The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-09-22

PiSaohSSN ia4uiudeioh. ITiCeS, IL Is du-
mitted, have declined to a point fully
discounting all known unfavorable fac
tors. The Moroccan situation does not
explain the present fall in
values. In the first place, no one
really expects war as a result Of the
present dispute between Germany and
France. The prize would not be worth
its cost. War between Germany and
France would mean an expenditure of
not less than s5,000,O0O a day, would
cause grave disarrangement OF indus
trial and. commercial affairs through
out Europe and set it's participants
backwards full generation. There is
every reason, therefore, to believe that
the Moroccan incident viii
be satisfactorily adjusted! yet behind
the whole trouble lies the porteItous
fact that Germany wants elbow room.
Her large population needs land and re-
sources for its expanding energies.
Germany finds herself bottled up, with
all the desirable portions of the world
pre-empted by other nations. Conse-
quently, whenever occasion permits
her diplomats put on the greatest
pressure possible at points of least re
sistance. This unquestionably ex-
plains the occasional eruptions :, it
messed in Germany's international
policy.
AS result of Germany's recent
prosperity her credit at home and
abroad has been greatly extended.
Considerable borrowings have been
made in both France and England.
Credit is always extremely sons tive,
and under existing conditions it was
but natural that Paris and London
should curtail their Accommodations
to German enterprises as long as the
situation remained threatening. This
curtailment of credit and forced .iqui-
dation induced free selling of securi-
ties by German holders, including
considerable share of Americans,
which were returned to this market.
Failure to digest the recent $4,000,
900 Argentine loan was also a cause of
additional embarrassment. The result
has been a strain in the money mar
kets abroad which may be partially re
fiected here, particularly in view OF
our larger purchases OF stocks from
abroad.
Liquidation has, of course, weaken
ed the situation on the New York mar
ket. Overextended long accounts
were closed, and there has been I'M
doubted free short selling by those who
had a close knowledge of inside af-
fairs. The general distrust bred by
political agitation and the hostile at
titude of labor at home and abroad
aided materially the general weak
ness. So, too, did frequent symptoms
of trade reaction. Uncertainty as to
whether some of the more important
dividends recently paid had been fully
earned multiplied perplexities. De-
creases in railroad earnings demon
strated the smaller volume of trade.
In some sections merchants are dis
appointed that crops were not record
breaking, although they may in the
aggregate prove quite up to the aver
age. Added to these conditions we
had weakened technical position of
the market, so it is not difficult to UNI
destand the reasons for the late de-
cline.
On the other hand the situation is
not without features of encourage
ment. Our foreign trade is in excel
lent condition, large increase In ex-
ports serving to strengthen our credit
abroad and to bring our international
relations into more normal position
The banking situation is also much
better than some months ago. There
the banks are in a generally sound
condition. Land speculation at the
West has been checked, and neither
bankers nor merchants in that part
of the country share the excessive pes
simism which prevails in New York
In some directions the situation is al
ready working out it's own cure. Lib
eral concessions have been made in
iron and steel, with the result of ma
terially stimulating the demand. It is
true that the Steel Corporation is only
working about 20 per cent of its capa-
city, nevertheless it's total product is
almost as large as at any time dur
ing its history There is little real
reason for complaint as to the volume
of the steel business, : though profits
may have been considerably curtailed
Similar conditions nreVail in tha tey-