The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-06-09
BUSINESS CONDITIONS
By q, c. FORBES.

pusiness Editor New York American
NEW YORK. jun. >~~tnsiness -
not So cheerful rs the talk about
Half a score Of American railroads
and Industrial giants have brlSh'ene"
the pages of the new spaferS with
ro@eate descriptions al current snaI-
tions while no colorS bright epeuHh
to paint the future IAN he found
Much Of this expressed optitis Ism rs
feigned The speakers have discussed
only the favorable features. ny
have cools gloss,d over the fa't"fs
u hich hold them In restraint The tfuc
position of the United states t"sa>
lies between the ultra optimism OF
some, and the extreme peSsinllsan ~
others who complain THAI pohtcs =
sending the country to the bow vows.
The crops are doing moderately
we'll Railroad presidents whe hay
le..k4.tl- .4peH the ground thraAEhnat lA4-
northwest bring back eneourag}ns
tidings concerning agricultural cond
tons there, although il Is too cary
10 form definite conclusions AS "a "hn'
the harVests actually wifi HrIUE. f'
! governments report on cotton, SNOW
ing a condition of ~ per cent y ~
inspiring 10 say the least In fact MS
foreshadows a much smalteH crop ti''''t
had been anticipated, and has s'u'
quotations sharply upward
The -HAre-Stef-tr4i-- stAAnl4nceh
its iurantiou OF producing an nnprr-
taefTdeiTt@a amount 81 fHrtts fsFfis'Stft's't ~
for which the management II conn
aellt OF fiendlnS ready market. @H'h
has been made Of this in Wall street.
but. need IL be pointed out that the
action Is based upon expectations
rather tiss.p-tts..s4 4.4taal4tiea.-
Mercantile auYlces from the West
do not seem to justify the eNuheTdnc"
now so generally expressed, On the
other nand, no one can deny that the
iron and steel industry is working
feverishly 10 cope with the spate OF
orders that are pouring II. Then cop
1 per metal is enjoying q phenomenal
Use The price is creeping toward
eighteen cents a pound. although from
gne or two inside quarters come hints
I that the situation does not warrant
any such movement Wall street, how
J ever. Is quite willing to accept. with
/ out scrutiny. the gifts the gods send.
Turning 10 financial matters the
most discouraging feature is the lack
If demand for Investments The
4 plain truth is that bonds are hard 10
sell even when attractive yields are Of
tered In not a few instances when
very high rates are held out investors
! simply sell their old holdings and re-
| invest in new issues, The very eN-
| pensive disbursements in dividends
and interest at the end of the half
year should. however. bring some new
| business
Abroad. apprehension is felt con-
corning Germany. That country has
+, borrowed very heavily and placed the
funds in industry and other enter
| prises from which they cannot readily
he withdrawn. A squeeze in threat
/ ened -Rerlln- -hefQrG- --th1--ILlaG-Il44A
settlements are effected. New ork
i and Chicago have transmitted CON
siderable sums. while Paris has also
come to Rerln's assistance. yet. even
so discount rates there are uneen-
| fortably high In France and in Eng
land money Is fairly plentiful but the
applications for new capital are so
heavy that the assimilation can scarce
ly keep pace.
American securities are injured
abroad by the political storm here.
On the New York stock exchange
no genuine weakness has appeared.
Fluctuations have been irregular. but
advances have outnumbered declines.
The Moore Reid faction still leads.
This leadership is not of the most
commanding or inspiring kind II
has not succeeded la drawing the gem