Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-12-03
HENRY CLEWS' VIEWS.
Special to the Register

1
the upward movement in securities is
| likely to meet with considerable diff
| ficulty if carried out upon any consider
able scale. Apart from this factor the
outlook Is especially favorable, as has
been repeatedly explained in our prev
| ious advices. The chief concern, there
| fore, is the course of the money mar
ket until after January /. The ad-
vance in the Bank of England rate, OF
course, means that no relief can be ex-
pected in that quarter in the form OF
gold imports; especially while the
Transvaal war shows no sign OF an APP
preaching end. Considerable hope has
| been entertained that the return OF
currency from the interior would bring
| the supply of loanable funds in New
York nearer to normal conditions, but
! it is not safe to place too much reliance
on these anticipations. Funds are now
| returning, but less freely than expected
| the great activity of trade and indus
| try everywhere retarding the move
ment Meanwhile, the Treasury re-
ceipts continue to exceed expenditures;
and had it not been for Secretary
Cages offer to buy bonds some sharp
| have been possible. The Secretary has
| shown his wisdom in extending the
| time for offers of bonds until December
! 23d; that being the only available
method of offsetting the effects of cum
| bersome Treasury operations. Up to
| date the offers have amounted to near
ly $17000,000. The market shows a
| decided disposition to run on special
| ties; and some excitement was mani
| tested on reports of deal between
| Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio
which see to have had no other foun-
dation than some sort of working I'M
| derstanding which will prevent losing
competition Congress opens on Mon
day but is likely to be much less dis
| turbing factor than usual; while Presi-
dent Mckinley is expected to come out
with strong gold standard measure.
Although the bank reserves are
showing an assuring rate of recovery
and there is no expectation of any re-
turn of acute stringency, there is yet
an indisposition to venture upon large
| speculative operations in dependence
| upon any real and initiating ease in
money. The stringency Of the last
three months has been so severe and
persistent and has caused such sweep
ing iquidations in the Stock Market
that those influences have made large
operators unwilling to take anything
for granted as to future ease in Wall
street loans. Spectators are pre-
ponderantly very bullish and in no
quarter do they find any reason for
abating their attitude and that feeling
will cause them to cling to their pres
ent holdings with great tenacity; but
it is not likely to induce them yet to
materially increase their holdings. In
tellligent men are wanting to compre-
bend more fully the causes that lay at
the bottom of the late disturbances in
the money market; and the more they
study the situation the more they in
cline to the conclusion that the chief
adverse influences are implanted in
the laws regulating the National banks.
During the present year. there has been
an extraordinary increase in the cur
rency and credit wants of the people.
To say nothing of the fact that, dur
| ing the last five years of business de-
preston, the population of the coun-
try has increased some $S,000000 we
have to face the further facts
L. udI Jul
is now more fully employed than ever
before;
2. That the business of this class of
consumers is done almost entirely
through the use of money and not with
checks, which calls for an increase in
the circulating medium proportioned
to the increase 4 the volume of bust
| ness;
g. That this increase in the current
| money wants of the people is magnified
| by a general advance in wages, averag-
ing not less than 10 per cent for the
| current year; and
4. That, within the same period
there has been a general rise in prices
of not less than Is per cent on most of
the great staples of trade
These recent changes in the business
situation imply an increase in the cir
culation wants of the country very
| much larger than is generally imagin-
| ed; and yet there is nothing in the
National banking laws that provides
scope for the expansion of the bank
currency; and hence, during the past
! twelve months of urgent demand for
money, the volume of the bank notes
has remained stationary. The pressure
of this retail demand for currency
| must be satisfied, at whatever cost to
| other interests; and the consequence is
| that the supply of lawful money"
| gold and legal tenders, out of which
| the banking reserves are compounded,
| is mercilessly drawn upon This re-
duction of the reserves compels the
banks to reduce their loans and dis
| counts; and in that way the credits
which are transacted through the use
| of checks and without money are
| smaller and inevitably contracted. 1t
| is exactly at this point that the crush
ing stringency of late months has
| risen; and it is the fact that this posi-
ton is created and enforced by in
flexible law that clouds the prospect
| of the money market with an uncer-
tainty more or less paralyzing.
Under situation like this, there is
no way of escape from state of
| chronic exposure to panic, except
| through system of bank note issues
wn.eh will make it to the interest of
| the banks to put out their notes under
| the pressure of the retail demand for
money. Under such conditions, the re-
| tail wants could be satisfied without
| trenching upon the lawful money re-
| serves; the reserves of the Metropolitan
banks would be protected against dis
turbing oscillations; the New York
banks would at all times be able to
| care for the interests of their local