The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-17
HENRY CLEWS WEEKLY LETIER LEl

WEEKLY. KlLl..Yl!. LElltk u
 s......,. ,ersistent liquidation mas s
 ..s sv,,nrint on the price ieseA Es.,as this week. Indicatiohs
 -,+ that this selling mas " a,,,- pss.,+ at least been Of ioreie ar 31s.s Sweden appears to nave s .e,,rcel following the olselooas ,-a one ,,.a bv the German Ampassa s:ss. e p,5anos Ayres of the SWeuisi, u.t;c uoh service 10 send unheuel ~ a. .- s.se-r,afion to his government,
 .,,,ta desirable to emphasl1e sara,gn rorration regarding all tneso .s well sa1aa ia not tangible. but havn Lnown that Swedish iIi.e ,,,,+ries ,s,.s tt,osa of other neutral coun.. na,s, nAe aaJ,x,nr enormous profits lronA tSss. daalings with belligereh. pU
 a,,r,,,g the war. Hence it uoes
 a~eraar unreasonable to penus ny thev invested sups.ans.s' ls .s tnas If these profits in Anetlr ntIr -ac,,rities Certainly no pee.e. < ss can sor investments were pres ent. nurely local E actsr appears to have peen rasnonse to the continued uncSi sas ,s~,,iting from the various ,llll1S ,..4s ,,+ that have become sucn mp ..ts,a- t !. factors in the general marAs raff,c tior, For instance, raiiroau -ssad a statements. if .comparisons ao ar . ss.sSs tra corresponding figures or . s- w ro. suggest, in nearly all lnE st.r,,az remarkable increases III s~-. S,t,1raa increases sufficient 70 cue ' sse-.,-, +n extremely unsatisIaftoly sssav,or+;ons the equally remar hapt1 1 e ikr.y,rcvaynent in gross earnings l.ia. z.as rssnlted from the unexamp pleu v - -,,a,,,e,,t cf merchandise. As a ssG77 -.,s z. ctort in the markets nervous s,sss ahould be mentioned the uncer- tas,stv that continues as to the gov <, ernment,s price fixing plans.
 norts have reached New York ilo.i' Washington almost daily tnas
 nouncement of the prices to pe
 tablished by the government TOT. ,,id a.Uai, stse1 conner and other metals would s,a r.ade in a short time. But at tnis -vr,finr the official figures still nave vct been promulgated and our manp- rsrt,,rers are in the dark as to the annroxinate figures they are 70 re- cssva for the supplies covered by tne <,o,,+racts either with our own gov Z .rrmant or with the government tbaf are our associates in the war TTnderlving all this nervousness there anpears among large manuIaclursrs a feeling of confidence that the prices when finally announceo VIII pe such as to justify the beltef that tnSs will represent a policy or hper aii.s ana farsightedness on the part ol t,ss1iA ,trfstrztiSf Bfffieulty in in craaaing the volume of funds that IS necesaary for prompt victory will DC increased if the sources of supply are arhttrarily dried up, as cannot Iai to he the result in the event or taxa ton being too bnrdensome. The Rev anne hill passed the upper House aarIv in the week. It now goes U conference and soon will be on tns statute books It represents Tn tn' main the victory Of calm minded mer ovkr q few who were hysterically de manding a conscription Of wealth o1 scale calculated to do lasting in turv 10 our country. Nevertheless the burden of taxation which will b. cheerfully borne as war time ne cessfty is a heavy one In providlni funds for carrying on the war tn men of mature age are already bear ing the greater part of the buruen so far as money Is concerned. Tn young men are doing their full shar in enIisting in the service of thei country and they will soon be actual ly fighting our battles. It is no mor than fair that the coming generation who will most benefit by victory: 10 democracy over autocracy, shoul pay part of the debts we are noy contracting for war purposes. There fore I believe that bonds should D Issued In amounts sufficient to- pro vide for actual wars needs, rathe than that vast amounts should b raised by taxation of individuals an business surplus profits. In othe words, we should pay our share t preserve the rights of the future gen eration, but they. in their turr should pay the debt incurred to in sure their heritage of liberty
 So far as the railroads are involve the heavy reductions in net revenue are very apt to be accorded exagger sated importance. The volume of busi ness that Is being carried by tn transportation lines has never befor been equaled; there s5 no immediat prospect of an important change this respect. Reports to the Inter state Commerce Commission from 15 of the large roads for the month ( July show their revenues $302,839 0S8. as compared with s263.501,34 for the same month last year AIIe allowing for the increased operatin expenses the net revenue amounte to ss6,649,434. comparing with $93 SS1,174. For the seven months end ed with July the gross receipts wer $1.949.770, 900, an increase from $1 38,298,000 for the same period ( 1916, while the net revenues wer s5T1,834,000 compared with $576 77a,O00 last year. But 1t should b understood that as these comparison are with period of unexample prosperity in the transportatio world a reaction is not unnatural we take the New York Central as
 specific instance. the unrepresents tive basis of a comparison of la! year becomes evident. The Jul statement indicated gross revenue of $19,276,340. This compared wit S17.127,204 in 1916 and $13,947,77 in the year preceding. Deductir taxes and all charges the July SUI plus available for dividends despi the higher gross was only $3,543,95 and compares with 3,841 ,126 fl July last year, which, of course, is
 reduction of cloae to s100,000. Bl it nevertheless is no less than $1 100000 larger than the correspond ing surplus in 1915. The Pennsy