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Show THE BUSINESS OUTLOOK. H ' No country has had greater progress in the past five years than H Japan, but today that nation is suffering of an inflation which H brought on a sudden financial reaction. Stock exchanges have been H1 closed and many industrial enterprises have been brought close to Hh the brink of disaster. Credit had been over-extended and specula- H ' tion'was at its height when the crash came, and now the bankers are H laboring to control the situation. Fearing a similar upset in the H ' United States, a manufacturer has inquired of one of the best in- H ' formed bankers in this country as to whether we are going the way H of Japan, and the answer, which is as follows, s quite reassuring, H' I although disclosing abnormal conditions: H "The situation in the United States is not so related to the situa-tion situa-tion in Japan as to be directly affected to an important degree. The H price of raw silk has fallen about one-third, but this has been going H on over several months, and although the stocks of silk in this coun- H ijry are considerable they are said not to amount to more than three ifconths' consumption. No important disturbance in the silk trade H $ reported here. ! 5 "So far as the stock mrkt conditions are concerned, the situ- H tion here is not similar to .that said to have existed in Japan. Al though there have been new flotations and speculative advances in gpme stocks in months past, a substantial reaction has occurred it? H ijiost of them, and the general level of listed stocks is very low ai H v compared with any time in the past. The whole railroad list is ir. H marked contrast with what it was in 1907, and generally speaking- H tjbe listed industrials are also low when consideration iB given to the H ' ifew values which have been put into the properties in recent years, j The amount of loans upon listed stocks, taking account of the total H volume of stocks now listed, the property values behind them or the ( proportion of such loans to ther bank loans is low as compared with H 1907 or other periods when stock speculation has reached a climax. H "There is no evidence that stocks of goods are excessive in this H country. Reports commonly are that dealers have difficulty in get- ting goods fast enough to take care of their trade. It is true that HL the pressure for credit indicates that inventories are high, but this H seems to refer to raw materials rather than to goods ready for the H consumer's market, and this condition results largely from the de- H lays and uncertainties of transportation. Manufacturers find it nec- fl essary to carry larger stocks to be sure of having enough to keep HI their establishments running in all departments. Large stocks at H the present level of prices are undoubtedly an element of danger, H but the manufacturing industries of this country aro generally in a H stronger position as regards, the relation of assets to liabilities than H they have .been in the past. Hi "Conditions the world over are not such 'as to suggest a state H of over-production in any of the essential industries in the near fu- H ture. The conspicuous feature of the situation is the great backed- H up demand for construction work, and there is no record of panic H and industrial depression in the face of such a prospect. The needs H . for houses, for railroaci equipment and for construction work of man' H kinds in our own country, not to speak of the needs of other coun-- H .tries, are imperative. M Ljrk. 'jwu-i.-i!. i-L-j , l ' (. |