New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-14

or the shipment may have been purchased ana
change, as the scareerow Of gold exports com
| menced its scnechihg q week ago. The foreign
exchange market was dull, with limited trans trans
steady at below the exporting point closing az
81 So IA and 81 IS "a respectively Tor long
| and short sterling
| RAILROADS DISOBEY WALL STREET.
continue to report gross earnings, which conSid.
| ering the large earnings Of tn, period OF last
year, make remarkably favorable comparisons.
The Chronicle, in its incomplete stateme1e
for April. gives the gross earnings OF 106 roads
at s23, 556,242, against s22, s14 ,006, for April,
| 1854 gain OF s142r236, or over per cent
| The increased mileage Of the same roads is IL
per cent No one, we suppose. ID so foolish as 70
believe that new extensions Of old railroads WILL
In their hrst year, produce as large earnings per
mile as the older construction. But 1t must De
borne in mind that the earnings generally OF the
same companies In April 1887, gave q gain OF
Is per cent on the earnings OF $50. Including
published the earnings for the first week OF
May Of thirty-six roads which eive an aggregate
OF S2,s74, 900, against s2 "a esS In the week
Of last year-a gain Of s27o,o4o, or 1879 per
cent. Practically the same rosds in the week OF
1887 gave gain Of 15.4s per cent
| STOCKS ASSAILED BY PHANTOMS
In writing of the financial markets Of last week,
| 1t Is necessary to divide them into two classes
The demand for railway bonds over the counters
Of the large dealers met with no check but on
the contrary. was rather larger than usu@L Az
/
| the hrnness exhibited in prices than By an en-
| largement Of the business. The amount Of bus
| ness done in bonds everywhere is somewhat Inn
| tied by the volume OF the supply: AS RUE,
and third choices Of bonds and it was in them
that values appreciated most. While this was the
condition Of the market for railway Indebtedness,
the share market was dull and somewhat de-
pressed by an inv aston of ghost stories. The bus
mess Of the week aggregated l,56O,OOO shares,
| against 1,926,000 for the preceding week Inc
| notably active stocks were: St Paul. which sold
as low as II rs and closed at 10, against "a
week ago; Reading which sold as low as SO 5,s
| and closed at so 10 against 60; Delaware, Lack
awanna and Western, which sold as low as rs 3-S
| and closed at 129, against 1906 New-York and
| New-Eng gland, which sold as low as 80 "a, and
closed at 40 l-2 against Al ga; Richmond and
| West Point, which sold low % ga and
closed at "a Is against 20; Union Pacific, which
| sold low as SO ga, and closed at So "a
against So I-2; Lake Shore which sold as low
| as 90 SIS and closed at VI Ia against 90 rs;
Missouri Pacific, which sold as low as 70 l-2,
which sold low as IS IA, and closed at
| rs Ia against ~ Among the stocks less active
were Burlington and Quincy, which after a re-
covery of per cent closed as Per cent lower
! than a week ago; Northwestern sold down 2 "a
per cent to 105 l-s, and closed at 109 North
ern Pacific preferred declined per cent to
| 81 Is and closed OF so; Erie went of 1-2
per cent to "a l2 and closed at 20 IA; Norfolk
and Western preferred declined "a to AZ o-s
and closed at As. Thus it is seen that the attack
upon values had little respect to merits; the
| stocks Of roads showing large gains In earnings
| declined with those showing small losses.
Burlington and Quincy is the marked exception
in having q substantial reason for the depression
in it's values, ind decline OF per cent on
a showing OF failure in the gross earnings to
| meet the operating expenses for month even
| In the case OF a strlkel when the net earnings
for o month have averaged over 81 100000 Ihe
history Of railroading in this country probably
fails to record parallel THIS particular eAaiDiG
| from to per cent was made the first MAKE
weight against an Improvement IN values when
| had begun at the first of the week. This was
followed by all sorts Of predictions concerning
| the dividends to be paid in the future by other
companies Then came reports Of dlsagreements
through the trunk lines, and the publication Of
| q sensational and absolutely false statement of
the proceedings at the trunk line meeting on
Thursday The proceedings ut that meeting were
existing between the trunk lines are now more
securely established upon sensible and friendly
basis than ever before.
The Government report Of the winter wheat
| crop was unfavorable for certain sections OF the
country and was remarkably favorable for other
sections, but its worst features were exaggerated
| and that with little dash Of cold weather In a
| portion Of the spring wheat section gave the
bulls in wheat an opportunity to advance luS
price upon large outstanding snort ln,eres,,
which advance was attempted to be used as an
argument against values at the Stock EXcnange.
The Treasury's large purchase Of bonds on Friday
had little or no effect because " was Ssy s COM
fined within the usual Saturday twO-hour ses-
| sion With all these things aggressiyey at WORK
|
organized speculative interest in the street; the
| weeks record exhibits strength and confidence
| in values which can only be accounted Tor upon
| the theory that stocks are IN strong hands ana
| held by persons who do not base their operations
upon the passing rumors and exaggeratlons Oh
day
SOME SIGNS OF DESPERATION
The desperation 0f the spectators attempting
to depress values is clearly shown in the devotion
of half a column article to erecting Mr.. Gould as
scarecrow and disturber of financial prosperity
Few men have lived who whatever may nave
been their ambition, have attained success even
with brass knuckles in striking against over
| towering natural influences. Again. in referring
and then reprinted. that $ the payments already
| made of over S21 100000 have resulted really
in leaving the Treasurys surplus Just about where
! il was before the bond buying began" First
the statement that sci 600 has already been
paid out is erroneous, and it will be hardly cred
table to its author to ascribe IL TO Ignorance. a.
| 8 matter of fact, no statement from the genera
| Treasury, or from any Sub-Treasury has YET
reflected the payment Of single dollar toward
the 81 900 Of bonds purchased on last FRIDAY
| payments thus far reported have been less eaan
| $4,000, 0O0 Secondly, the term surplus here
used undoubtedly ID intended to convey the I'm,
preston that after the payment OF s2l;ooo wv
for bonds the Treasury holds about the same
amount Of cash as it did on April 81, The bono l
pmoant 81 gola silver and legal tenders in the
Treasury as reported by yesterdays statement, is
s4,4sS,s32 less than it was by the state state
me- Treasury Of 4Ep as purchased zoe when
| forms part of Yesterdays total balances; there
The fGE bonds DTna G %rsaay @aSe has
S,hich depletion is to be added the of
900 Seo ess the receipts Of two or three days
vet to be paid for Friday and Saturdays pur-
chases The fact that holders Of GAgernment
bonds are SO ready to dispose Of thenffor rein
yestment in other securities is conclusive evidence
that thinking capital dsregards. Wall Street
sueSulative reports and has confidence in the
values OF corporate indebtedness. 1t Is equally
clear that displacement in Government invest
| ments must make equal displacements IN invest
| ments first in the best class Of railroad securl-
ties next in the second class, and so on through
the whole catalogue because az no point are the
sellers Of any class of securities gong to hoard
more than it Is the intention 10 do Sc oil the Sell
| ers Of Government bonds.
Subjoined is our usual table giving tne number