The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1915-02-02

NWNNlNNI n ENhN1tNaI
Ever since the nrst nalf Of 1913.
buslnena has been more or less de-
pressed IN the United States. There
is nothing surprising about this. moth.
ing that any wideawake and inseili-
sent man did not expecg Their was a
change % parties. aud the issue In
volved was the tarin. Everybody knew
that with the new party In power.
there would be marked reductions In
the tarif. Manufacturers did just what
you and I would dc. what any sensible
mar would do; They cease expand
Ing their business. engaged IN no new
cnterpfisea. and waited 10 see what
congress would do. Then after the new
tarin scheduie was adopted. they watt
ed to see how Il would work out In
practice. When nuniaess eases TO
expand. there are a great many men
thrown cat OF employment. who would
Oe employed In different way In the
expansion OF Dusiness-the more bust
ness. the more hands. more travelling
men. more advertising. more every
thing.
This slowing up OF business natur-
ally resulted IN he slowing up OF
transportation. Railroads began to
do less business. take IN less money.
and as their bonds and capital stock
obligations remained the SEINE. they
naturally had lower gross receipts
and lower net profits; and this led TO
a gradual decline in the price OF their
stocks. This brought grief TO men
who had : cen buying stocks on mar
gins. When II reached a point wher
lower dividends were paid, II touched
n large class OF i%nvestors: for the bet
ter railroads Of the United states are
not owned 0y the men who run them,
but by savings banks. by widows and
orphans. By investors In securities
are deemed safe.
Then there was trouble In about
three railroads; a big. black one. The
New Haven. In which New England
people had absolute confidence. and
the leading officers OF which have been
indicted In the federal court for mall
~feasance In office; the Rock Island
a number OF years ago II got
into the hands OF spectators, who in
creased their stock capitalization
three times and did not put a dollar
into IL: and the Frisco. which had
been buying up branch railroads and
paying enormous prices for them,
were thrown into the hands Of re-
ceivers.
In the meantime, crops were good.
and particularly wheat, and we were
just beginning To see daylight agai
when the war broke out. That stopped
International trade for awhile: closed
factories in New England. II was not
only the difficulty in financing obliga-
tons. hut the difficulty In shipping
goods. and. worse than that. the DIFF
hculty In carrying ON certain lines OF
manufacture. because OF laci OF raw
material, which we had previously
received from abroad. particularly
from Germany. whose importation
was shut on by the war.
Another thing tina, seriously inter
fered with business was the tying up
OF great fleets OF ships belonging to
foreign countries, and consequently a
great increase In freight rates, and for
the time being, an enormous Increase
in Insurance rates which rendered II
impossible To get full value for the
products We had 10 sell.
There IL a better outlook now. We
are beginning to adjust ourselves to
me business changes resulting from
the war. We are beginning TO get
substitutes for materials hat were
heretofore imported chiefly from Ger
many. for Instance. aniline dyes. We
are doing without potash, which We
have heretofore obtained exclusively
from Germany. II may possibly bc
that we have been using more potash
than we needed; we don't know
about that.
The world demands our meats and
our grains. Wheat has gone up to the
highest price We have ever seen u
the Civil war. figured on a gold
basis. We remember once whom wheat
SOLD at S2.SO a bushel, but that day
was worth S2.SO, 50 that 1t was
really only "A dollar wheat after all II
Il now quoted at over $40 on a gold
basis. The world Is going TO need All
the wheat, all the cattle, hogs. horses
and sheep that we can NJ for market
urope countries are beginning
to import corn, which gives a good
deal more nutritive value for a dollar
then wheat does. The trouble II that
they don't know how to cook u. fhey
will learn, however.
The east has not yet recovered from
the lethargy in business due to the
tariff. nor from the paralysis due To
the war; but Il Il recovering. More
men are employed now than there
we're a month ago. or even two weeks
ago. Factories are increasing their
forces. and that means greater capae.
ity 60 consume the farmers grains ana
meats.
The corr belt is just now the most
favored section In the union inc
farmers have more o than they
ever had before. they have had fully
average crops, and "A good deal more
than average prices. And when the
farmers prosper, other classes are
bound 10 prosper sooner or later
Il IL, therefore, no time for dlsoonl-
agement. nor ls Il any time Tor hoard
ing money n every farm family ~
the United states would buy even ten
dollars worth OF household articles
outside Of their immediate necessities
something they are likely to want
within the next six months n pay
cash for the p%urchane. II would sum