.
TOO WISE TO GAMBLE
Wall Street Learns Country Is
in Good Shape and Busi-
ness Improves.
TOO WISE TO GAMBLE
BY PRESTON G. ADAMS
Leased Wire 10 The Tribune.

by Leased Wire 10 The Tribune,
NEW YORK, Nov. 25.-Wall street
has at last learned that the country
is in pretty good shape; that legiti.
mate business is all right, and that
while the people arc either too busy
or too wise 60 gamble reckless1y, even
in stocks, that they are making a
comfortable living as a rule, and are
hopeful of the future
That is about the real reason for the
recent recovery. of prices on the stock
exchange.
When orders are placed for 100000
tons of steel in IA single week, whco
railroad gross earnings show an aver
age increase of nearly per cent,
and when from all sections OF the coun-
try comes the same story OF good,
steady business, even Wall street
can Z take a pcssimistic view Of the
situation, And that is Just what has
happened.
There is a larger volume of general
business moving than most people
imagine. 1t is still of the hand.to-
mouth character, but in the long run
it bulks large, The fact is the coun-
try has economical so long that buy
ing has become imperative. Stocks
continue small. This is proven by. the
reduced call for accommodation. 1t is
the smallness OF the given orders at
one time that causes the idea of de-
preston,
There is better sentiment In the
textile trade bv reason of the enormous
crop of the staple. Cotton can now be
manufactured into finished goods at
profit In the iron and steel trade low
prices arc increasing the demand, The
steel mills have benefited considerably
from the recent oT,lors for equipment
placed bv the railroads,
There is an improved tone IN copper.
TODAY consumption Is IN excess OF pro
ductiop, and sellers are inclined TO ad-
vance their price. The woolcU trade
manufacturers report business nj IL to
90 per cent ahead of r year ago, aud
profits are moro satisfactory,
Our foreign trade continues good.
Experts of manufactured articles are
so large As to make for comment.
There is also steady outflow of raw
products With these conditions a
spirit OF optimism is justified.
Corporations Control Business.
How popular the corporate form has
become in the manufacturing business
is suggested by tho fact that corpora
tious now produce I0,05 per cent OF
our total output of manufactures, as
compared with 1864 per cent ten years
ago.
Total output for the year 1909, 800
672.052,o00; corporate output. $l6,-
34l, ,ll7.000: per cent, zoos, 1901
Total output, S14,T93, 100000: corpora
ton output, Sl0.9of .Oo9,ooO: per cent cent
1907 l900-Total output, $4,000
149,15 corporation output, $7,729,-
52O5iS. per cent. 59.46,
In view Of the spread Of the corpo-
rate form of ownership and the In.
effectiveness of the principle of compc-
tition the question as to how profits
and prices are to he regulated must
remain in the limeligbt until solution
is found.
Railroads Pay for Injuries.
The returns furnished by $50 rail
roads 10 tho federal commission on en-
pIovcrs' liability and workmep com
pepsatiou are Justly considered of very
great interest in throwing light upon
the probable cost Of the system which
is now proposed by the commission. AS
is we'll known, the commission did not
engage the actual services which
were offered TO il, nor did It under
take elaborate computatlons Of any
kind. IL did. however, send out a
series Of inquiry blanks 10 every rRil.
road. in which these roads were asked
TO state what tho actual cost of acct
dents bad been to them during three
specifcd years-lo0S, 1909 and 1910.
The figures furnished hv the go rail
roads reporting have lust been consolI-
dated. Bv following them 1t will be
possible for the commission TO form nj
least a rough estimate OF the amount
of burden which the legislation it pro-
poses viii throw upon the roads. AT
the same time the figures furnish some
approximate test of the extent 10
which the roads arc doing their duty
by employees TODAY.
Considering the figures for deaths as
comuiIed for the commission. il is
seem that s3,476.462 wasSpaid in settle
meuts in S022 accidents, or an average
of $ll5O. In 10 cases where judg
m.nts were obtained there WIS paid
S955 .5I1, or an average of S@l0J, Tax
ing the settlements and Judgments to-
rstbcr makes total Of 3l92 deaths,
Including both those where dependents
were left bv tho deceased and where de-
pcndeuts were not left involving total
payment of sS,S3S,aT9, or an average
OF sI20l. This simply means that the
average death on a railroad during the
INST three wears cost the road about
$1,000.
Cost s42o5 to Cripple Man.
In eases OF permanent disability il
appears that l59 eases in which iudg-
mcnts were obtained or settlements
were mqde cost the roads SobS,'O9, or
an average OF H'-Uos plsao'iu niih
completely for life, then. cost road
about $1,000, or three and oue-h half
times what it cost 10 XII him. The
figures for permanent partial disability
covering 1865 cases at tota! cost of
81 .94S,s shows that TO cripple man
for life cost 2; road on the average
sl4ol. These returns show the extreme
variation in the value Of life, and when