The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-04-17
THE CONDITION A
SINMERINC One
SO SAYS Henry CIews ln His ke'ie"
OF the Markets and War RumOrs.
THE GAIN IN CONFIDENCE
Due TO chaOgeia Attitude OF the roSefs aaG
the Railroad Rate Associations Trade
Il Generality Better
THE GAIN IN CONFIDENCE

New York. Aprai 9.--,AnairS IN wall-st
arc IN somewhat uncertain and va
,lllnting condition. The supreme court
leclsiJn relating % thc Erans-MlnsouH
Freight A~soclasi,m has. fnr th' time
t-lng AZ les.st. tHolSon up the steady
dnft towards higher prices which had
bs-.n la opcT'ailOsl. Much re-
nllslng has resulted. some br' aklng up
1f cooperative bull" arrangements.
and a new and confused situation is
rha result At tiss mOment, each npe-
ratar i. going. ON, hts own hook" there
ir no liked conviction as 10 fhe future
drift iof operations, and consequently
there is little 10 attract outside opera
tssns and the market Is chtciiy con
fined TO professional operators. The
Iu,.asl,nlisiic side hava taken rOpc freely
and tn. market h considerably over
sold. which at siss Srrpmcnt gives the
bulls" an advantage Just now. Lon
don sesA nothing In the situation to
encourage either buying pr Ssi!ng. and
maintains simply an expectani atu-
tudc In "a word. the presen, condition
IL "a rtmmersng one. and for the most
par, operators are waiting for indica-
tons of the futurc drift.
The supreme courts dcfermen, Of the
heartng Of tn. Joint Traffic Aesocia-
ton cn2ar until the first week In oc,o-
l-.r has had a gclieiyllly wholesome ef-
fser. II wfthdraws public attention
from tbs, case for six months. and
thereby allows the market 10 drift
away from the doubts the litigation
has raised. and leaves II free. to fol-
low other and moTr normal influences
What thasr influences are likely TO
h.. thus becomes ths question of the
moment. Al least. Il may he said tha'
th,u,, are M disturbing factors con-
spicuously In sight, on the bther hand.
there IS an abatement OF certain OBJ
s,ructlans that hAfe hsslped to unseuile
confidence Popular excitement on the
cuban question has greatly moderated,
The administration shows = disposition
10 avoid Unnecessary osltanglements in
4. and spain exhibits a respect for the
maintalnance uf anlcablc relations
with US. which together encourage the
huI,c thai pelce betweon the two na-
ticns may be preserved, Also, there Is
reason 20 hope that, in the relations be-
tw,sn the European powers and the
Greeks and Cretans. the danger poin'
hass be,sn passed. The concert Of tbs
powars is cautious in It's Steps, ON the
one hand seeking to avoid provocatior
"a TN, Greeks and the Cretans and ON
the other holding Turkey in check and
influencing her towards II pacific atti'
tude--all of which is favorable towards
c,oling tlra violent alNdpr OF the would.
be- balllgerents. There Is, In no quar-
ter, any symptom bf failure Of unity
~ purpose among the great powers
and ~ long as that position is main
tained, There Will be little; chance o
the Greeks precipitating n Greco-Turk
tsh war. with its possible European
complications. The steadier tone In tn
Enp,pean financial markets. is evidence
phat this view prevails kheae whicl
"a a factor OF no small Importance. Th'
reduction OF the bank Of England rat
NJ discount of 2ia per cent, also lndi
cate, a hopeful estimate of trhe polit
teal future. There is therefore a dis
tlnct syain Of confidence, 80 far as Ne
spects European complications, CON
pared with the conditions existing las
pnnth: which Is distinctly in favor o
this market.
An Indication In favor of railroa
securities Is suggested by the fact tina
the railroads show no disposition
turn the legal challenge against the
freight associations into an occasio
for cutting OF rates. AS a rule, the!
relations remain harmonious, with
nrospect that they win continue SO III
iii nj least a decision lis reached In tn
sunreme court in the case of the JolI
Traffic Association. The steady Il
crease Of gold In the treasury Is als
n highly encouraging 'circumstanc
The net stock held by the governmer
Is now $152, 100000, which is the large:
sum h,ild since November, 1890. NJ
has this accumulation been made ;
the expense of the metropolitan bank
| which last weeks held sS6,00O,0Oo. wit
such supplies, we may look with con
, narrative Indifference upon the possibi
0y of shipments of the metal at a lat
stoge Of the season, which seems no
roreshadOwed by the continuous firm
ness I'M the rates of foreign eXchang
So far, we have felt no effects fro
the demand for gold from Austria al
Janan. There Is a moderate drain
: both countries, which has been m
chiefly by the bank of England; b
what Importance that institution q
taches to 1t is shown by the fact tn
this week the bank has reduced
discount rate to 2h per cent The ban
( no doubt reckons upon being able