The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-07

 There is not one of the leaders in finance or in banking or who is promi- nently identified with the treasury de- partment who does not concur in .he opinion that notwithstanding the stu pendous financing that has been in prog ress for six months, the country is financially sound if not sounder than ever before.
 There is not the slightest reason for any apprehension. Therefore, the curious course of the securities market last week cannot be reasonably explained except ing upon one of two hypotheses Either greedy speculators were taking advan- tage of certain hysterical conditions that had been fomented by men who did not have the best interests of the country at heart or else the action in the securities market in New York reflects a new phase of German propaganda.
 Whatever the course of the market may be from this time on there is no doubt that the real values that are in the ma jority of the securities are not at all re- flected by depreciation Tn price. Should this depreciation be continued. we are likely to see repetition of, that quaint and curious invasion of Wall street which always takes place when security quota tions are believed to DC far below the real value of the properties. In other words, the day of the bargain hunters may come and these searches for bar gains do not customarily buy on margin, but they bring, sometimes in queer, old fashioned pocketbooks, large amount of actual cash with which they pay for the securities they buy and, having obtained these securities, they carefully tuck them away in inside pockets and then disap- pear. Nobody knows where these bar gain hunters come from or whisher they go after they have secured the bargains. But in the past they have always ap- peared when securities quotations were believed to be far below the actual val ues that were in the properties
 The comptroller of the currency, John Skelton Williams, Governor Strong of the New York federal oank and every one of the leading bankers of New York emphatically assert that the financial condition of the country today is not only excellent, but probably constantly improving.
 The reason for this view is to be found in the reports which tell of the money and loan conditions in the United States. For instance, the latest report of the stock of gold money in the United States places the figure at $3,0G1,000,00o, round numbers. This is greater by little over $500. .00n,G0o than was the stock Of gold money year ago. It is the basis of very much of the credit which, if neededr win be made available to the American people and to the government.
 Then again. the latest returns received by Comptroller Williams, which tell CT the loans of the national banks, show that they amounted to little over S9,- eco 900, or $1.140,00o000 more than -he loans of a year ago. These loans do moi reflect dangerous imitation. They are all based upon soundest reserves now held by the federal reserve system.
 Then again, the relation of the federal reserve banks to the general financial condition of the country has enormously increased within the past F months. These banks discounted or bought bills at the very time when the securities market was showing a steady deprecia- ton, which were in the aggregate $515, OO0 900, round numbers or considerably over four times as mach as were the bills discounted or bought a year ago by the federal reserve banks.
 Everybody who has oi late been re- ceiving cash from his bank or from his customers cannot have failed to observe that the majority of the notes are those issued by the federal reserve bank. There are now nearly $S5o0oo.COo of these notes in circulation, or considerably over $630- 900. .O0O more than were in circulation a year ago. The federal reserve banks have ample gold reserve and other re- sources with which to secure their notes The banks of the United States passed through the month in which that wor- derful body of salesinen all over the United States was busily occupied in ltselling second liberty ponds without the slightest apparent strain. Of course the speeding up of industry and the enor- nous purchasing of supplies of all kinds in the United States by the government and by our allies has made imitation of credit and of currency inevitable, but it ' is not speculative imitation; 1t reflects