The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-07
|NDEF|N|TENESS IS CHARACTER|ST|COF GARY'SLAST SPEECH Not Much Stress Placed on Crops as Stimulant for
 General Business SEES BETTER TIMES
 COMING THIS FALL Many Who Have Read Speech Would Like to Know Cause for
 Recent Increases in
 Orders
BY HOLLAND

bert H. Gary. chairman of the board of
 the United States Steel corporation, is
 known to be in such close touch with in-
 dustrial and business conditions that whatever he may think worth while to say for publication is always carefully read, and sometimes much discussed. That was true of the published report of the remarks which he made to the presi- dents of the Steel corporation subsidiaries | a day or two before he sailed for Europe The comment first and generally made after reading this address was that Judge Gary was mere indefinite and relied more upon general statements than has been his custom when speaking to his subordi- | mates. at least when his remarks were to be made public.
 l It was this quality of indefinteness and l of generalized statements which is spoken of here as having been characteristic of much that has been said for publication within the past eight or F months by
 those who are in authority in the business | or financial world. That was feature of
 the address delivered by Frank A. Van derlip to the delegates who represented | the cotton producers of the United States and who met in convention in this city
 early in the spring. A later address de- | livered by MT. Vanderlip did contain some | detailed and specific statements descrip- l tive of the causes which have led to busi- ness depression the world over and the action which must be maintained by busi- ness men in the United States if they are l to keep and increase their business pres l tige and influence.
 | Only one specific statement respecting present business conditions was made by
 Judge Gary and that was more of a fore cast of what business activity is likely 1 to be in the fall than an exposition of l the business situation as 1t Is today. | Judge Gary is persuaded that in the early l autumn there Is to be an improvement in | business in which the Steel corporation 1 will have it's fair share. He Justified that 1 statement by reference to some increase l in the tonnage which the corporation is l now handling. but as for the future, all l that he could say was that he trusted the
 increase would be continued throughout | the year.
 | It has been said by some of those who l have read carefully the printed report or
 l Judge Gary's remarks that they would
 have given more satisfaction If he had
 set forth the reasons which made 1t pos
 1 sible to report a recent increase of the
 l corporation's tonnage. There was nor
 one word of explanation of this Kind
 nothing but the fact of recent increase Fl and the expression of the hope that IL
 would be continued are lO De louAu III iiis'
 remarks to the presidents of the suosid-
 iaries of the Steel corporation.
 Is It the Harvest?
 The inference is very strong that Judge
 Gary regards the promise of great har- yests-a promise which has already been in part fulfilled-as the chief reason Tor ! req asonable expectation that there IS To be considerable improvement in busness
 in the early autumn and throughout the rest of the year. The fact tha the speaks
 of the early autumn as the time When considerable improvement in business conditions Is likely to be observed does seem to justify the inference that II IS the crops and the movement or them, the l financing of them and the effect or them on the earnings of the railroad corpora tions and upon our exportations Wiicl justify him in believing that we shall see improvement in business in the latter | part of the year.
 In banking circles the general opWiohs | seems to be that these harvests are con siderably to stimulate business activity l in the fall and winter. IT the proihise oi | them is realized there Is certain to De 3 large exportation of food products. Int | movement of the crops will put the rail | road managers to thefr utmost endeaVors in order speedily and adequately to nan | dle the transportation from the neius !. | the farms A sort of general estimate has been made or the eueci ol eiiio VI portation upon the revenues or the ran roads. one estimate being that 1t Will Ill, crease these revenues by as much HE Il per cent, perhaps much more.
 Rut behind the general statement tna 1 the haryests are to be the chlel iac.o' Il in the improvement of business hes an Il other proposition. It was hinted at ps Il MT yanderlip in one of his addresses an' II if was vaguely hinted at by Judge eiars Il in his remarks to the subsidiary oHlcer' Il of the Steel corporation. MT. Vanderni Il went so far as to say that he IS not ye Il persuaded that the harvests or this year Il no matter how great they may pc o Il how fine the quaiity-are soins .o .',~, II more than temporary influence Tn stiinu | lating business conditions. That seem Il also to be the opinion of Judge Gary Il One of the economic authorities or Urea Il Britain, while recognising the 1mportahc' | of our harvests, nevertheless seems to p' | persuaded that permanent improvement Il business conditions depends first upoi Il fair treatment of the American railroads Il and next upon general improvement II Il | financial and commercial conditions tn l. world over There seems to be Ieei Il ing in the financial district that pushes | and financial conditions in Europe are Il SO to speak, Ion the mend.'' Our phenom I, enal exportations of gold are looked upoi Il with entire complacency by the panker l since without exception they say Una Il this gold is enabling financial institutions | of Europe to build up their reserves, Il factor which is vital, they say, If health | ful conditions are to prevail in Europe. The Great Waste
 III One of the causes of the world-wid Il business depression Is to be found in tn Il great waste which was occasioned by tn | wars in the Balkan peninsula. Judg Il Gary is understood to have said in pri Il vate conversation that this waste, whicl Il was dead loss, came too soon after tn Il ravages which were caused by the wa Il between Japan and Russia and a lttl Il earlier the war between Great Britall U and the Boer republic The world ha' Il not fully recovered from that great strail Il when the devastation on the Balkan pen Il insula began. Judge Gary felt Justihe' Il in saying to his subsidiary officers tha Il wars which were very severe and prep Il arattons for possible wars which entaile Il the buying of the implements of warfar Il in enormous quantities furnish one of tn Il reasons for the repletiOn of the financial Il resources of the world.
 Il These are conditions which leaders i Il the financial community are taking int Il account when estimating the immediat Il effects upon American business life o Il the harvests of this year if these prov Il to be as great as the forecast of then H Apparently Judge Gary is of the opiniol I that the time is not distant when a pop III ular demand for a revision of the tarif N will be so insistent that Congress will b H compelled to give heed to 1t. He has lon A--