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Show ' BUSINESS UNSATISFACTORY IN UNITED STATES. H General business in the United States continues in an uusatis- H factory condition. Commodity prices are generally declining, says ' Henry Clews in his latest Wall street letter. The volume or trade' is less than a year ago, and many enterprises art held in suspense pending more favorable general conditions. (Tnccrtainty regarding the supreme court (Incisions and the tariff are largely responsible j Tor this -state ;oL affairs. Concerning the tariff, there is perhaps more apprehension than is warranted, 'The three schedules most likely to' be affected cotton, wool and steel have not yet been attacked, at-tacked, and both parties show a disposition to handle them cautiously, cautious-ly, if not to postpone action al together runtil the liext presidential campaign. The tariff, it niust.be remembered, always 'furnishes exceptional ex-ceptional material for political agitation, and practical .politician may easily consider it good tactics to u( public Opinion to sleep by effecting moderate changes al this session of congress and taking up tho tariff question more earnestly after the sentiment of the country has been tested by another national election. Present indications indi-cations point to this congress sitting well into tho summer. Tn the steel trade relatively few orders arc being received for the reason that big buyers arc economizing and deferring purchases as far as possible. Some of the railroads are reporting large declines in gross ' earnings, "which they are seeking to offsot by rigid economies in every direction. In the textile trades dullness still prevails Man cotton mills are suffering a diminution of profits owing to high costs of production, as well as to the impossibility of securing satisfactory satis-factory prices for their product. Consumers are economizing, while distributers seem bent on earning light stocks and confining their operations to those of a hand-to-mouth character. The brightest clement in the business outlook is the crop situation All advice received re-ceived concerning wheat and cotton arc of a very satisfactory nature. na-ture. Acreage is large, condition of the soil good and plants generally gener-ally are promising.. As a rule business conditions are sound and quite ready to respond to any favorable influences. At the west, where depression is now keenest, the outlook is somewhat complicated compli-cated by the consequences of past overspcculaUng in land. Liquidation Liquida-tion in this direction is still incomplete and may be an unsettling influence for some time to come. During the last ten years large areas of agricultural lands in the west have trebled in value; a rise "which unavoidably caused much violent iuflation and an unwise extension ex-tension of credit. Two important uncertainties still overhang the Wall street market; mar-ket; the first in importance being the supreme court decisions, which when announced, "whether favorable or unfavorable, will unquestionably un-questionably stimulate fresh activity. If favorably, a sharp advance ad-vance in prices may be confidently expected; if unfavorable, there will also be good buying of stocks by those who believe that a decision de-cision of that character has been fully discounted. The next important im-portant source of uncertainty is the Mexican difficulty. "While strong efforts arc being ade to restore peace in Mexico and avoid intervention surface indications being promising to this end there is no doubt that the most serious elements in the outlook are being concealed and that the situation is still highly inflammable. This country has no right to interfere beyond the border of our own territory. terri-tory. For damages done we may exact indemnity, and we have no right to armed invasion without the authority of congress, which if obtained would amount to a declaration of war. President Taft is wisely doing his utmost to avert trouble in Mexico; yet the gravity of the situation is emphasized by the fact that his action in massing troops on the border, which was at one time somewhat questioned, is now fully justified. The president's manifest disposition to throw responsibility for any unusual action upon congress is also suggestive sugges-tive of serious reponsibilities. Tn some respects the situation is aualagous to that which prevailed in Cuba before the Spanish-American war; the "American view that it cannot tolerate perpetual disquiet dis-quiet near its own borders being an important factor in determining our future course Of action. In any case, trouble with Mexico would not be a very serious matter for the United States or to Wall street, provided unforeseen international complications did not ensue |