The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-13
BUSINESS REPORTS ARE VERY MIXED
  Foreign Trade Figures Are Favorable GOOD MONEY MARKET
New York Steady Growing as Worlds Money Center-Buying and Sell ing Stock in Four Minutes.
 New Banking Pratices

New York, February 12.-(special)-
 How is business? This is a question
 which interests us all, and right now it
 Is not any easy question to answer.
 Reports from general business continue
 very mixed. The new year has not
 brought as yet the improvement hoped
 Tor and expected As rule the activity
 Is not so great as a few weeks ago.
 Perhaps the most favorable factor com
 ing to hand is the figures for our foreign
 trade for 1911. Excess of exports over
 imports was s55s, Al, 2so. q larger excess
 than in any year since 1908
 The most menacing feature, undoubt-
 edly, is the labor unrest Then, again. ;. the tariff question is retarding many aA from increasing their stock of merchant q disc of such character as would be di- rectly affected by reduction in the tariff.
 When one looks at the better side he can see that conditions, as a rule. are sound. There is no speculation, and 4 people generally are living more eeono- imically than for decade. Merchants have not restocked their shelves and ! manufacturers have not laid in any sup plies outside of few industries s= | Money is plethorc everywhere, gener- ally a sign of slack business conditions and yet there are those who do not re- gard the piling up of money in New York as anything but a seasonable de- velopment.
 E Much is made of the increased orders F of the United States Steel corporation. This activity Is largely due to the rail-
 roads. 
 As whole. while business conditions
 ahlght De worse. they are still far from
 satisfactory. There is comparatively lit- tie profit in trade and this checks any thing like enthusiasm
 !. It IS still good opinion nevertheless that, when the presidential nominations
 are made, the situation is likely to have
 sharp and sudden betterment.
 That New York is steadily growing as
 a most important factor in the worlds money markets cannot be gainsaid Resumption of gold exports from New | York to Central and South America was correctly explained meaning that Eu- rope, which had obligations to settle, in those markets, was drawing on New York's gold for the purpose. The same ! thing happened at this time in 1910, but N With this difference-that whereas Ell rope was then our heavy credit or on balance and was ordering the south ward Solu shipments as partial discharge of the debt, we ourselves are now inc creditor market, so that Europe virtua1lv has to borrow here to command the gold
 Simultaneously with these shipments came this weeks news of an impending ' Sl25,O00o'o00 loan by the German govern meut, which led our bankers to oxnect Berlin to ask and obtain renewal af~ the large loans made to it in December by New York, and now maturing. This might almost be described as the in- direct financing of the German public loan by American capital
 Sitting at his desk on the 10th floor of Wall street building the man in charge of the investment department of ! a stock exhange house was discussing \ the bond market with visitor A mes sage from the telegraph room was laid upon his desk. Pardon me-" he said to his visitors as he picked up his tele- phone instrument and asked for a Phil adelphia connection.
 He immediately placed the receiver and the discussion of the bond market was resumed. The telephone bell rang ! Pardon me-" said the investment ex- Xpert again, as he lifted the telephone in. Hstrument. "Tn take those 50 shares" he *said, Into the telephone. Evidently he got them. He broke off the connection | wrote a message for the wire and sent 1t off to the telegraph room by a boy The discussion of the bond market was | resumed once more, and continued until another message came from the wire room. The investment expert merely glanced at 1t, and went on with the con- versation.
 "Just sthen?" sai dthe investment ex- pert why I bought 50 shares of an Investment stock in Philadelphia by teie- phone, and sold them in Columbus O.. by our private telegraph wire. What about it?',
 "Oh, nothing" said the visitor "Only | 1t occurred to me that a few years ago 1t might have taken four weeks in- stead of four minutes to do it." Then they went on with their talk about the bond market.
 Josehp J. Talbert, vice president of the National City bank is authority for the statement that the banking practices cur rent few years ago are no longer nos sible here The situation as result of those practices has been alleviated in so far as possible by the state banking de- . partment. but that department still lacks. according to MT. Talbert, corrective pow l CT
 The change, which has been brought | about and which was hastened by the desire to eliminate dangerous banking l practices has been accomplished through ! the clearing house. This association ha
 admitted trust companies bringing them
 under supervision ana naS provided more
 efficient and stricter examinations
 The committee of the clearing house as-
 sooiaton has very strong corrective pow CTS To illustrate. If trust company s
 or banks capital becomes impaired. an Assessment may be ordered; if officials
 of employees of clearing house members
 are untrustworthy or guilty of illegal
 practices, the committee. may order their
 discharge: if a trust company or clearing
 house member becomes dangerously n-
 volved it may be expelled from the clear
 ing house association. thus holding it up
 to public opprobrum; if a trust company
 or clearing house member needs to be
 eliminated. a merger or consolidation
 with or absorption by a stronger insti-
 tuition may be brought about, as has
 already sbeen accomplished in several n-
 stances. rst
 The reason for the visit of J. Bruce
 Ismay, president of the International
 Mercantile Marine, at the same time as
 other we'll known foreign steamship in-