The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-11-12

" 'OSIllE, Ol our ABILITY
TO maintain the supremacy of a sound
public Judgment upon questions of
great economic difficulty; of -our su-
Perority to temptations to dishonor
coward our creditors; of our ability TO
", giving a scconu Stppncucfuu, IL me
hold In check popular dlScontents
and demagogic attempts to impair
! the conservative elements of our ma
tional institutions; and our resolute
insistence upon future abstinence
from further commitments to the use
of silver money. As a consequence of
all this, the European estimate of our
national stability and conservatism
has been UNNECESSARILY advanced.
Europe has been but little less anX-
iOus about the results of the election
than ourselves; for it has felt. not
only that vast amount of invest
ments was at stake, but that the rest
of the world had a multitude of other
vital reasons for hoping that this test
of our political institutions might re
veal no faults calculated to weaken
their hopes for the continued success
of our magnificent exhibition of the
workings of free government.
The construction put upon the cleo
ton at the worlds chief financial cen
tire was shown in an interest little
short of that which greeted the re
turns in this city, and in a spontan-
eous rise in the prices of our secur-
tiles even exceeding that which oc-
Cured on our own exchange All this
is exceedingly gratifying, not only
| because it amounts to the highest
| possible national vindication by for
eign and not always friendly critics,
but also because it foreshadows a
higher status for American credit
among the investing nations of the
older continent.
Wall street received this verdict for
;sound money and law and Qrder-Mith
cwild rejoicings. No second opinion
was entertained as to its significance
to the future value of investments,
and the immediate effect was a large
advance in all kind of securities The
upward movement in prices, however,
had been in part anticipated by prev
ious advances; and certain large oper
ators, who are supposed to have had
urgent use for their money in other
directions, took the opportunity to
realize largely when prices had risen
to points. This naturally checked
the upward force of values and pro
duced a partial reaction in the midst
of the excitement; but there were
ready buyers for all the stock offered.
| The new situation attracted into the
market large number of buyers.
Cautious people, who have been keep
ing their funds idle in the banks or
had for safety's sake turned them
into gold, bought largely of bonds
and interest-paying stocks, and Il
| large amount of securities was thus
taken permanently off the market.
Speculative operators who have
been conspicuous for their long alb
sence from Wall street showed their
appreciation of the situation; and
between the two classes of buyers the
transactions of Wednesday rerched
the unusual total of $4,000 shares,
while the transactions in bonds We're
correspondingly large. London was
a larger buyer than for many months
past. Some of the BEARS however
could not completely divest them
selves of their pessimism; and when
ON Tuesday, some doubt was thrnwn
upon the vote of certain states which
party estimates had given to Mr.. Nc
Kinley, there was some demonstrative
selling, with the effect of slight re-
action in prices. Thursday and Fri
day were occupied with floating ru-
mors relating to the vote of five or six
states the count of which remained
uncertain, and some fears were enter
tanned that there might be an attempt
by the Bryanites to ''tiX'' the Indiana
returns for their candidate. Also, in
the uncertain states, the run is appar-
emily so close as to suggest the posi-
bility of an "of1icial count" having to
be made. These facts, while suggest
ing no possibility of Mr.. Bryan's sue
cess, vet threw an element of uncer-
tainty over the magnitude of Mr.. Nc
Kinley's majority, which held specu-
lation in restraint and afforded am
pie scope for the effective use of cleo
ton canards. The Importance of
these uncertainties lies in the fact
that the effect of McKinley's election
upon the spirit of business and of
speculation will depend to some ex-
tent upon the numerical strength of
his majority Such oscillations
usually arise even under the most eX-