The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1915-09-24
GREAT NORTHERN
ORE SHARES RISE
Owing to Improvement in Iron
Ore OutlOOk-Wall Street
Cheerful Over, Loan.
(By Ira N. Steel.)

States Steel Corporation was organized
in 1901. It is talking in billions now,
os Americas leading bankers and
financiers are striving with the Anglo
French commission to arrange huge
credit in this country. No financial
event since the outbreak Of the war
has caused so much comment and
attracted so much attention as the
present conference. At the close of last
week no detailed information as to the
amount, rate Of interest and terms of
the proposed loan had been made pub
lie. Today it is rumored that an enor-
nous nation wide syndicate has been
formed to take up the war loan, but all
details are lacking. Confidence in the
New York financial district is abso-
lutely that the loan will be floated,
and of course this is big bull card
of the stock market.
In connection with the commissions
proposadl to borrow on the credit of
England and France, without collat-
eral, Pittsburgh authority tells a
story of a manufacturer who became
embarrassed financially several years
ago. He was big borrower and
needed additional loans to carry him
over. In normal times he was the
employer of $4,000 to 10000 workmen
in the Pittsburgh district. Asked if
he could get assistance when the banks
knew of his financial position, he re-
piled:
"Why, certainly; they can't afford
to turn me DOWN. owe them too
much now to let them turn me down;
and then look what will happen to
trade in this district if 10000 men
making big wages are thrown out of
work."
The American, no matter what his
sympathies may be in the worlds
struggle, should look at this loan from
the standpoint of what it means to
the United States, not what it means
to. the warning nations. The war is 8
calamity which every normal person
must deplore, but there is no denying
the present business activity hangs
upon this slender thread. A year ago
the distress of 100000 or more un-
employed people was one Of the big
gest problems of the day. Long be-
fore the war had started we had
entered what threatened to be a long
continued period of hard times,
brought about by unwise legislation
and misdirected government activity.
This condition has been relieved by
the heavy European demand for our
food products and manufacturers. Now
that a credit is necessary to insure
a continuance Of present more salts
factory conditions, this means should
not be denied.
The banks of the United States
may be said to be loaded with money,
due partly to the effect of the new
federal reserve law, and also to the
fact that general business, outside of
war orders, continues quiet. The
banks are in better position now to
swing a foreign loan than ever before,
!! and the success of such loan, if
negotiations are concluded success
fully, will be due in part at least, to
the fact that the banks have so much
idle money on hand which cannot be
employed otherwise profitably.
Great Northern Ore properties
shares were feature among iron and
steel shares on the New York stock
market in the past week. They
reached the highest level in three
years, or since talk of breaking the
contract with the United States Steel
Corporation was heard. They have
doubled in market value this year
thanks largely to the improvement in
the iron and steel trade. In 1906
James J. Hill leased the ore lands tt
the Steel Corporation. That years
high price for the ore certificates was
IS. In 1909, when the iron and stee!
trade was prospering, the certificates
reached a new high Of sc Sd, a record
which still stands. On rumors of 8
government suit against the corpora
ton the price dropped to As, the mex
year. Then the lease was cancelled
and there was a steady decline unit
% 3D. was reached July 30, 1914. Il
closed at 46 1-2 last week.
NO ACTION ON CRUCIBLE.
Directors Of the Crucible Steel Co
! of America met in Pittsburgh the lat
ter part of last week, but took n,