Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1921-01-08
San Francisco, Cal.
 January 1, 1921.

odu II IdHSiSSO, NtSi. January 1, 1921.
 STOCKEt--The past year has been a remarkable one in Wall Street and considering the action of the market, in which declines have registered in some cases of more than 50 per cent in values, the number of failures were no more than one could expect in a normal year.
 The Federal Reserve Board can be given credit for keeping the trade in check and, by withholding funds for speculative purposes, succeeded in keeping down imitation early in thd year that threatened to break out in a runaway bull market. A good many in the trade were inclined to criticize the Board for their activities in withholding funds and marking in- terest rates up-but it proved to be sound judgment on their part, anj there is scarcely a trader now who is not outspoken in his praise of the! Boards action.
 Had the market been allowed to ad- vance when conditions at that partic- ular time looked promising, the inev- itable decline would have been so drastic that we would have seen the worst panic Wall Street ever went through.
 Stocks have shown considerable de- cline and Wall Street has been blue for long spell, but the decline has; been orderly-and while the trade in general has felt it, yet the outside public have had numerous warnings and the decline was not wholly uncx- pected.
 The let-up in general business, due to lack of confidence in prices of manufactured articles, as we'll as the indifference on the part of the con- sumer and the general decline in com- modity prices, were the principal fac tors. Then too, the extravaganza of the present administration, with the heavy burden of taxes that called for cash payments, kept the money mar ket in an unsatisfactory condition and brought about periods of stringency.
 It now depends as much upon pub lie possession of the wherewithal with which to manifest it's confidence, as upon confidence itself. However provided no new demands arise from the Treasury, there are no pressing capital requirements that connot be deferred-except such as foreign trade requires, and, as the banks are in better position to furnish current capital, there is nothing to prevent restoration oil industrial activity if confidence can be restored.
 There is every reason to believe that unusual efforts will be made to do this right after the opening of the New Year; but the market is unusu- ally affected more by immediate con- alterations than by it's faith in the future, and the immediate situation is not favorable to big advancei- the reason being that the public have lost confidence and it will take time to bolster up their courage.
 It will be a long time before we see such markets as were common during most of last year, but nothing short of catastrophe can prevent an early advance in prices in the stock market. Fundamental conditions are sound and our period of readjustment is about over.
 A good many corpo1 ations have had hard time of it, and the prices at which some of the Industrials are selling discounts all the unfavorable news. The Railroads are in good shape, and were it not for the gen. eral pesimistic feeling in all lines, these stocks would give better ac- count of themselves.
 We feel we have gone through the worst of our troubles-and, while there may be a few sore spots left, the general market is in a position to fally sharply from this level. RAILROAD STOCKS-Frequently during the past month rail shares have held firm when industrials have been weak, and during the closing days of the month, rails were com paratively steady, while equipment companies stocks continued toStreng- then on signs that the railway com panies are about to enter the market for supplies. Large orders for steel rails have already been placed by the Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads with different steel com panies
 Immediate payment to the railroads of sums due them from the Govern ment, under guaranty provisions of the Transportation Act, but withheld under the ruling of the Controller of the Treasury, has been declared by the Interstate Commerce Commission, in it's annual report, to be vital, in order that the railroads may properly serve the public. The Commission have therefore recommended that Congress amend the Transportation