New-York tribune., 1899-07-17
Hish Low July i5 July s slchg's.l Sales.
THE WEEK IN WALL STREET.

Calling Of loans by the banks in order to
strengthen their reserves. and rather wide
spread doubt to the immediate future OF the
money market resulted last week in decreased
transactions on the Stock Exchange and an in
terruption to the general upward movement In
stock values Saturdays bank statement. al
though not as good q guide as 1t might be, oy
reason of ts being made up on averages, was
construed as indicating that the worst OF the
pinch in money over unless there should De
wholly unforeseen Developments 1t does not
appear that a shortage in money has been ex-
perenced anywhere except In New-fork, whch
goes to prove that the strain at this centre was
due 10 the unprecedented requirement of funds
for interest and dividend payments falling due
on July l.
This money was,distrbuted all over the coun-
try hut a sufficient interval has now elapsed for
IL 10 begin to flow back to former repositories.
Most of the oney'will. sooner or later. be rein
vested In securities as will be natural, inasmuch
as II was derived from securities. Other money
in the last few days has been coming, and VIII
keep on coming to NewYork. because fairly
remunerative employment can be found for 1t
here Banks in the Middle West and In the
Northwest have been especially active In piac-
ing money here. The banks in these sections
have large reserves.
Europe will be heavy borrower here In the
next three months 1t must secure credit here
or else send gold or securities to this country
1t is reluctant to part with gold, and most OF lts
available securities have already been surren-
dered. No matter what measures 1t adopts.
Europe is now not able to keep out OF debt 10
this country for any length Of time
There Is one element in the situation that Is
a growing force, and must before long be the
gpN, In he ma
the exhibit of earnings made by the railroads
Such a showing was never made before. Fur
thermore the, percentage Of gain over preceding
wears keeps on increasing. and there would seem
almost 10 be no limit to the prosperity OF the
roads. The action of the managers or the roaos
east Of Chicago and St Louis IN restoring rates
means more than is apparent. II means pracu-
cally a restoration of rates all over the country
for the roads between, Chicago and st. Louis and
the Atlantic seaboard control the transportation
rates Of the-country in a great measure Their
connections are dependent on them Tor the
handling of'through business. and must accept
the tariffs established by them. Strict orders
have gone out 10 contracting agents TO adhere
to the new schedules. and shippers are made 10
understand that the managers of the roads are
in earnest in their purpose TO uphold carrying
cherges The higher rates mean an increase of
The gross earnings In June Of roads which SO
far have reported show gain over the same
month in 1898 Of $5.313,510, or 1873 per cent.
In percentages the larger gains are by the So
called Granger roads 237; Pacific roads. 1873;
Southwestern roads 14.4; Southern, 12.7, and
trunk lines, 11.2. In money the largest gain Is
bv the Southern roads 81 O06 765, with the
trunk lines next at $946365 The gain by the
Granger roads is $942,9SS. The total earnings
reported for June are heavier than in any
month this year, and II per cent greater than
in June, 1872
The putting Of railroad rates on stable basis
is evidence Of the change that is taking place
I'm the railroad world. The concentration of
interests makes IL less difficult to regulate tar
ifs and the general operation of railroads. The
tendency Of the times is to bring connecting
lines together under one ownership and to ef
feet agreements between competing roads. In
this last regard the compact between the New
York Central and the Pennsylvania railroads
Is a notable example, and foreshadows steps in
the same direction in other parts OF the coun-
try-in fact throughout the country. 1t is
wellnigh certain that within a year or two
the Vanderbilt system will extend in an un-
broken line from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Admittedly. the tremendous traffic Of the rail-
roads reflects the condition Of the varied busi-
ness Of the country. II tells of activity and
nrodt in commercial and industrial quarters.
presumably greater than ever. for railroad earn
,nes are greater than ever. Railroad earnings
I'm the aggregate this year are not unlikely TO
exceed those OF last year by $35.00OO0O or S40,-
600 600 and perhaps by $50OO0OOO Some idea
NAV be obtained from these figures OF the i'm
movement in the countrys interior trade over
mas, wears Mercantile agency compilations
mako the volume Of business 631 per cent lar
GER than last year and 1916 per cent larger than
in 1899 which. up to 1893. was the best on rec
ord Failures continue to be few In number
and small in liability. The foreign trade Is
Incoming more satisfactory While exports OF
,anIes in June were affected by low prices for
hreadstuffs they were only S6215O26 less than
last year whereas there was an increase IN
other domestic products Of $s,O3l.46l. The ex-
cess OF exports Of merchandise In the month
over June. 1898 was $50 1871 ,937
The outgo Of wheat (four included) TO other
countries is large In the first two weeks OF
Julv the exports from Atlantic ports were
a 1s5 o14 bushels. against 4.0S3,312 last year.
and from Pacific ports 1,0104S5 bushels, against
SOf 100 last year From other ports 5OS,oSo
bushels departed. In this period also corn ex-
ports were 5,815,214 bushels, against 2.o57,O9S
last year. Western receipts were even more
surprising. being 10.512,341 bushels. against
4,561.07 last year.
The iron trade maintains Its extensive pro-
portions, and prices still display an upward
tendency The steel companies are eager pur-