The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-12-02
aEMRY cLEMs ANp business.

giving Of thanks. We nsiTe haG a par
ioi Of exceptional prosperity. a big
and profitable harvest insrrtng isE
continuance for 81 least another ser
sun. The gtin,uiuE thus us'tained from
Natures bouuty Ii giving fresh life to
every channel Of industry Nor is this
All Social ald political discomfort are
| zi.tsati11g, and tha coun1ry rs promised
q rest from dsmagoEsias and probes
SIGNAL agitatorE. For this, too, we
mus1 be profoundly tilankful
So far RS volume Is concerned buss
ness conditions N me United staees
are sminsntty satisfactory Clearing
holrsH returns are running ahead Of
last year q. the rats OF from 10 To Ii
per cant per week, the gains haing
literally distributed IN all parts OF
the country, although the largest per-
Geurage CT Increase is usually shown
IN the big crop growing states Rail
noad earnings are showing most Ia
fsT5ng resiliEs IN g number Of IN
stances om great systems have mani
tested surprisingly neavy gains III
gross returns; the result Of course OF
I heavy Iratisc, stimulated ny a rich
harvest In iNe second week OF Ne
venlbsr tnirty-ssven roads reported an
increase o. II per cent over last rear,
/ and In previous weeks the gains have
been correspund dinghy good Gur for
sign trade returns have broken all rs---
1rds and the total for the year prom
:ses tn reach the huge sum OF s. .a00.-
f}f1R.DHe. In the last ter manfhE new
building operations have been esfima-
ned a 1871 GOD of0, against sT5T 900,
600 rwo wears ago Many other m
stances could be added showing our
unprecedented business actfTity, but
these are sufficiently convincing
There IS another side to the ac-
count, however. Mere ACTIVITY Is TOD
often mistaken for prosperity The in
creased cost Of living has become
l.quiie as serious q matter in business
life as IN private life Profits IN many
cases show no snch apprecianle gain
az gross results, and IN an increasing
number oe cases profits are declining
ard rapidly running toward the van
ishing point This is sfrikingfy Illus
frated IN railroad reports, which pre-
sent relatively poor net returns con
siderinE the heavy gains IN gross.
81 pon one OF orr large EyEfeus the
ratio OF operating expenses To gross
earnings had risen from $3.50 per
cent II 1910 10 TEA per cent in 1872.
A number OF roads chow similar re-
suits. For this reason the conees-
gieng granted to the engineers by the
arbitration board. though smaller than
at nne time feared, are particularly
significant. They are SIRE 10 be foi-
lowed by correspondinging demands
from firemen and other classes Of
railroad help 90 that the final de
Mands upon the payroll OF the rail
roads is an unknown quantity ant
! max be serious IL amount In fhf
case Of the railroads the situation il
aggravated BIZ their imperative re
luuirements for new capital and Ins
: higher rates OF interest which the-
wiz be compelled TO pay. thus mater
:. tally increasing their fixed charges
For instance, the New Haven rear
! mad to pay practically per cent fo
$4,000 900 one year to renew $50 .De0
{ 99n 4 per cent notes, an increase 0
$500 5000 IL interest charges
Like conditions prevail In man
other lines Of industry owing to tn
constantly growing demands Of lat1o
4, Tor higher wages and the many othe
increases in the cost of transa atin
!, busineas Only q few days ago one {
= the Oldest fine goods cotton mills i
4 New England showed q loss in operi
~ ton during the year for the first Tim
- In its history, a result caused entira
II by the concessions 10 labor Will
this was an extreme case, ii is 81,
II nfficant Of the trend Of events. Thi
r. y-six Fall River mills paid only 4 pt
be cent this year, against 5 per cent Ia!
BIO year and nearly z per cent IN ISL
IFS It is not to be assumed that the con,
1t Try is not prosperous. On he 60,
ne frary, not few large Industrial co
m Germs are Still making very nandsou
81 profits, tt1 the situation IN this r
in gpect is decidedly Epotty, and II
well 70 remember that our actin
prosperity is APP To be exaggerated
en- uiisinterprsted BY the activity al
lie volume Of trade rather than the ma
ne gin Of profit. the tendency Of WINK
ne is TO decline III many Lines OF industr
aw since new capital is only obtainab
ste from profits u savings, the results
m such n trend are ohvious.
ls- Stocks were chiefly dominated
en- the strinssncy in money during Il
Vo- past week, call rates on TWO succe
sive Gays rising as high as II ,
cent The stringencv was explain
by the low reserves OF the hanks. t
teT WI bdrawals of Canadian money a
rs loss to the hanks ny snp-treasu
-ne operations and by anticipation 81 I
er cempsr dividend disbursements. The
conditions rendered local calling
iiis Of loans imperative The situate
q however. was only temporary a