The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1916-08-18
Business and Finances
By w. S. Cousins, Editor American Banker.

road earnings for June and for the
twelve months ended June 80, show
gratifying increases in gross receipts,
though net incomes have not been i'm
| proving in the same ratio. Some i'm
portant railroads have sustained
| losses in net in spite of their gains
in gross. Costs of maintenance and
operation are mounting faster than
gross receipts, and some of the roads
may need new adjustment of freight
rates in order to effect a permanent
increase in their scale of wages.
Were it possible to grade wages down
ward in times of depression the prob
lem would not be so acute as it is,
but labor unions are apparently un-
able to grasp this form of economic
philosophy.
There is no immediate prospect of
a tightening of money rates in this
market. So long as the surplus re-
serve of the New York Clearing
House members remains over one
hundred million dollars above the legal
requirement, and so long as gold con-
tinues to pour in from British and Ca
madam ports, there seems little posi-
bility of general marking up of
loaning rates.
Russia Wants American Capital.
American financiers have had their
attention drawn to Russia by the re-
cent loan Of 100000 to the gov
eminent of that country for the pur-
chase of supplies in the United States.
The vast Empire which stretches from
the Baltic on the west to the Pacific
on the east, and comprises over seven
million square miles of area has
boundless resources which have never
been developed. Russia is a self-con-
tanned country and produces all that
is required for the maintenance of its
population of more than 170,0OO,0OO in
habitants
That the Cars dominions offer a
limitless field for financial operations
is we'll known; and an American bank
is about to open two branches in the
Empire, one of which will be in Pero-
grad and the other in Moscow. To-
day, Russia is becoming what the
United States has been in the past, a
continental area on limtless wealth,
of which thesurface has not even been
scratched as yet. Europe finds this
country market for exports more
than any other part of the
world, and hence the eagerness with
which the various commercial nations
seek entrance into the American
market.
Tomorrow, Russia will be of far
greater value commercially to her
allies than the United States to
Europe since 1915. All the natural
wealth which this country possesses |
IS held in even higher degree by
Russia, and the first step toward the |
of these resources has yet |
to be taken. This is why the Ameri-
can banking institution above spoken
Of is so anxious to be in the field and |
open branches in its two principal
cities. These American newcomers
are welcome in the country which |
they seek to enter. They will find an
inviting field and opportunities of
financial expansion and commercial |
development without parallel in any
other part of the world.
Half century ago, or for that mat
ter, for generation prior to the Civil |
war, this country had territory with
out population. and so was forced to
wait for time and immigration to give |
It the inhabitants which were needed |
to build up its industries. Russia has
no need to wait for settlers from
abroad, because it already has a popu-
ation which is well nigh double that
Of the United States. What Russia
does need, however. is capital, and the
coming of this Indispensable agent Of
is urgently sought.
American financiers have in Russia
one of the most inviting fields in the
world for profitable investment in
plants, mines and oil
fields. When these opportunities are
made use of there will be no remnant
Of idle capital in this country which,
between Russia and South America,
will find its capacity for embracing
foreign opportunities more than ex-
,eeded by invitations which will be ex
tended simultaneously from Europe,
Asia and South America.
w. S. COUSINS,
Editor, The American Banker.