SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 87

SKETCHES FROM AMERICA.

By Maobilanda.

(For the Witness;) Idoney is pouring into the States, being brought by almost every important vessel on the high seaa. The Lusitania alone carried 10,000,000d0l in gold, and this is about a tenth of what is expected in the course of the next few weeks. TDespite tbisr i* has been found necessary to issue "local money," and coloured slips, va'ued at 2dol, 6dol, and lOdol respectively, according to colour and printed amount, are now a medium of exchange in lieu of the ordinary .greenbacks. It is hoped that these will have a' good upon trade, which has fallen off to % startling exteȣ eince the disastrous October days in 'Wmll street. One gigantic mail order firm, wvth an average daily turnover of 60,00W01, now finds that 20,000d0l is its highest total. Small -wonder' that many failures are of daily occurrence, and that those firms large enough to 6tand the strain rather than dismiss their employees are running five days in the week instead of six. Business cannot continue long on a basis of cashless cheques. Weekly clearings show a daily average decrease in Chicago alone of close on 10,000,000d01.

±ne associated banks of New York, according to the last weekly statement, have the greatest deficit in their reserves ever known in the history of the clearing house banks. They are obliged by law to keep 25 per cent, of their deposits ; in reality they hold barely 20 per cent. Gurrenoy brokers are about the only people finding a strong demand for their wares. Small bills in large quantities, suitable for pay-roll purposes, are worth a good percentage more than their face^value. Sums from 500dol up are eagerly sought. Meanwhile hardly a public spe&ch is made which does not contain some uncomplimentary reference to fhe acts or words of ir resident Hoosevelt. He is still blamed for the disaster which has befallen the country. When, a short time since, a lone professor in a Michigan University announced his wish that Mr Roosevelt could rule for life — seeing in him the only man capable of controlling the trustshas words caused a gasp that might have been heard from end to end of the States. The President is meanwhile calmly preparing that section of bis Message to Congress dealing with the financial situation, and it is said that the tone of it will :ause a sensatjon. It will be decidedly more moderate than anything hitherto proclaimed by President Roosevelt. Late experiences have modified his views on many matters. Tlio advantage of permitting great corporations wall be emphasised, and there will be a special recommendation that pooling be permitted, as now that a new law has given the Inter-State Commerce Commission power to fix railroad rates it is recognised that the railways should be permitted to dispose of and distribute their earnings as 'they think fit. This was proUiDited by an old act, as it was feared that if the companies "permitted to pool their earnings and divide up traffic competition would be throttled, with the usual result that the people would be robbed. Nov that the public is protected by the commission, and a fuj*her law severely punishes any discrimination, this objection is done away with. The other important section will deal "with the need foi immediate legislation to increase the elasticity of the present currency system, which late events have proved altogether inadequate for the needs of a prosperous, but hysterical, people. Although the President admits that combines are not altogether as dangerous as from some of his moves people were inclined to understand, he is none the less determined to attack "those incorporated for illegal purposes, and ,the Paper Trust is shortly to be placed under fire. The first blow struck will in all probability be "the abolition of the present tariff of 6dol a ton on news print paper. It is asserted that a combination has been formed to create a shortage in .paper. A rinor has been made -of both eastern and western manufacturers, with the "result that makers have withdrawn 'quotations ' from the various newspapei firms from I which they formerly solicited business. Publishers have quickly discovered that their supply is being curtailed, that inquiries as to prices made at one mil! are i known to the others, and, finally^ that a ; single reasonable quotation is all that can be obtained. Jobbers, too, are obliged to give the name of their customer before a business -deal is consummated. Now it has been announced that the price of news print paper for the coming year is to be advanced £2 2s a ton, with a yet additional increase of almost -the same amount the following year, which will mean a tax on the -printing trade of the country of j 10,000,000d0l and 19,000,000d01. The : reason given is that the cost of wood and labour has risen. In refutal of this, the | Newspaper Publishers' Association points ' to the published statement of the largest i manufacturer of news print paper, giving the increased cost of production as 64 , centa a ton It is also argued that eer- ' tain mills in both Canada and the United States are making paper at 28dol per ton ; j hence a selling price of from 55d0l to j 60dol is outrageous. The work of provisioning and fitting rat the American fleet for its cruise to the ' Pacific has been begun in earnest. The date set for their final review befoTe departure is December 1. Fifteen thousand men will be aboard, and the cost of feed- < ing them for 100 days is reckoned at ■ 370,000d01. There are to be two attendant supply ships, each of which are to .carry - han the stores. There will be l;000,0O0Ib of flour, and the same allowance of fresh ■ beef, 130,0001b of Frankfurter sausage, : and about half as much of the product ' | of Bologna. Half a million " pounds of > potatoes and 12,000 dozen eggs are -to go aboard at Trinidad. .Smokers' interests ; are well looked v after, despite the arguments of the thousands -who think s-uch tastes sinful, and 28,0001b of smoking and. 1

80001b of plug tobacco ate being jarefulty stowed away, with a nice little supply of 70,000 cigaTS and 50,000 packets of cigarettes! All Japan is expected to trembl* when the American fleet comes within hex ken.

General Booth has -takei leave of America for what all believe to be th&

last time." Five hundred of his soldiers escorted him to the ftew York Town Hall, in .front of which literally thousands had gathered to see, if they could not hear, the man who made himself worhfknown. Three thousand more had gather-ed in the park to cheer him .as h< passed. A dozen strong-lunged followers caught up hie faint words and shouted them through megaphones so that "the multitude might hear. He asked rfo* loyalty to his daughter, Eva Booth, commander of the forces in America, and prayed that all might lead brave and fearleas lives, helping the fallen and downtrodden at "all times. "I will see yotr again, if I live," lie promised ; " and ij I'm dead I will try to see you if they will let me! Hallelujah! A thousand — aye, ten thousand — hallelujahs for you, my deaj* brothers and sisters ! " he cried despit< his frailty The lines of a -well-knowji hymn, were then flung upon a screen, anq the crowd sang with all its strength till •the leader was taken away to his steamer, where has -first__act -was to dictate- a fare> well to America. The Salvation Army still holds it* own in the hearts of tha people, although it is no longer an innovation. Other religions are introducing more novelties. Illustrated sermons by means of moving pictures are now nothing out of the common in many churches. Every now and then some of the numerous food cranks rampant in the United States contrive to :al.' public attention tot themselves. Now -there are almost a dozen occupying prominent places in various newspapers. One has undertaken to liva od peanuts for 60 days to prove that these edibles are not injurious. He is uot* in his fifth week of the trial, and has just taken a 15-mile walk to illustrate hU general fitness. A close rival for notoriety is a Mayor who advocates a di»t oj eggs ; a third finds beans more sustaining still; -a sauerkraut-eater, scorns all else, while a boileT-maker has. just started on* onions. It -is hoped that a meeting will be arranged between these gentlemen at the end**>f the various trials, whereupon the general .public expect to learn many details as to food values, to say nothing of the tempers of men. November 16, 1907.