The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-23
BANKER cLEws VIEWS.
The Financial Outlook as seen From
Wall street.

New York, Dec. N.-Whfe there Is much
/ uncertainty as TO the real purpose CT the
1 President. and many are unwilling to
1 take II al seriously. yet men Of large
4 responsibility regard il as necessary to
: act IN some measure on the assumption
I mat the message meant nothing short Of
/ its face purpOrt. There has consequently
I been a very unsettled feeling and consid-
cradle realizing on stocks. London having
I sold here about 10000 shares in two days,
va4ued az close upon 100000. and prices
I have fallen heavily. This foreign reaiiz-
ing has increased propOrtionately the
amount OF gold that viii have TO 20 out,
ana mas thrown some very unWelcOme
doubts upon the prospects OF the new loan
that must be soon forthcoming to replen-
lsh the treasury reserve. The conserva-
tive and business sentiment Of the city is
very strongly opposed to the Presidents
recommendations. and probably an early
occasion WlA be taken for giving expires
sion 70 that sentiment in an open and i'm
ptesslNe manner. II is felt that already
very serious injury has been done, which
VIII come TO be felt when we need foreign
solu Tor the support Of the treasury and
Iof purposes OF currency reconstruction;
but II IS hoped that, while the fun retrac-
auinlhlstratlon may not be expected, yet
something VIII be done to enlist England
IN measures looking 10 a settlement and
YET save our government any unaCcept-
able yle8dlng. In any case, men of judg
ment hesitate TO believe that war with
England is a possibility, but yet fear that
an indlscretiOn has been committed which
may cost US much more than we can az
ford under existing circumstances.
Inc Presidents proposition might be
made available for an amicable settle
ment of the vexed question, providing
Lord Salisbury would also appoint a COM
mission for the same purpose and then
leave the settlement Of the question to
the two commissions, whose decision
should be final and without appeal. This
would end the business and could not fail
to be satisfactory to all concerned. Con-
gress should pass a resolution requiring
the President to invite England 10 ap-
point commission to cooperate with
our commission in efecting a settlement
OF the boundary line as above proposed.
This was Wall streets way of looking
at the situation up to the close of Thurs
day. Friday morning showed that esti-
mates of the gravity Of the position had
become much more serious. Large Lon
don orders to sell came on the market,
holders of stocks lost confidence, margins
became exhausted, and panic ensued.
with an average fall of 10 points in prices
before noon. The consequent distrust
made II somewhat difficult to get money
and high rates had to be paid in some in
stances. This naturally affected the pos
sibihty of exporting gold. and some large
contemplated shipments on Saturday have
been temporarily deferred: though, of
course, under the present feeling in Lon
don, they must be ultimately made, as no
considerations of interest would induce
European bankers to defer settlements as
affairs now stand.
So large were the London selling orders
that no track could be kept of them and
no accurate estimates of the valuation of
the transactions could be made. 1t is,
however, safe to say that the London re-
alizings of the last three days must range
somewhere between s15,O00000 and $4,000, =
900 in market value. This represents so
much aoiit.on to the gold exports and to
the drain upon the treasury. The situa-
ton in financial circles has thus become
unquestionably quite serious The UNI
certainty about further selling by Lon
don, and the possible effects OF the situa-
ton upon the treasury finances are the
chief points in the situation; and upon
those contingencies no one can form any
trustworthy estimate. This only we know
that the Presidents message has already
cost the investing public some hundreds of
millions of dollars.
Apart from the International complica-
tions referred to above, the stock market
is not in an unprOmising condition. The
gains in railroad earnings nave been
well maintained; and lines traversing the
corn and cotton regions are expected to
show better results when these crops be-
gin to move more freely. as they inevita-
bly, must within few week. The earn
ings upon the Granger system have\ kept
up remarkably welli and, while the rate
of gain recently shown is not likely to be
maintained when the wheat movement
business in the, northwest :, is
belief that increased earnings win con-
tinue. Properties which have been MAIN
tanned in a high state of physical condi-
ton will beithe first to reflect these condi-
,tions in increased dividends; for their
outlays upon renewals cannot be heavy,
and the economies effected during hard
times will have an important effect upon
net earnings. The bankrupt properties
are still good material for SPECTATORS
and much depends upon reorganization
plans and development OF earning capac-
ity. The latest Reading plan caused no
enthusiasm; nor could any be expected
from scheme which called for such
heavy cash contributions.