The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-12-24
HENRY CLEWS
 WEEKLY LETTER

As the year draws to close lAie shadows of war deepen and CnrlsI- mas cheer is sobered by a gro"lhe realization of what the war means to us Evidently the titanic struggle across the Atlantic Is approachlng oritical period, for the Central pow CTS have been encouraged by the col- lanse of Russia and the check lrn- nosed upon the Italians. Peace talk of German origin is again in the air. h,t ia not taken very seriously al Washington. The situation, however, Is not so discouraging to the Alhes as 1t Seems, and ere long the trend will be in their favor, especially when Arnar;can forces are able to make +henselves felt in proportion to the1r ahilitv: a result that cannot be long sorarred This is an appropriate horr for taking courage. Success anu consequent peace are only que''
 of time. u +o lower levels owing to persistent uouidation and absence ol puye nover The causes for this lQulua- t.o aro Incoming more and more evident. Briefly, they are war pres- sure advanced interest rates' neavt taxes, diminished profts' the pe . ol american railroads. ana se44Ae
 counterbalance excess pFon@ -1S.. Of these causes, the railroad prooio easily comes first. Every perSoh o' all familiar with business affairs "p preciates the real crux or the SLUG ton. Our railroads have been uA. i,,stlv treated for numper oA Se%-s bv our lawmakers, guided Ilioie nreiudice than by intelligent
 nrahension. The responslD1Aly
 breakdown of the Amerlcan fait oe system should be squareN pl%ceo where it belongs; that ls' upon tlioso members of the Interstate
 Commission who steadily reIuseu ~ allow the railroads to compeii''lC' themselves for increased costs o1 op aration which they could not @VoA
 when every other line of industry nao baan obliged to charge more Ior l'' services to offset increased eApeneeS' .s +hara was no reason why the ral,- oo,7e ahould be singled out for such ,,oIust discrimination, particularly row that their maintenance So vital. not only to the country as whole. but to our success m "lliniAe inc war. Without intenuon' per bans hut because of 8 lack or rall- road experience or actual lncolilp tarca these officials starved the rall' .oads iniured their credit and deprlV- ad them of the necessary means to nraserve efficiency. Other draw backs affected the railroads' put hare rests the chief blame; the result naine that when the stress o1 "'tr came our roads were found WeaKeheu hv starvation and threatened py general breakdown. Clearly this was ,tba conseouence evidently ot placlns o1,r transportation lines under the con+rol of men subject to pontlcal {rInances What is to be done! MT. Uilson has a difficult task. Congress does not command the confidence o1 b,,siness men as it should, and IL IS questionable if it has the aplllly u handle so intricate and delicate q rrohlem free from political prejudice At least it has not yet shown any signs of such ability, and the saIes' course is to leave the railroad man ae1ers to work out their own saIva- +on. their interests and those Of the Tinted States being identical at this lime. The government might with advantage to itself and the pubic insist upon unit operation, perml' nooling and offer some sort of financla aid. Given this relief and adequate rates. our railroads could once more he placed upon sound and etrlc1en' | hasis. such as the nation must have to obtain victory over our enemies who have been very materially aided by misregulation of our own ra1l' roads.
 The next depressing influence wa: the dividend outlook. Railroads ar' evidently expected to reduce the1l dividend rates The excessive fall II such stocks as Pennsylvania. Ttchi son. New York Central Union Pacific Northwestern and other high grad' issues. has been out of all proportion to the rise of interest rates. The de cision of the Baltimore & Ohio al rectors in postponing action on tn common and preferred dividends wa extremely suggestive and caused tn low record in these securities. Tn gross earnings of the company, it announced, will exceed those of las year by $12,500,000, but expense were $16,000,000 greater than i 1916, a statement which illustrate condition not confined to this par ticular property. It would seen however, that dividend reduction have been almost fully discounted and that some form of relief woul soon be granted by the governmen New sources of liquidation which pe1 haps received less attention than de served, were the selling of enem holdings through fear of confsca tion by institutions which must no report to the government; also to tn selling for purpose of making definit reductions in tax statements. Tn weakness in values was not conine to railroads, but extended to indu trials, which were much less affecte' There is more or less slowing dow in certain industries, particular those devoted to unnecessaries, whi the steel and kindred industries al running at top speed whenever col ditions permit Needless to say, tf advanced cost of materials and labt will affect dividend prospects; an business men are much perplexe by transportation difficulties, tf scarcity of materials and labor, { well as the general uncertainty ar depression induced by war. The go7 ernment report on winter whea though falling below expectations |; to acreage and condition, promises
 yield of $40 100000 bushels, the thil H. AI~s.