The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-01

NEW YORK, Jan. 31-In his weekly
review of the financial situation, Henry
Clews says:
In Wall street. affairs continue to move on
conservatively, not by leaps and bounds but
rather by ups and downs, yet the strength
OF undertone and the readiness to buy on any
slight concession Of price well maintain
ed During the week the bears found an
Hooking Valley. The reckless competition
among the coal roads Of that section had
caused temporary embarrassment to the fnan-
ces OF the company, which afforded the bears
an opportunity for raiding It's stocks and
PONDS with considerable effect, and with that
disturbance the general market sympathized.
Late Late on wednesday, however, settlement
between all the companies interested was
erected by which competition will in future
be controlled; and on Thursday the announce
nent OF the payment of interest on the Hook
ing Valley bonds quieted the apprehension
Whlch the bears had ercoT ~agad. This had an
immediate effect on the suffering securities.
ana Hooking Valley ceased to disturb the
on Thursday there was temperance Of
London buying, apparently based upon easier
money there, the outside rate on call loans
for anticipating that these orders following
those OF last week, will prove to be the be-
ginning OF recovery Of confidence in Amer-
can investments This is likely to be the
case not only because affairs here are now
drifting into condition calculated to beget
recovery OF confidence in our ability to
equally because it is becoming difficult to
procure remunerative investments in Europe,
rnnsnat mas mad enough of Kaff1rs. The
present market value of the stocks in the
W1twatersand mines amounts to $3.50 600 O00.
ana English investors and spectators seem
TO prefer taking rest in order to Judge of
lne results before increasing their holdings
OF this class Of properties; besides the YEA
there opens with lighter subscriptions to new
companies than might be expected from the
generally prosperous condition Of the country
Oils Is undergoing q safety Pms
spanish and Turkish investments, and would
nave no objections to improving it's assort-
HenI Dy an INFUSION of obligations less de-
pendent on the whims Of governments and the
hangers OF International politics Germans
are are d becoming weary of paying SO for Inperas
Wnlcn yield only 3 per cent their idpo heinz
mat per cent should be Obtained on safe in
Vestments. 1t is not at all unlikely thai we
may soon near Of some of these malconteuts
n naUins ae our railroad bonds and dividend
laying bayins STOCKS. The one thing needful to
DrIns out an important investment demand
rom Germans is the enactment of a law that
would weed out the weak elements In orr
currency system and nut orr neror nr III
upon broad basis of gold. redemption Theyy
anu european investors generally acknovIad %
FREDERICKSBURG r. improvement in the quality and
- thlhess OF our corporate management
t ~ tney walt for more conclusive evidence
onat Cne payment of our obligations In gold
is much t ~ h b will be insured 1t
SET tnls matter beyond all doubt SO01
:, Inc increasing abundance of idle funds 81
NSAiCC4 WdS Illustrated nv last
81 Dan ~ statement which showed surplus of
SoIVVo,O0O over the legal reserve It might in
ulcate a more active commercial con1ifiCn 10
el "a money FOUND employment in the channels
OF trade; but of one thing Ihere can he M
ooupt that the effect Of this accumulated ~
lule capital must have the effect of incroo SIM
p tne demand for securities and thereby en-
Hdnclng prices. Moreover it is not entirelv
Just 20 reason that this plethora Of rrao,;- -
que alone to c9mIn@ Iiai Inactivity The 1srao
| oecnne IN the prices of merchandise has veTv
neadad Any ny Ieauced the amount of money
Heeueo for transacting current business and
consequently money accumuIates in the bon1-
reservoirs But, however this NAV he i
Seems sc quite possible that this local abundance
VI money may be increased by a renewal oF
importat1ons Of gold The export hills hold
neIe ior transient investment are now begin
H nlns 70 mature freely and are going forward
doI CoAecton. 1T is estimated that about $40
oO0,OO0 OF this maturing exchange has henn
shipped this week, and a steady stream of if
Is expected from this time forward. London
Is becoming alive to this movement and its
cream OF receiving gold from the United
states has been dispelled. These liquidations
VIII pace to our credit large mass of gold:
and what portion of it may come this way
must depend principally on what inducemenfs
may may exist for allowing it to remain abroad.
me Ioan1ng rate in the open market is so
nearly the same at London and New York
mat 1t is not easy to see what inducement
tnere IS to draw it hither, especially as its
arrival would still further depress the local
rate OF interest 1t had been expected that,
!
19s per cent above the open market rate the
bank would reduce its rate Thursday: hut tha
TACT that 1t kept it at 81 per cent seems to
Imply that the managers desire to prevent the
export of gold and to create a rate which
would encourage loans by New York to Lon
don: few days more will develop this sit
course of our foreign trade shows little
tendency towards any reaction from the large
surplus of exports over imports which has
prevailed for the last five months On the
contrary, the imports at New York for the
first three weeks of this month amounted to
only $2S,OOO0 600 against $42 800 900 for the same
period OF 1896, showing a decline Of 33 per
cent; and the movement at this port is gen
orally proportioned to that at others.
In general business, though there is no
active boom such some have unreason-
ably expected, yet there is a fair aggregate
OF transactions. After such a profound shock
as the country experienced last year, there
is, however, a remnant of caution which in
duces a hand-to-m mouth method of buying
that produces disappointment among
sellers, although the aggregate Of transac-
tons Is undoubtedly larger than their i'm
preSS1onS lead them to suppose Another
fact tending to the interruption Of business
lies in the breaking up Of many of the smaller
combines, which is producing much ir-
regularity In prices of quite a wide range
OF articles. Upon the whole, however the
volume of business being done shows
steady Improvement, which promises to
gradually extend as the various forms of
arrangement inherited from the last three
years of distrust are removed.
Inc current agitation OF the taxation Dues
ton Is exciting much interest among the in
vesting classes, and evokes general dissent
An invid!ous, excessive state tax on the rich
would simply result in driving that class out
of the state; and even worse it would drive
the thrifty, after they had accumulated
fortune, out of the country. This country
would then, sooner or later, suffer as "Old
Ireland" now does from absenteesm The
rich always keep their money invested and
hence in circulation all the time. BY loan
ing it out on bond and mortgage or in the
purchase Of real estate or securities, they
realize an income. If they locked it up as
many people in the West and South have
been educated to believe is the case they
would really be using their own money to
break their backs, as they would lose all
income from it. Men who have had the
sagacity and capacity to make a fortune in
this country are too shrewd to hoard or keen
their money locked up IN a safe deposit box
which cuts off all income. For money to
make money, it must be put out at interest
or for profit in some way or other. The more
extravaganza amongst the rich the better
it is for the tradespeople and their army
of employees The rich become less rich
thereby and the poor the better off There
is no better method than this to distribute
wealth. The rich are not to be feared in
this country by the poor, as the entaiEng
Of estates is prohibited and all property is
always in the channels of commerce.