The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

: and the guage now seems to indicate ! fair wea ther st least for a time. As al- ways, the influences making for re-
 eoyery have been psychological as well as physical For there is no phase
 of life in which the material is entirely
 separable from the spiritual. Most people are more confident | and cheerful because they believe that both candidates for the presi- dcncy are .'safe and sane" and that
 tae next administration uill bc i conservative. whoever is elected. 1 Then there is the low rate of busi- | ness morality. According to buns .e- port only 1852 failures occurred dur | ing the six months ending June 30 l This is less than the number reported 1 in the first half of any year since 1881, and compares with 3463 last year, 5SS9 in 1918 and 12,740 in 1915 Skepticism as to the reality of the
 business depression so much talked of has also been encouraged by the bank clearings, which continue to show an increase over last year. How it is asked. can there be a falling off l in trade if the amount of money
 changing hands is greater than ever | before.
 l HAVE PLENTY OF CASH certainly the people have plenty os l cash to spend for the money in cir 1 eulation Julyl, was s6,0S4s5f,57S
 which is about $200,ooo 600 more than
 last year and the banks of Atlantic ! City. N d., report that $2750,000 was | deposited with them on the 9th of | July, as result of the holiday in flux of visitors to that resort. This is 1 said to be record.
 1 Developments that are more defi- nitely significant include the gener- | ous wheat crop now being harvested !, in the United States, and Canada. and the improvement reported in the con dltion of corn and cotton.
 Trading in wheat futures will be re-
 sumed on July IS. The opening prtcs
 IS expected to be about S2.50 per I bushef M
 Az the large trade generated by these crops will doubt strain
 the railroads severely, it is also encournging to read that the hear
 ings before the Interstate Com
 merce Commission have been clos
 ed md that is is expected that m
 advance in rates averaging over | x7 per cent will he announced by 1 July 1J.
 1 This report is unofficial and un.
 confirmed, but if it is correct the gros. l ! creased by over one million dollars which sum will of course be immedi- ately expended for the equipment and i improvements that are so much need
 ed thereby quickenng the wheels of industry and providing work at high wages for all the labor that can be l obtained
 STOCK EXCHANGE OPTIMISTIC It is not strange that with this ' DacERrOIInd Inc Gto har .L< si 1 have taken on more cheerful ap- | pearance, There is no thoughtIess 1 speculation as yet but those profess 1 sional operators whose business it is 1 to try to discount the future seem to assume that for the present at least 1 the worst has happened and that an | ascending curve will describe tho 1 course of prices until they are consid- l erably higher
 | This view does not ignore the present tiishtness of money, the fn- efficiency of the railroads and the consequent embargo upon the move consequent embargo upon the | movement of freight or the possi- bility of coal fnmine next win ter, unless the mines are promptly 1 provided with cars that will he | promptly moved and unIoaded at
 destination. The theory of the op- tlmist Is that way will be found to correct evils that are known and whose causes are understood AS to interest rates. people have
 about made up their minds that they
 are likely to remain high for some tins
 in common with everything else and | that with big wages for labor and big
 profits for business it is not alto-
 gcther Illegal that more should be de-
 manded for the use of credit Call
 money IS. nevertheless. slightly easier
 and the fact that the s25.0o0, 00g Swiss government bonds. recently offered,
 were promptly taken and are already
 selling at slight premium would in-
 dicate that there Is d dependable de- nand for first-elass securities l The policy and profits of The federal
 reserve banks are. however, $till pro-
 tested against and the fact that the
 New York bank reports earnings of
 1o4 per cent upon it's capital for the first six months of 1920 is angrily com
 mented upon in some quarters The subject. no doubt. will be forcibly
 brought to the attention of the next
 Congress.
 COAL SITUATION
 As 10 coal. the feeling seems to be
 that with the governor Of nearly every state in the union appealing for coal some way will be found to furnish it. i The first steps toward insuring the necessary domestic supply has already been taken by putting an embargo upon exports, Suspicion that the coal short l age is somewhat mythical and that 1t has been exaggerated in order to ad- vance prices has, moreover. been par l tially confirmed by statement enan- ating from George H. Cushing. mana-
 ger and director of the American Wholesale Coal Association. in which W l IS asserted that the coal production te eight weeks ahead of previous years and that there Is no danger of q fuel famine in any part of the country next winter.
 Among the wholesale and retails diss tributors of mercha ndise there is a zen. erai expectation of higher prices in the autumn. Stocks are low and the pre-. vailing view is well expressed by Mp. i Jesse I. straus of R. H. Macy X Co. who says: "As manufacturers have all along lcomplained of their Inability to deliver requirements the rehabilitation of mer.
 fCnutfu..~<a p.~n