The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-01
WALL STREET ISl q APESS|MIST HIVE Business Outlook Is Not Q Gloomy One SOME EXPRESSIONS Great Financial Interests Are Howl
 ing Hard Times" While Farm
 CTS From All Over Country
 Predict Better Conditions
By PRESTON C. ADAMS

l New York, September 23.-(Special.)-
 outside the situation in Wall street 1t IS hard to find the basis for some pessimistic expressions concerning the business cut look wbicch appear from time to time. | It is true there is not likely to be any thing like a boom for d time, perhaps not until after the presidential election. It is also true that the unsettled condl- tions in Europe will have the effect of drawing some gold from this country, but with all that, it is hard. to sec what basis there is for gloomy forecasts. Especially is this so in face of facts like these which appear in the news: Idle cars for fort night ended August 30 show decrease Of 1SS ner cent" "Unhlled steel tonnage shows gain of 111,9O0 tons" "Fifty-ive thousand men resume work in textile in dustres'
 These are the things which confound the pessimst. And they are strengthened by the opinions not only of the great con struction business men of the country, put by visitors in New York from various sec tions of the country, men who know the situation in their localities. For instance:
 w. T. Watt, president of the Prevalent National bank, Waco, Tex, was in the city for several days calling on banking and business friends and assuring them that Texas does not share Wall streets feeling of Encouragement as to the bus mess future Tt is all wrong so far as see conditions either in Texas or else where," he declares. "'rhe country is going to give a good account of itself, and ,I@Y,t. t.,,.x to that end.'
 MT. Watt regards Texas as in an inn mensely better condition than in recent years because of the improvement in farming and in the financial conditions of farmers, merchants and bankers, as well as railroads This is because of the good values realized in the past half dozen years for cotton. cattle and the trucking products of the state.
 In addition to serving as bank president MT Watt is a planter He is well quail flied to speak for the agricultural inter ests of the Black Soil Belt of which Waco
 is the center. He owns farm of $500 acres, on which he grows, along with grain and other products, from 900 to 1500 bales of cotton d year. The cultivation of this land requires herd of 11o mules. He has found large scale farming profit able, and in the tow fold capacity of Ddukel- pldUltl llt iht liielh'iol needs of this branch of industry as inti- mately as anyone in his profession.
 Here is another expression from a wide ly separated point:
 "I notice in the papers, says A. V. Costello of San Francisco, that there is somewhat of a shortage of crops in the east and middle west. We have none of this trouble on the coast this year. Cali fnr, ,~;afs ra1 nra ann siderably above the average, while Ore gon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, .Ar- zona and New Mexico are all rejoicing in the prospect of good crops. Utah and Nevada are slightly below the average.
 ''The coast generally is in fine condition. Everybody is interested in the Panama Pacific exposition at San Francisco, and the people of the city promise the greatest show of the kind ever given. It is impos sible to get anybody from California to talk without bringing in the exposition
 Still a third eXpression: Gaston C. Hard secretary of the Kansas City South ern Railway company, has just returned from trip through the southeast and extending as far west Memphis. In the latter district the people are enthusiastic over corn and cotton prospects. Farther east, in North and South Carolina, he said, conditions looked good "One of the noticeable changes said MT. Hand, ''is the quite general extent of drainage ini- provements in farm lands. Flowing and riding are done in such q way as to re- tain the rainfall and prevent washing of slopes where the soil is easily affected by heavy precipitation. This improvement greatly lessens the losses and increases the yield compared with earlier years"
 Railroad gross earnings covering Sl0 companies of the United States from Jan uary to June 30, 1911, show a decrease of $22, ,95S, 19S, or 2.16 per cent. Operating eX- penses fell off $3,24l, 421, or .34 per cent. Net earnings therefore decreased S25,717.- ST. or 6.31 per cent. This might be con- strued as bad symptom. but touching this showing, the current issue of the ''Chronicle" says: 'The fact established by our table today is that gross earnings for the six months of 1911 were $2S.95S, 79S smaller than in the first six months of 1910. Standing by itself the amount may seem large, but as we are dealing with totals of over $1 300, 100000 the ratio of fall ing off is after all only little over ? per cent Furthermore, this comes after a gain in the first six months of last year of no less than $119,0S9,522, or 15.2S per cent. That is to say. only about $29, 000 of the 1910 gain of over $l79 000, 600 has been lost in 1911. It is therefore correct to say that the falling off in gross receipts the present year has been relatively small. h. deed we might make the statemen, stronger and say the showing in that re- spect is surprisingly good considering the many adverse factors the roads had to