The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-11

inhospitable fae@ that not one person in thousand cares a rap about the cur reney and banking question and that it is impossible to arouse enthusiasm over the issue. Therefore when Governor | Wilson admits that he is mere child in his understanding of the intricate prob lem, everybody smiles good naturedly at his nerve and honesty. The one feature of his speech which has teeth in 1t and l which leaves no doubt as to his position and intentions. is the tariff. His fiat an- rouncement that he is for earnest down. ward revision Is directly to the point and makes his meaning plain. Just how any
 body holding high tariff views and who benefits by the existing laws can be recon ciled to the Wilson tariff stand is not clear. The democratic candidate will get no vote from that quarter
 One of the dog-day romances Is that the political game has been organized cold bloodedly to get rid of a man that is feared and Of another man who has gained the unfriendllness of the interests | by interfering with their peace of com 1 fort, Roosevelt and Taft. That by play l ing on the vanity and ambition Of the | one. they have committed him to suicide and at the same time brought about the | elimination of the undesirable incumbent of the White House. This theory implies on the part of the money powers, or as | Devil superhuman intelligence and | craft. It is true, however. that circum- | stances have so shaped themselves that | such a eonsummation seems to be in or der but 1t is extremely doubtful If the sinister influence of any great concentrat- ed force was the inspiration and operat- | ing machinery in any such giant and far reaching conspiracy. That big men with 1 axes to grind and grouches to feed might be taking advantage of these circum- | stances to forwa I'd ends they think are desirable Is not unlikely. But be that as l it may, national politics have worked into a status that is not displeasing to Wall street and the financial interests that center there. At the present writing rep l resentatives of the largest interests seem | quite reconciled to the conviction that | Governor Wilson will be the next Presi dent and that both branches of Congress will be democratic or progressive. but that common sense and sanity will protecr 'I the country against the ravages of the | frothy radicals.
 For that and many other reasons the | stock market situation has assumed | wholesome appearance. It does not fol- low from that fact that we are going to | have tremendous stock market boom right away but fundamentals are certain ly solidifying and confidence is beeom- ing restored. The money problem is like ly to be of greater importance from now on than anything else on the boards. The banking interests are confronted with the necessity of financing an enormous crop and of providing for an increasing de- mand for funds to conduct the expanding general business of the nation They are handicapped at the moment by the fact that vaat capital is locked up in ursold bonds and short time notes still undistributed. There are many hundred millions of dollars represented in undi- gested securities, the market for which is stagnant. Investors are demanding n better return on their money than they are able to get in the fixed Investments now in the market. New bonds must yield Az per cent to per cent, whereas a few years ago S1a per cent to per cent bonds found ready market. Bonds have been steadily declining in price for years-the shrnkage keeping pace re- versely with the imitation of gold. Just | where this strained condition will end Is question which fnanciers and stu- dents are just now avoiding. They do not like to excite the public mind on the | question, lest the public stop buying bonds altogether
 | An incident of the week was the dis tribution of a 20 per cent extra dividend | 10 stockholders ia the American Tobacco company, the total amount passed out being $S,000.000. This sum represents the proceeds of tho sale of subsidiary prop critics under direction of the courts ir, the carrying out of the mandate of dls- solution. Stockholders are promised still more 'plums, there being considerable l additional property which will have to pass through the process of liquidation Since the trust was officially smashed, its securities have greatly increased in market value and the profits of the 1 hay nh all in creased The same is true of Standard Oil, only in a larger degree. The in- creased values there. as measured by quo- tations now and before the dissolution, foot up at least s3500oO,00O Consumers are paying more for oil and it's by-pro- ducts than at any time in many years.
 The next big melon-cuttlng on the tapis is International Harvester. Although it II is a foregone conclusion that the big trust will be put through the form of dis solution, it's stock is strong and the be- lief is voiced by it's friends that the ouo- tation will go to POO before the actual II partition takes place. Harvester is about 10 years old and in that time has filled it's treasury to overfiowng with cash and added enormously to the value of It's oth- II ei assets.
 There is no branch of industry in which is seen greater activity in development
 
 and utilization of electrical machinery. The uses to which electrical power are being applied are multiplying at a rate not understood by the general public. The transmission of electrical force to lcng distances is attracting capital to original sources of supply-water and ooal-as never before. The day Is In sight when the latent heat and energy now dormant in the great coal mines of II Pennsylvania an1 West Virginia will be transmitted by wire instead of being car ried on freight cars. Private money is going into this line of enterprise by the tens of millions of dollars. One plant that will cost S15000,000 Is approachins lcompletion in one of the soft coal dis | trcts of Pennsylvania within about $50 miles of New York. The money was subscribed by a small group of wealthy men without recourse to any of the usual methods of raising capital. This Is only one instance among many, al- though 1t is probably the most extensive among those being put forward under cover" as one might say.