The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-16
Uncertainty of Railroads Future Cause of Much of
 Existing Depression
WHAT LEADERS SAY
 OF THE SITUATION
Recognition of Conditions by Man of UnderwOOd's Authority Regarded as One of the Most
 Hopeful Signs
By HOLLAND


 New York, March 15.--(SpeciaL)-In an address which was delivered to the mem bers of a business organization in this , city a few days ago, Oscar W. Under wood, now United States senator said that as the public in the end must pay the bill the public is therefore primarily interested in. the securing by the railroads of money needed for maintenance and developments and, furthermore. in se- curing this fresh capital at reasonable rates.
 Without new railroad facilities our commerce cannot expand beyond our present limitations, the senator said. When Senator Underwood thus spoke he voiced the opinion which many of the leaders in material affalse especiany in finance now feel justified in expressing In what is written in this article and will be written in others which will Succeed 1t are summarized the views of some of the great leaders of affairs and partic- ularly those who were chiefly instru- mental in bringing order out of chaos in the early autumn of last year. Not until recently have these leaders been willing to speak of conditions as they existed last summer and as they now exist. Last summer the situation was appalling, more so than the public realized. Today these leaders are svilling to make an admission of that kind, although last summer they said nothing
 It is a remark now commonly made that unless a change had come in the fall, by the end of the year our business conditions would have been such that in comparison with Coxey's army that dem- onstration would have been regarded as a business boom. The public did not sus- pect, except vaguely that there was trouble. Skilled artisans had knowledge of it because many of them fohad them selves without employment, or, if em- l ployed, working only on half time. Men | who had incomes from investments had | better knowledge of the situation since ! they were notified of the passing of div l idends would begin.
 | A concrete illustration is frequcntsS used by those who feel that now they may talk freely by referring to the dan | gerous situation in which the United States Steel corporaHcn found itself. It was actually using a little over one-ffth I of its capacity and the indication was strong that even so small capacity as ! that would be curtailed by reason of in- | creasing smallness of orders. Wages
 were retained in the hope if improve ment at the end of the year put divi- dends upon the common stock had to be passed.
 | This was an appalling outlook for this corporation, and yet it reflected general | business conditions in the United States. The federal courts are now considering | the question whether or not the United | States Steel corporation shall be dis | 1...k Al I l. zI-~ late in the fall almost nothing would have been left to exercise dissolution upon.
 No Panic, But Lethargy
 Probably in every directors room, both | of the large banks and of the great cor porations, the belief was strong that un- | less a change came speedily nothing in the way of business would be left in the United States excepting the daily bar l gains over the counters for the actual recessaries of life. There would have
 been no panic, these leaders say. but | there would have been continued and in
 creasing lethargy and business stupor, | until at last something like complete col | lapse might have taken place.
 A Condition of Health
 The extraordinary feature of the con | dition as 1t was last summer is said by these leaders to have been the perfect |
 were concerned throughout the United
 States. The farmers were raising crops unprecedented in the aggregate, both in amount and in the estimated money value
 of these crops as that estimate was made early in the fall. The financial situation of the United States was excel1ent-in some respects never better There was no
 speculation. excepting possibly a little in land in one part of the country. That, however, was too small seriously to af- feet the general financial health of the country. There was no overexpansion. Widespread liquidation had taken place. and yet in spite of these encouraging con- ditions domestic industry of all kinds, ex- cepting agriculture, was both relatively and absolutely less than at any time in
 our history since civil war days.
 What Caused These Conditions
 The leaders say that to the new tarifY
 law cannot be attributed, at least exclu-
 sively the conditions which prevailed last summer. The readjustment of business
 to the new tariff may have tended to in-
 crease the difficulties but the tariff itself
 was not the primary cause. since these conditions prevailed before the tariff bill
 
 in the parlors of the Methodist church of Woodlawn.