The times., 1898-02-02

1t must be considered a most lauda-
BILE desire on the part of the bulls to
I turn everything good and bad to their
/ credit. They cannot be blamed, and
] indeed, would be more open to censure
| perhaps if they did not. And so one
/ does not find fault with them when
! they say of the declines that they are
wholly due to profit-taking and of
strong market that it is caused by
strong buying for the long account
This they invariably do, although. of
course, il is not true. You very seldom
hear of selling short in a market story
by bun. Yesterday is good exam
pie. There was weakness and indiffer-
ent prices, going off badly almost ev-
erywhere. but the condition was
ascribed wholly to profit taking. In
reality there was much selling short
by strong bear element. No particular
reason is to be ascribed for the change
of tone. Indeed. although it has been
a favorite fiction during the month of
January that the market was strong,
anyone who has really followed the
fluctuations has been aware that the
appearance of activity that has pre-
vailed has been due almost wholly To
manipulated strength in q few special
ties. As was pointed out in this column
last Sunday. the general market has
fuctuated in very narrow limits, and at
the emu Ol lHb EUpJIlli Is NtIs lllllt IL
any higher than at the beginning. Yes
terday there was weakness in some of
the manipulated securities that have
been strong. The professionals are
tired. The public is tired, too-tired of
hoping for activity that never comes.
It was hoped that the defeat of the
Teller resolution by the House would
have good effect on the market, but
Ill
The gossipers decided that. after all,
the public must have considered the
action of the House kind of culmi-
nation. II the market responds to news
that the street thinks favorable, the
street says, "Of course" If, as hap
pened yesterday, there is no response
to the so-called good news, the street
says the public has been in the game
all the time discounting- the fact.
London bought yesterday morning
heavily but in the afternoon sold. The
total of the days transactions balanced
against us.
The Northern Pacific securities con-
tinued on their upward course merrily
They are the feature of the market at
this time and the only one. How soon
the boom will burst no one seems to
L
dend on the preferred was declared
yesterday, as expected. The news of
the KIondike rush loses none of it's
fervor and joyousness, and every day
has cumulative weight. 1t would
seem to be the right thing to buy these
securities for a time yet. even though
there can be no question that their
prices are too high.
There is much talk of a speedy re-
organization of the Baltimore and
Ohio. People even go so far as to
give details, mentioning a scaling OF
bonds and an assessment of the stock
a reasonable amount. for which pre-
fefred stock is to be given. The up
ward move of the Baltimore and Ohio
securities on this gossip was to be
expected. Reorganization is so terribly
needed that any rumor that anyone
has the hardihood to attempt the thing
cannot but have its stimulating result.
One may take the liberty of doubling.
however, whether the thing can be
done. Washington wants 50, 900 900 of
Baltimore and Ohio money as soon as
1t can be raised, from any source, but
Washington does not expect to get it
very soon. The road is kicking very
hard over the demand of the District