The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-11-29
FINANCIAL REVIEW.
Henry Clews' Weekly Letter on the
Business Situation.

Inc UuSn OIL speculative interest |
that generally appears on the re-
turn of operators from summer
recreation has exhausted itself, and |
there is little disposition to under
take new ventures on the near APP
proach of the season of holiday and
of annual settlements. The pres
ent is a good time for buying in
preparation of the usual New Years
rise, and therefore even the "bulls'
are not unwilling to see prices easy.
This temper of affairs has been
encouraged by the reduction of the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy diyi-
dend from per cent to four per
cent; the effect of which was a fall
of fully two points in the stock and
nearly an equal sympathetic decline
in other Granger shares. The sur
prise is that this occurrence should
have had such an effect upon prices.
A reduction of dividends is.anat
urally to be expected under sucfi "a
state of business as prevailed for
many months, and a fall in the
market value of stocks has already
taken place IN anticipation Of that
probability. The market, however,
is not in a sanguine mood at the
moment, and therefore the "bears"
found it easy to use the Cleveland,
Burlington & Quincy's reduction of
dividend as a means of breaking
prices.
Although the railroads are now
doing fair business, yet some Of
them have to take frelghts at low
rates, and, in the absence of any
special "bull' factor, there is dis
position to let prices drift rather
than make any special effort to ad-
vance them. The reception given
to the new government loan has not
yet materially helped other securi-
ties. On the one hand, there is
some diversity of opinion as to the
necessity of contracting a new loan
in such an awkward form to run for
so long a period as ten years, On
the other hand, the requirement
that the subscription shall be paid
in the form of gold has emphasized
the discussion about money discrlm-
nation, which only increases the
confusion on that question and is
giving to it an imaginary import
ance beyond what itreally possesses.
The effect of this sensitiveness
about forms of money is, first, tC
emphasize the Importance of the
treasury getting more gold, and
next, to increase the difficulty Of its
Uniis5 y0rt OF CONFUSION btfotfs.gt,ss r5 Afy'
real apprehension, but it has ere
ated a certain uneasiness, and keeps
the attention of the patient on the
symptoms of his disease in a way
that is unfayorable to recovery. Fo1
Is the way out of this condition O.
slow financial fever as yet entirely
open and clear.
The large subscriptions to the
loan will help to quiet this unrest
and restore confidence; but the DO
litlcal doctors are prescribing 6
long and tedious course of treat.
ment to which the patient is to be
subjected as soon as Congress as.
sembles. The administration is
understood to have it in contempla.
ton to recommend a broad scheme
Of reconstruction of our currency
| system, Its main points being the
! retirement Of the government legal
tender paper and its substitution by
a more elastic system of bank1ssues
than that which now exists. There
is perhaps no great division of opin-
ion about the Importance Of some
| JudIclous REVISION Of our monetary
arrangements, and when it is ali
accomplished the results may prove
very beneficial to the country at
large. But this prospect introduces
anotherncW clement Of change: and
| with change comes unsettlement
and postponcments about matters
that anXiouslY await action and ac-
comphshment; and not a few take
it grumbIingly that, having got eff
the tariff gridiron, we should now
be pitched upon the hot Goals Of
currency reform. This new source
of legislative uncertainty is one of
the influences that is now acting
unfavorably upon the stock market,
and 1t must be assigned as one of
the causes of the weakness of prices
during the past week.
Then, again, some dissatisfaction
is felt that, while there is no doubt
about the loan being subscribed for
abundantly in one form of money
or another, yet there is no assur-
ance that the fifty millions now
being borrowed will suffice either to
maintain the reserve at the legal
minimum or to proyide for the de-
ticlencies of revenue. The rent in
the treasury finances IS ONLY