The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-19
COST OF LIVING
 IS DESCENDING Prosperity Will No Longer
 Be One-Sided DECLINE IS MARKED Wholesale Quotations Are Tumbling, as Shown By Figures-Foremost Financier Says He Would
 Be Pessimistic
DECLINE IS MARKED
By PRESTON c ADAMS

New York, March 1S.--(Special. )--It really begins to look as though the cost of living is beginning to adjust itself so that the average citizen may be ableSto spend quarter occasionally family conference and prayerful con- sideration. It is a good thing for busi- ness that this is so. Recent prosper ity has been too one-sided and not of a character which makes for that steady distribution of commodities without which business conditions may not be said to be normal and healthy.
 The decline in the wholesale price of commodities, with but one or two ex captions, marked The surplus of re- cent crops over immediate demands for consumption has tended against pro tracted accumulation, and the cost of living ought to decline in a corres bonding way. Whether the consumer has yet felt the full benefit by re- auction in retail prices in any appre- ciable degree is questionable the ad- justment being slow process through the various links of distribution. Some articles of food, however, have un doubtedly fallen in price immensely, eggs being, generally speaking, worth only cents apiece, where few months ago they were fetching 5. Butter, cheese, four the staples of life, are all cheaper, though meat has not shown much of real decline According to Gibson's Index numbers, which record the fluctuations in living costs, the number reached the high mark of 119.7 in April, 1910, after an advance from 9S.3 in 1905, which was only broken by the liquidation following the 1,,,. ..e has been slow but continuous, the number now standing at 1O7, total including all foods. clothing, minerals and miscellaneous.
 It is probable that in certain lines there will be still further declines. Wheat. for instance. thanks to record breaking crops in Russia. bids fair to make further reductions, and with bountiful and cheap corn it Is not prob- able that even the meat trust will be able to maintain the high level admit ting it was that desire.
 Figures recently prepared concerning the operations of the steel trust are beyond the imagination of the average man.
 A recent analysis of the corporations operations since April l. 1901 (the date of organization, reveals the following:
 Gross earnings, $5,S56,271,615. (More than the present combined nationai bank deposits of the country)'
 Total net earnings, 2O2.303,765 equal to the total paid in capital of the countrys national banks.
 Allowed for depreciation and extra ordinary replacements, s205,921,S95.
 Paid for interest on bonds, s2OS,792,- 2S0.
 Total preferred dividends paid, $269,- 4 4,9S3; equal to nearly 75 per cent on the preferred stock
 Total common dividends paid, SEA- 514,900 equal to nearly 25 per cent of the common stock.
 Appropriated or expended for new construction and acquisition of prop critics Gncluding $365O0,000 for the Gary planD. $21S,279,4Ss.
 Wages paid, $1,350,O 900; or nearly $150,000,000 more than total net earn ings.
 Iron ore mined, 1S1,558,8SS tons.
 Coal mined, 20,4S4,5S4 tons.
 Coke manufactured, 110,504,216 tons.
 Cement. 26,322,9s7 barrels.
 Limestone quarried, 22,S09,231 tons.
 Barrels of cement produced in 1910 nearly S,000,000.
 Estimated number of tons of iron ore in sight, 2.000,000,000 tons; includ- ing about 1000, 100000 in the Lake Superior regions, 300, 900. 900 tons in the Great Northern ore lands and 700,000,- 900 of southern ore holdings.
 Railroad mileage operated. $500. cThis compares favorably with some of the country's important railroad systems.o
 Cans owned, over 45,000; steamers, so; barges, 115.
 New earnings, per ton of steel sold, nearly, SIS.
 
 What will the stock exchange gover- nors do now that New York city has thrown down the gauntlet to them by awarding the contract for engraving the new municipal bonds to concern which has been for years tabooed by the ex- change? It seems scarcely credible that the governors will persist in their refusal 10 list these bonds. No incident has of late excited more gossip as to what goes on under cover in the financial district. Everyone is wondering just how the large profits made by the American Bank Note company are allotted. Who are the larg- est stockholders? Are any of them rep resented on the management of the New York stock exchange? The champions of the exchange contend Vaat unconsciona- ble confusion would aih;e should every printing and engraving establishment in the United States be permitted to turn out certificates ad lib and that the ex- change is merely acting in the best in terest of everyone concerned when it exercises the strictest supervision over the securities proffered for listing.
 One of the foremost financiers in America in course of conversation re- gently made the following statement, which is likely to cause comment since 1t Is so very different from the pes- simistic utterances now prevalent: No one of responsibility cares to make pre- dictions, and I am glad. I am not call ed up to do so. If I were to express my views, however, they. would not be pessimistic.l The greatest single factor in the whole situation is the coming harvest. If-and this Is big If at this stage-if nature does her duty sat isfactorily, and if nothing calamitous now entirely unforeseen occurs in any part of the world. I think we should have a boom, or perhaps I should rath- CT call it boomlet, before the close of the year. Conditions are tending in that direction, An adverse decision in the supreme court cases would be extreme ly awkward, but would not permanent ly effect economic conditions. l am not at all worried over the extra ses- sion of Congress. The Union Pacific merger ruling, which may come at any time, will be appealed no matter which way 1t goes. The railroad freight de- cisions have not caused me to modify my attitude towards the future. l do not care to venture an opinion as to how securities may fluctuate during the next month or two, but looking farth- ar ahead, say four or rive months, feel that trade will become very active
 rtt imDr0Ve.'