New-York tribune., 1900-09-30
Financial.
The Financial World.


1t does not amount to more than that-Of get
ting to work again. Mr.. Keene is one Of them
Whatever views he may entertain on the out
look, he seems TO have been very successful in
Disgusting them: for he is variously quoted as
being bull. bear. and as dsinclined to do any
thing because Of the political uncertainty How
ever. a market which only becomes really active
on declines. and relapses into duilness again on
the rallies. is in pretty bad case from a bull
standpoint Two Saturdays ago. there was
quite respectable break. and it was proclaimed
that the next Monday wo-ld see the market
torn TO pieces. OF course it was MOTT is TOO
narrow and money is too cheap. There was a
rally instead: but as soon as some OF the short
interest had covered. the trading stopped This
is very bad sign. market whose main d.
rection is upward invariably gets duh the
reactions; which is drifting the other way.
gets dull on the rallies.
The main drift of this market now unfortu-
nately seems to be downward. The short up
ward movements come when the traders over
sell it-which is easy do when business is
restricted; and from some event which tenn
porariy exerts buIlish influence. like the ex-
pected settlement of the coal strike. Appear
ances indicate that there will be Improvement
. of prices Monday. The close yesterday was
significant OF this. The Street believed that
Monday would see a settlement by compromise.
the mine owners making SuIuCleuL COuCSSSloIS
to satisfy the men. If this be the case. it GER
tainIy should be good for one two per cent
advance. The coal stocks had their drop before
the strike declared, which is usually the
case in these affairs; but they have been bought
during the past week in way indicating con-
viction on the part OF the buyers that the
/ trouble is practically Had the market
originally been seriously affected by the coal
strike. the settlement Of 1t should logically be
%
ment; but it was not so hurt. No market Is
ever seriously hurt by a strike. however formI-
dable 1t may appear at the outset This is because
it is an event in its nature temporary and local.
/ but chiefly because it is something capable OF
/ settlement. A crop failure is not
/ This is illustrated in the way the coal stocks
/ and Northern Pacific have acted. When the
/ strike was impending Reading sold and lost
+ several points. Within two weeks the sellers
are disposed TO buy back again, the expecta-
/ ton that agreement between the disputing
parties will set the mines to work again. and
/ the production Of coal. very briefly interrupted.
will go on as before. But what shall restore to
the Northern Pacific the traffic lost TO 1t through
OF the greatest crop failures its territory has
ever known! No group Of gentlemen. meeting
at Mr.. Morgan's Office. by any possible
/ agreement cover the drouth wasted fields Of the
I Northwest with the wheat which to make
I the 1dll ana winter LTaIIlC OF Jno TdliEOdu AL
they can do is to make the best arrangements
+ they can to face what is really a serious mis-
fortune-a misfortune to the company and 70
/ the people up there whose livelihood is got in
raising wheat The Northern Pacific. it must
/ be remembered. is a one crop road 1t is like
/ the ST. Paul was fifteen or twenty years ago.
That crop is wheat. If it's territory had had this
/ year a banner crop, say such as Kansas has
raised, we should be expecting the stock TO boom
I
able: that is, just as the incubus OF
! politics was removed from it. We should be
speculating on the chances of an increase in the
/ dividend from to per cent As 1t is now.
/ the Street is already beginning to question
I whether the 3 per cent dividend be main
tanned. and getting more than doubtful about IT.
The St Paul and Northwest roads must also
be hurt more or less by this crop failure; but
| they are saved from serious trouble by the fact
that their traffic is diversified. and that the
drouth did not strike their territory badly
as it did the Northern Pacifc's and Great
Northern's The Burlington escaped and the
| Union Pacific and Atchison territories have done
| we'll That Of the AtchisOn is Overfowing with
wheat but its corn crop did not come up to
early expectations: that. too, being hurt by
drouth. Had Kansas produced as big corn
| crop as was promised. in addition TO the enor-
nous wheat crop which she actually has pro-
duced, and Wnlch Jne AICLlSOu II HOW hauling
out with resultant great increases in its earn
ings the Kansas farmers would have been buy
ing steam yachts They will probably COM
promise automobiles.
Friends Of Union Pacific took some large
amounts of the stock on the recent decline.
They were heavy buyers around "a; and their
/ confidence in the future of this property is very
strong. They say that if the election goes right.
the stock will sell close up to 30
Apropos of the Southwestern roads. 1t is an in
teresting problem how the Galveston catastrophe
will affect their traffic. Immense amounts OF
cotton and grain were going out by that port.
which must now go by way Of New Orleans or
come to the northeastern seaboard through St
Louis regular line OF steamships, like the
Mallory Iine-which has already got itself into
working order again-wfu undoubtedly get its
regular traffic: but the fleet of tramp vessels re-
sorting to Galveston must go elsewhere for a lOng
time to come; and the diversion Of traffic on the
railroad systems must be very large 1t is noted
that the banks here are already transmitting
large amounts of money to New Orleans and
ST. Louis, for crop purposes, which otherwise
would have gone to Galveston
In the market movements of the week. an
other severe drop was recorded in Tennessee
Coal. following a meeting OF the directors 1t
was rumored that the next quarterly dividend
would be passed. The directors. however. said
that action on the dividend would not be taken
till October. II the dividend is passed (two
quarterly only have been paid there will be
things said in Wall Street about those directors
which will be interesting but certainly not
printable.