Las Vegas optic., 1914-01-03

4 DuJ Jn6fS Was no ldCk VI lJcuAS VI w
nestle concern. In a session of con-
gress remarkable for its length, two
much agitated and frequently fought
over questions were forced to conclu-
sion. The tariff was revised, but its
enactment, by the way was coincident
with shrinkage instead of the pre-
dicted enlargement in our import
trade, and coincidently an income tax
law was put in operation for the first
time since the civil war period. The
currency measure, designed to take
the place Of an outworn and often
discredited system, also became
law. The Union Pacific-Southem Pa
ciflc railway merger was dissolved
and terms were agreed upon between
the telegraph and telephone interests
and the country's law officers without
the aid of suit thus pointing the
way to an ending of the ten-year Pc
riod Of marrying so-called big business
through the courts.
Despite, however, the numerous
| drawbacks arising from money scar
city and credit strain, the discussion
of new economic measures in con
gress the continued agitation of new
and old laws affecting the rights of
combination, the lowering Of the tar
if, the unequal, in some cases defi-
eient, yields of staple crops, the very
: high levels of prices of commodities,
: numerous failures, heavy liabilities
and hand-to-mouth buying of a piece
with that noted each year since 1907,
many new records of trade volume
[ and industrial output were set up. The
) backlog of untitled orders on hand,
which were at their maximum at the
] opening Of the year, tending to de-
cline as the spring advanced. Money
scarcity was in evidence from early
. in the year onward to its close, seek
ing the form Of close scrutiny of cred
it's rather than that of acute high
rates, which indeed were rather con-
spicuously absent. Much needed sup
port to trade and finance was given
at critical time, early in June, by
| the secretary Of the treasury's an
nouncement as to the possible use
of emergency currency and the placi
| ing of government money in the banks
in the surplus crop-producing areas.
The then good crop outlook was of
course helpful, but with the realiza-
tion Of the droughts damage in the
west and southwest in August and
September, business in large lines
quieted down. Tariff changes, agitat-
ed or realized, were a brake on new
production in the autumn, and the
scarcity of money conspired to make
new enterprise cautious. Industrial
output, while large early, showed re-
| preston later and sagged, though the
impetus given production early made
in many cases for record production.
Failures
The years failure record was full
one, exceeding that for 1912 by 40
per cent, and that for 1898 by 8 per
cent, while liabilities increased 80 per
cent over 1912, though falling Z per
cent below 1908. Half of the excess
in liabilities over 1912 was explained
by unsafe banking, a good part of the
balance being contributed by large
dealers in rubber, in automobile, iron
and lumber manufacturing and coal
mining. Failures in the first half OF
the year we're below those Of 1912
and the liabilities we're only slightly
larger, but the third quarter saw the
balance tip against the current year
especially in liabilities, which were
swelled by the banking troubles men
toned, and the last quarters failures
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