Arizona republican., 1898-08-11
Neither a Continuance of Hostilities Nor a
 Prospect Of Peace
Can Affect for Either Good or Evil the Prosperity of the United States or the Constantly InCreas-
 ing Flood of Gold.

New York, Aug. 10.-The stock mar ket maintains a very strong under tone in spite of limited activity. Peace prospects of course strengthened val ues; but the approaching cessation of the war had relatively little effect The situation is, however, relieved by very serious doubts; there will be no fur ther big bond issues, and the possibil
 .ty of international complications is more remote than at any time since the war began. Home conditions are unchanged. Nothing except unfore- seen troubles can prevent higher stock market. At the moment the market refuses to move upwards with any degree of force, because the big leaders are not prepared to take the initiative Many are away; and the best leaders wisely prefer to wait un- til the critical period of the crop situ- ation is safely passed. Should no seri- ous damage happen, the upward move ment is likely to be vigorously renew ed without opposition.
 An important factor in the situation will be the large increase of gold pro- duction. According to the mint bur
 eau at Washington. the worlds pro- duct Of gold in 1897 was $240, 1000, 900. and the product of 1898 is estimated at s275,000,G01 in increase of s35,000, 900.
 Africa leads as a gold producer, and is expected to turn out $75,000,000 this year. Australia and the United States are close competitors as gold produc-
 eTs, each being expected to turn out lbout $60,000,C00 this year. The Klon- iyke is not proving of the importance
 anticipated. The most careful esti-
 mates are for product of s10,000, 900 n 1898, which is mailer than either California or Colorado, California S product this year being estimated at 200. Ten years ago the worlds gold
 product was s110,000000. Since then t has more than doubled, and now amounts, as just said, to about S275,- 900,0 ,000. This does not look like any scarcity of the precious metal, espe-
 cially considering the prospects Of
 new supplies and the increasing use of other forms of money. Certainly there will be no scarcity of gold in the United States; for in addition to our own increasing output and the Klon- dyke supply we are likely to have a arge influx of gold in settlement of our trade balance. The latter can be settled by returning our securities, which is not likely; by an outflow of
 American capital into foreign coun- .ries, which may occur to some ex- ient now that the war is over; or by he sending of gold, that being the
 nost probable outcome. Evj 1ently. hen. we are sure of having an abun- lance of gold in the country. At the same time the banks are anxious to expand their circulation, as soon as hey secure sufficient of the new 8 per cent bonds: so the prospects are for n abundance of cheap money for some time to come
 Tie Spaniard is anything but direct in his dealings, full of punctillio and ,f1.umlocution, cunning in his eva sion of unwelcome conditions. and not to be implicitly trusted until his signature ends all possibility of quib- bling It is therefore to he expected that the road to peace may prove cir cuitcus and longer than first hopes may suggest; and this possibility thro WIS an element of moderation into the hopes with which Wall street greets the new situation. Of course, there are important reasons why Spain should expedite peace as much as pos sible The longer she delays, the greater will be the successes of our armies in Porto Rico and the Philip pines the stronger our position in tia4 1ofo her humiliation. It is difficult, how ever. at this distance, to judge ex actly of the motives that may be in fuer cing Spanish diplomacy. She has to hold the confidence of the masses as far as possible; to avoid undue disappointment and chagrin to her humiliated armies; to conserve her broken credit; and, like ourselves, to keep in view the political compli- cations of an election a few months ahead. These conflicting influences may conduce to delays, even though cA gasta may have no other idea than to make peace approximately upon our terms. What Spain may do, how ever in these matters, does not depend upon her own will. It may be taken for certain that President Mckinley, while disposed to be considerate to- wards a conquered foe, will tolerate no needless dallying. On his side he the importance of avoid ing further needless sacrifice of life, of stopping unnecessary campaigning in tropical summer, and of giving Spain to understand that if she is not to accept our ultimatum we shall use our military ad-