The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-25
BANKER CLEws' VIEWS.
The Financial Outlook as Seen From
Wall Street


New York, April 23-The temper IN
which Wall street has received the in
PREVENTION decree of Congress and the
Presidents ultimatum to Spain, confirms
the views repeatedly expressed in these
advices, that the Stock EXCHANGE had DIS
counted the worst proba bilities in the Gu
ban situation and adjusted the values of
investments in advance to the outcome that
has at last happened. With its rarely err
ring instinct of forecast, the financial
community had foreseen the end from the
beginning of this long and tedious excite
ment; and, now that war has come, il has
no further adjustments to make, no SELL
ing under the impulse of new fears. The
men of the Exchange had made up their
mind as to what amount of discount from
the normal market value of securities a
war with Spain called for; and the re-
markable steadiness of Wall street, dur
ing the past week, is evidence of a fixed
confidence in their conclusions.
This absence of panic or sensation In
the very presence Of war is something re-
markable, and has rarely been witnessed
IN the worlds money markets under the
influence of like conditions. Such catas-
trophies are invariably attended with panic
on the bourses and violent fiuctuatio in
the money markets, which extend to 9TH
er countries than those directly concerned
in the hostilities. In our case, we have
stood peculiarly exposed to suffer from ef-
fects of this nature. We are probably the
most largely debtor nation in the world.
England, Germany, Holland and France
hold, according to common estimate, fully
81, 900 100000 of our investments. These
creditors have recently had their conf
denee severely tested by the late silver ag-
itation; and it might be expected that
those fears would be acutely revived by
the financial strain to which this war may
subject the country. That such apprehen-
sions would cause more or less important
return of corporate securities from Eu-
rope, was naturally to be expected, and,
in fact, has been looked for.
But no such movement has appeared to
any appreciable extent. The foreign or
sgans of financial opinion, which at times
have had much to say about the POSSIBLE
ity of our drifting upon the silver basis,
have had nothing to suggest about that
danger being increased by the contingent
cies of war finance; American securities
have held their own by the side of the is
sues of other countries, while Spanish As
have declined 30 points, and the amount
of stocks and bonds returned to our home
market has not been at all abnormal in
markable In view of the fact that the
floating indebtedness of Europe to the
United States is so altogether extraord-
mary as to furnish a strong motive for
influencing the return of our securities in
order to avert shipments of gold. Within
a few weeks about $65, 600, 600 of gold have
been sent hither in settlement of trade
balances, and a balance of not less than
100000 still remains to be liquidated.
Under ordinary conditions, such a state
of the exchanges would have caused large
sums of our securities to be sent home, but
no such movement Of any moment has oc-
CURED.
This fact can be accounted for only up
on the supposition that the foreign hold
ers of these investments feel satisfied that,
at present prices, they are sound and safe,
even in the prospect of the uncertainties of
war This tacit verdict expresses the opin-
ion of the banking and investment inter-
ests of Europe upon the effect the war is
likely to have on the commercial and finan-
cial stability of this country. 1t would
not have beeen surprising had our foreign
creditors deemed it a wise course to sell
their holdings of our securities in antici-
pal of the war, with view of buying
them back after the pressure of the strug-
gle had worked its full effect upon them;
and the fact that they have not done SO
can only be regarded as implying conf
dence not only in the future value of these
investments, but also in our being able to
sustain the burdens of hostilities without
serious consequences, and in our being
able to bring the struggle to an early and
successful issue.