The herald., 1895-08-30
Henry Clews' Weekly Review
of Financial Matters
FAVORABLE CROP OUTLOOK
Possibility Of the Continued Export
of Gold
The Necessity Of Combined Action on the Part
of the United States Treasury and
the Clearing House

Henry Clews, in his review OF financial
matters. says that both sides of the stock
market admit that. so tar as respects
material conditions, the outlook is good.
1t is conceded that the harvest outcome,
taken as whole, is likely to be at least
good average, and that the money yield
to the farmer promises to show an i'm
mense improvement on the past year. 1t
is acknowledged that the commercial
spirit is healthy and hopeful, and that
the manufacturing interest is buoyed by
the expectation of an increased consump-
tion. There seems to be, only in excep-
tional cases, any check to home produc-
tion consequent upon the new tariff, and
the danger from an excess of importa-
tions is certainly less than has been
feared. and not likely to affect adversely
the exports of gold. except in the event
of smaller export OF products than it
now seems reasonable to expect The ma
tional exports of last month showed an
encouraging gain over those of year ago
and he.increase was due less to larger
quantity than to higher prices for many
OF the more important articles. An ad-
vance of II cents in wheat, of l. 4 cents in
cotton and an equal rise in petroleum,
compared with year ago, means many
millions of additional value in our chief
articles Of export for the current fiscal
year, sufficient to more than Offset any
increase in our merchandise exports at
present anticipated.
''Bulls'' and "bears" on securities alike
concede these prospects, and there are few
who den" the possibility that, for the
next twelve months, the course Of the for
eign exchanges might be such as to bring
pack to US some of the one hundred mil
lions of golu the country has lost during
the last two or three years OF adverse for
eign exchanges. But here comes in an
important uncertainty. The fiscal situa-
ton of the treasury Is still an unsettled
factor, and absolute confidence is impossl-
Bile so long as such sensitive problem
remains unsolved. For the moment
though called upon for unimportant ex-
ports of gold, and which are more persist
ent than sanguine persons have predicted,
yet so far the syndicate have compensated
the treasury for tho loss, but we cannot
afford to ignore the fact that this help
is wholly artificial, that in certain sense
it is purely gratuitouB, that it may be dis
continued at any moment, and that it
certainly must sooner or later come to an
end; another loan would carry the in
ference that the fiscal disease is so stub
born that it might run ad infinitum. with
consequent perpetual borrowing and all
the arrangements that would follow.
this is m ost unfortunate, and the more
so because it seems a needless prolongation
of the trouble; for none will doubt that,
IL the treasury and the banks would form
ally confer, with view to restoring their
mutual exchanges OF gold to something
approaching the relations existing before
1893, the gold movement would fall into
its Old ruts and the danger of treasury
drains would be ended. At present neither
party Is giving any encouragement to
such trust, and, for our part. We are un-
able to see how the favorable natural fac-
tors above referred to can be expected to
make any vigorous headway 50 long as
there is no attempt to grapple with this
radical disruption of normal relations be-
tween the two great financial powers-the
treasury and the clearing bouse.