The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-23
CLEwS' VIEWS.
What a Banker Has to Say About
Financial Matters.


NRw YORK, Nov. 2l.-During the greater
part Of tho past week Wall street relapsed
into its old stagnancy; the partial re-
yival Of the previous week having proved
to be but a transient room" ripple upon
the dead calm Of speculation. Neither the
unexpectedly liberal gain in the bank
reserves, nor the equally unexpected
strength shown in the Bank Of England
statement Of last week, nor the gain OF 81
per cent. In the October gross earnings OF
the railroads, have had any important effect
upon the market, and the transactions at
the stock exchange shrunk to about one
| third the volume of really active busl-
ness. There has been a feir investors
demand Tor bonds and first-class dividend
| paying stocks; which indicates that, what
ever may be said about the state OF the
country at tlarge, the accumulation of wealth
| is going on at about the usual rate.
This condition of the market seems singu-
| larly Inconsistent with the large hopes leRit-
| imately based upon the commercial stimu-
lus that must attend the distribution OF our
extraordinary crops and the expectation of
| probably an unprecedented quantity OF
| food products. The insensibility of tho
| stock market to these inspiring prospects Is
| no doubt due, in some measure, 10 a
| quieter condition of the general trade OF the
| country than has been expected under tho
circumstances Of a prosperous year for the
| farmers The measure OF this quiet may be
| inferred from the fact that the current
| bank olearings. at the seven principal cities
| of the union, show a decrease OF over 10
| per cent, as compared with a year ago
| To account for this disappointing state of
| things, 1t is necessary to remember that 1t
| Is only twelve months since we were In a
condition of financial panic. which has
| been followed by reaction affecting busi-
mesa and values throughout the entire coun-
try. A trensition from panic to high
boom within such a brief period Is too
much for prudent men TO calculate upon.
The chief cause of the prevailing inecbiv-
ity, however, ,is..to be found In heiEuropean
markets At present, the financial centers
Of the continent are exposed to very ser
ious extent ofsympathy with variety Of
unhealthy influences, most of which have
been long In operation and seems TO be now
reaching elimination. There, as In this
country there has been great deal OF re-
volution In the organization of industry;
which has resulted Il the formation OF
large corporations, for the most part hoated
on an inflated capitalization and financed
upon loose speculative methods. The
bourses are glutted with these unstable is-
sues, and in too many cases
| the banks even are dangerously loaded
| up with them and yet dare not force
| them to sale. Again, the competition for
| foreign commerce as between tho European
| states has been increasing In severity, with
| protitless results and with consequent In
| Movements to some of the commercial
banks that expose them to distrust
| Further. the Barring suspension and South
| American affairs generally have started an
| industrial and commercial reaction through
, out Europe. which is attended with deolin-
ing prices and with the obstructions to
credit that always attend such a state Of
/ H{er HhAoa aRn ny far \. -
failure of the crops that threatens TO depicts
Europe Of the gold so greatly needed 30
buttress the banks under such adverse con-
ditions. Added to all this, there is a CON-
dition of international relations which
threatens to precipitate the great conflict
between the eastern and western powers
| which has been 30 long impending and has
each succeeding year seemed to become
more inevitable. The crop failures Of France
and Russia increase this danger. as they
| afford q tempting opportunity for the
| Briebund to force the wearying disputes to
settlement. Moreover, judging from
seemingly authentic outgivings, Germany Is
| preparing herself for serious action in the
| coming spring; although IL Is possible these
| intimations may be intended for diplomatic
| effect rather than to reflect actual pur-
| poses.
This Is the complication Of influences now
| agitating the European money centers, and
It cannot be denied that the situation is an
unusually grave one. calling for the utmost
| sail throug lout Europe. Naturally, under
such circumstances, there IL an effort to
realize upon large amounts of the securities
| of the governments most directly involved
in these dubious prospects. For the last
two or three weeks both Peris and Berlin
have been selling largely of Russian issues,
the amount Of which beid In France is esti-
l - ~x.1 4~R a
$l,500, ,000,0 900. The bankrupt condition OF
Spanish finances is also an ele-
ment of danger. The Bank of
Spain has exceeded the legal limit of
its note issues and proposes TO further disre-
gard its constitutional restraints; and while
oonfessipg its Inability to pay a temporary
loan from the Rothschilds OF $4,000, 900 10
asking for a further advance OF $I5, ,000,0
And yet France is estimated TO be holding
some $500, 100000 Of Spanish securities of
one kind or another. Italy has been severely
hurt by its recent panic, aud oonfideDoa
cannot yet be said to be returning In Rome.
At Vienna the state OF finances Is one of
high tension; and nothing Is being accom-
plished toward restoring confidence In Por-
tugal.
This Is an unvarnished statement OF the
present condition Of finances in Europe at
large, with a possible super,added great
war within six months. A graver situation
could hardly be conceived, and be would be
bold financier who would say that these
influences can have no bearing upon the
future of American securities. In my judg-
ment, 80 long as this state Of things COM
tinues an eye had better be kept to the
windward and conservative methods should
prevail. Still as the feeling In London is at
present showing some improvements, and
the Bank Of England is showing some gain
in It's reserves, our market for securities is
entitled to some recovery In prices and In
creased activity, at least for the coming
week.
A New Schedule to Birmingham.