Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-28
LONDON FINANCE
The Bank Of England is
Getting Beaten
IN SUSTAINING RATES
There is No Speculation on the Stock
Exchange--The Cause of the Pres
ent Sagging is Not Due to an
Abundance of Wealth.

New York. Aug. 2S.--The Times Lon
don financial correspondent cables: The
Bank of England is gradually getting
beaten in its attempt to sustain the
money market rates. 1t has borrowed
freely from the market this week in the
hope of maintaining discounts at its min
imum, but has failed. and the working
rate is about ga per cent, with a tend
ency downward. l believe none must
become cheaper for several reasons,
chiefly among which is the stagnation of
business produced by politics in South
Africa and France. Our manufacturing
industries are kept in full activity by
orders booked before either of these
sources of anxiety became acute. but
new orders are not now pressing forward
and unless these clouds soon disappear
we will have an cutlery about the
scarcity Of work with efforts to reduce
wages, which are sure to produce labor
troubles.
AS for stock exchange speculation, it
cannot get scope anywhere, and even in
American rails the public is doing
scarcely anything. We are sorely tempt
ed by advancing prices in Wall street
and by all good news abou crops and
manufacturing prosperity sent over the
cables daily, but the mass of people find
their courage fail them before the dam
gers Of war and revolution. 1t is impos-
slble ~ keep the discount at 31a per cent
when ~%even-day loans "a be had at "a.
| am doubtful because directly they 60
low enough to open our bullion market
Tor foreign buyers, gold will flow out
and the rate hosting process will have
to be resumed. So near is export gold
now that the bank can only command
supplies coming to hand by Offering a
farthing more than TIE mint price for
them. Looking at the aspect of affairs
from the broades possible standpoint. I
can see small hope of good times here
for bull operators of any kind for months
ahead.
The present sagging of the money mar
Ket is not because of a healthy product
or abundance of wealth, but because of
symptoms OF disease in the body polite.
Verify the burden of the empire is a
one for, us. But a fortnight ago
the secretary of state for India pleased
the country with a bright narrative of
indian prosperity and with a budget Of
surplus exceeding $4,000, 900 rupees. Now
q FAMINE is certain to be felt over a
large area Of central n northwestern
India. This is probably good for your
Australia is putting a bold
on its position, but no colony there
is really prosperous. Wool is dearer and
IN a rising course, but not sufficiently
Nigh to give compensation for loss to
stock. Hence bottomless CULTS of bank
ruptcy yaWn open at frequent intervals
ALLOW those who can look to behold
large trading or ranchinG companies
kept alive by draining away the remain
ing resources of banks that should have
tailed and been wound up for good in
1898. Ihe very revenues Of these colo
mes are often deceptive through capital
beng treated as income and are bodefuI
of hopeless embarrassments should q
real credit crisis break out in Lon
don.
NO wonder our bankers are often anx-
louS ana lVo No wonder the Bank
OF England vigorously struggles to pro-
tect the market and collect gold against
a Gay when it alone can fiji gaps in the
credit system now worked thin and over
nurdened. The crisis might be put off
tor years in peace, but with war and
famine to contend with it NAV be q mat
ter of months.