The Topeka state journal., 1899-10-23
LONDON TREMBLES.
At the Frown of New York Financiers
Nov


Now.
New York. Oct 2s.-The Times Lon
don financial correspondent cables:
Last week ended with us in cheerful
mood. The crushing defeat of the Beers
inspires a hope that the war may soon
be over, and the disposition to buy
stock is consequently much stimulated
So far, however. the public buys only
in fits and starts, and see no indica-
ton of revfving interest in your securt-
ties.
Investment brokers still report that
their clients sell Americans at every
opportunity; such is the depth Of the
dlstrust created in peoples minds by
losses in former wars. Our stock dab
blers leave your railroads much alone
ana VIII PROBABLY become convinced
that they ought to be bought just when
the tide of prosperity begins to ebb
with you, possibly to a, slight extent.
Owing to an uninterrupted though
dWindling stream Of cash sales Of rail-
road bonds, your exchange kept ad-
vancing all the week until Friday. That
is at least one influence, but the true
balance of indebtedness between the
nations is always difficult to trace Two
or three civilized countries now possess
great aggregates of floating bankers,
resources, sometimes called tramp
money" Like the tramp steamers, It
goes where it pays best, and it goes on
the instant In your case, however,
this influence is not at present opera
tive because all your money is wanted
at home. More like, therefore, the rise
in your exchange was chiefly produced
by heavy drawings in anticipation of
shipments of wheat, cotton and others
OF your products These having failed
to come forward rapidly enough, to
cover their drafts the bears on the ex-
change, SO they say, have had to pur-
chase and in doing this they have driv-
en- rates almost to the adverse gold
point.
Let US hope that the danger is now
over, because We are more nervous
about what happens at New York than
anywhere else. partly because we know
more about what goes on there than in
most continental banking centers.
To help ease the strain, the Bank of
England Friday reduced the buying
price of eagles by a halfpenny, much to
the disgust of the bullion dealers. These
naturally love to see gold trundling
briSkly from the market and they loud
y complain that our reserve is too low.
That is true enough, but at the same
time were your market upset by gold
exports We know that you are powerful
enough 10 command millions of our
slender stock in order to restore the
balance, and we cannot afford a SOW
ereign. Every effort, therefore, is sure
to be made here to avoid a disturbance
OF break at any center, most of all in
New York This is the particular where
tramp money now and then comes in
most usefulIy-
New York. but our per cent bank rate
has been effective in sweeping floating
credits and stray sums of gold out of
continental markets. The French bank
ers particularly have been buyers OF
bills in London for a fortnight past
tempted by our high rates. The more
they bought the more price of credit
tended to ease here until weekly money
now costs only 2A per cent and day
money per cent Why then, should
discounts keep above per cent? Be
cause bankers are uneasy and appre-
hensiVe about the future and they
rate to fall, French credits and the
small supplies of French gold would at
once take flight again However, against
French purchases of bills We must
place German sales, which increase as
money rises in Berlin.
The position is delicate everywhere;
all markets carrying, it is said, beyond
their capacity and most of them on in
sufficient ballast We see the open
market rates in Germany creeping
toward the Reichsbank rate; the Bank
of Belgium rate advanced from 315 to 5
per cent within the fortnight, and the
Bank of France is struggling by the
usual devices to avert an advance in its
rates which nevertheless is bound to
come, since in spite Of or 5 per mile
premium on gold, it has lost 81, ,14O, 600
of the metal within a month, at the
same time that the note circulation ex-
panded upward of SIS. 900, 900. But
to secure increased credit facilities is
steady intensifying. Italians say that
their government ought to issue at
least another 100 million lire in notes
to relieve the pressure; the Vienna
market is in a state of permanent par
alysis so great that it is doubtful
whether it will be able to help Bulgaria,
driven desperate by a succession of bad
harvests and military extravaganza.
From Christiania. where a deadlock
reigns, to StambouI, where bankruptcy
sits supreme in unchallenged ascen-
dancy, the one cry is Give Us money,
more money"
Presently we shall be not whit bet
ter of in London, vast though our re-
sources seem. The government is about
to take &10.000,0OO for war to begin
with, probably in rapidly succeeding
installments of the credit market; and
every week the war expenditure in
creases. Did none of its borrowing 90
away in gold We could rub through, but
gold viii 60 steadily week after week,
and it cannot be spared.
No wonder, then, that the market is
apprehensiye and unwilling to extend
commitments. Cheap short credits, af-
ter all, are the greatest proof that this
state of mind is dominant. Bankers are
afraid to permit their resources to pass
from their control for even a month
And the Bank Of England is again oIi-
city borrowing to stiffen loan rates be-
cause it is confident that a pinch must