Bisbee daily review., 1911-10-05
HENRY CLEWS ON
 FINANCIAL MATTERS
He Discusses the Steel Cor poratinn and It's
 Future
OUTLOOK FOR BUSINESS

In his weekly financial review Henry Clews describes the Steel Cor poration as the storm center around which recent and present financial disturbances are revolving. and the review continues:
 Probably 1t will not be proved or even alleged that the Corporation as a whole is a monopoly That it has exerted a large influence upon prices will doubtless be proved. It may ai- so be declared a practical monoply in certain respects. That 1t has con duoted hostile warfare upon any of its competitors will not be proved. In many respects the management of the United States Steel corporation is admirable and deserving of high
 praise, but in the present state of
 public temper and with such vital economic issues awaiting settlement, it seems hardly possible for the
 United States Steel Corporation to
 avoid the strictest scrutiny of the law
 Great fundamental issues are at
 stake in this controversy. The Sher- man law is aimed to preserve competi-
 ton. The prime purposes of many of
 our great trusts have been to elfm- inate competition. The fact that they have sought to do so may often be difficult to prove, but their practi- cal operation leads to no other con
 clusion The Supreme Court has in terpreted the main purpose of the Sherman law to be that of preserving competition Mir. Taft evidently rec
 onizes that his duty lies in enforcing
 the law. To Wall Street the issue is both unpleasant and untimely. Un-
 pleasent because it seriously disar- | ranges existing methods: untimeiy ! because when other troubles are | thick it compels a readjustment that will be far-reachiHg in effect and in l yolye much labor and friction. The | immediate outcome is certainly dis | turbing The later consequences, | however, will be beneficial. The l breaking up of the monopolies will ] disarm public criticism, avert many ] attacks upon corporations and leave ! business less at the mercy of politi- l cal demagogues. It will also serve | to bring the country into a safer and ! scunder economic position. The con | trol of prices by great organizations | resisted every downward tendency of | the markets, which otherwise would | have declined more rapidly to low.
 CT levels. They also systematically ! restricted production. The power of i the trusts cn prices, however, is part 1 Iy exaggerated. Incidentally the l breaking up of these mouopolies I $ the most telling blow against l socialism which has been struck | in many years. The worst oi l this agitation is that it comes
 when the markets are already
 disturbed Sby international politics,
 by war rumors, by railroad strikes by trade reaction, by coming tariff revision and other untoward events. | The wonder is that the security
 markets stood up against such a ser | ies of shocks so well. Thus far nc serious trouble has occurred, and al l this writing ncne seems to be antici i pated, which is remarkable, consid sring that the shrinkage in values or i the New York Stock Exchange has
 run into many hundreds of millions of dollars. Fortunately there ale some steadying influences at worl
 which should not be overlooked
 Trade conditions are not bad There is less doing than a year agC [ and the spirit of economy is spread ing from East 10 West. Our crop: are not d failure. They are not big
 but are about an average, and as oul ? farmers, who are still the backbon' : of the country, are securing goot , prices for their products, we have a ! r1l in , nation who will enjoy still anothe ? year of relative prosperity. Thi ] must have an important sustainlni l effect upon Western trade. Our for ! eigu commerce, as has been repeated - ly stated, is in a very satisfactor. - condition. Exports are steadily i1 F. creasing, particularly of manufactul 2 ed products, and the surplus of e1 [ ports tends to strengthen our credi I abroad The banking situation il . sound and affords no cause for UT e i easiness Paris is more hopeful, bu - London is not yet entirely free 0
 difficulties. Under the circumstar | ces, conditions favor an active an 1 very irregular market
 |. Many stocks are selling at extreme e ly attractive figures as investment! e and it may be mentioned that di' q fdcnd disbursements on October D will aggregate about s1S0,00O,0
 Purchases of stock should, howeye
 be made with sharp discrimination
 preference being given to the bette
 class of railroad issues. It wOul
 seem as if th railroads had discOun
 ed all known adverse condition e They know pretty well what is 9 come in the form of increased exgel D. ses and decreased traffc,. and hav n comparatively little to fear from so'
 erment interference. The regulatio f. of railways has already made col Q siderable progress and remove d many of the former points of crit
 oism. With the industrials, the si 10 uation is quite different. They hay
 just entered upon an exceedingly tr
 ing period Not a few of the largl
 concerns will be obliged to dissolv
 This will be disconeeTting and irr 70 tating to managers and owners, sti
 it should be remembered that thei
 large organizations must continue I business. There will be little chet v upon production and manufacturin 's Real values will not be destroye '. There may be some diminution ~ uouopoly profits, and some of Il