Arizona republican., 1900-07-06
ANTI-CHINESE TRUST
Greatest Production of the Age
 of Combines
The Lights and Shadows on the Gen
 eral Commercial Situation-Over- Production and a Short Crop Scare Are Disturbing Elements.

New York, July 5.-(Special)-Th stock market wears an unsettled ap- pearance. On Monday and Tuesday morning the bears made d successful demonstration, which forced consider able liquidation and a sharp decline in values. This was followed by a good rally, chiefly the result of short cover ing, after which the market settled down into a state of comparative ap- athy, pending future developments.
 There are a number of favorable fac tors in the situation, such as easy money, good railroad earnings and un- usually large July disbursements; but for the time being these are entirely CvershadOwed by the unfaVorable crop reports, the Chinese disturbances and the diminished activity in business. Ev- idences multiply that trade and busi- ness are reacting after the phenomenal rush of 1899; that prices have weak ened as a result of supply overtaking demand, and that buyers in conse- quence are holding aloof until con vinced that bedrock has again been touched. The turn was first observed in iron, and made conspicuous by MT. Gates somewhat unusual but very cor rect statements about overprOduction, high prices etc. Since then, iron and steel prices have been steadily shrink ing, taking with them the securities of the iron and steel companies, which will not be able to show such handsome profits in the current year as in the pre- vious one.
 This process of readjustment does not yet appear complete. for. while the lower range of values is certain to bring in a batch of new orders which have been held back for just such op- portunities, still the iron and steel man. agers find themselves in perplexing position, with high-priced raw materi- als and the advances in wages to con- tend against. Should the present con- ditions continue very long, concessions would have to be sought in these latter directions to compensate for diminished profits. The steel companies already find it impossible to meet any further demands from labor, and on July 1 good many shut-downs occurred, partly to overhaul plants, but very largely to. check overproduction. The cotton
 
 iron. Prices of finished goods are steadily declining, print cloths in Fall River having dropped from 31ac to 27sc for standards. with no buyers at the decline, and rumors of a weeks shut down. High-priced cotton and low priced goods do not cOnduce to happi- ness among cotton manufacturers, and some time must elapse before the re- adjustment process is complete. Re ports from the interior indicate that all kinds of goods are going steadily into consumption, and that no cessation of demand in that quarter is in prospect This is an age of gigantic combna- ! tions. We have experienced it in con- < nection with railroads. and more re- gently on a larger scale still in the forma tion of industrials, the amount of which during the past year has eX- ! ceeded $5,OO0. .OOO. GOO. All other com binatiOns, however, are far outdistanced for vastness and uniqueness by the combination just formed of all the ! leading nations of the world against China-the most populous nation on earth. As an evidence of this, the fol- lowing figures are convincing, showing 1.-the population of the various countries now united with this common object: United States, S0.000,000: Germany, 52,- | O00,000; France. 32,OOO.O .O00; England, 40,000.000; Russia, SO,O00 OOO; Japan, 45,- | 100000; total, 335,000.O00; versus 40O,- 0GO,000 Chinese. A successful termina- tiOn of this novel warfare it is hoped will cause a lasting union of friendship between all the great powers, and thereby do away with any further ap- prehensiOn of future clashing of arms between them. This would indeed be the millennium.
 The crop situation is not wholly sat isfactory. Prolonged drouth is reported in the northern sections of the spring wheat section, while the southeastern part of the country has suffered from excessive rains. Still, outside of spring wheat, no serious damage has been done, and the outlook in spite of such damage is for ample crops in all the staples. IL is altogether too soon to take pessimistic views of the harvest, which is weeks off. and just as likely to be favored with good conditions the re- mainder of the season as with bad or indifferent conditions. The next thing to be readjusted is the weather. The
 
 is too much rain in the cotton country and too little in the spring wheat belt, hence cotton and whea; have had an immense advance, while stocks, as a natural sequence, have had d big turn the other way. If the rains in the south will stop and break out in the northwest, the situation will soon right itself-then healthy reactions will speedily follow. Wheat and cotton will recede and stocks turn upward again. l. is now, however, all dependent upon the weather, which is beyond the con- trOI of any of the Wall street magnates Providence alone controls. The thing to do, therefore, is for operators to get m touch with the clerk of the weather for e safe guide. Better prices will probably compensate the farmers as a whole for any loss in yield, and the ac- tivity with which grain has recently been rushed to primary markets proves that the farmers consider the present a favorable opportunity for selling. Had they faith in short crop scares they would not be parting with their .l,,..4