The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-15
CROP CONDITIONS ONLY ONE OF THE BEARsH FEATURES

reaction was overdone and that the declines
were not warranted by the news develop
ments. even at the worst. At a loss to ac-
count for the ceaseless outpouring of lon-
stock from the interior. men searched for b
field for a satisfactory explanation, anr:.
failing that. began to discuss weak spots.
invent quarrels between important banking
interests and whisper the names OF solvent
houses as being In difficulties Pool liquida-
ton explained some of the declines. but
not all. and at frequent intervals durinz
the week the traders imaginations have
been left to riot among countless reports
Of impending disaster.
May lie Return of Common Sense.
What the declines In Wall street realir
indicate probably is the return OF commoo
sense to the people. They have been fe;
on fictions long enough and are awakening
to the fact that no miracles have been
wrought In general conditions during the
year 1901. On the theory that the continued
and incessant liquidation marks process
which Is restoring mental equilibrium to =
great body Of people, Wall street may find
its explanation of what 1t chooses to term
the "unreasoning and demoralized selling.
That declines are so extensive Is certainly
not matter for much surprise when the
ridiculous advances of 200 or 900 points in
the waterlogged stocks are taken into con-
sideration. On this basis. In fact. the de-
clines have been very moderate.
But as to the force OF the liquidation AMI
! the extent Of the declines. this Is only
ural. Confidence Is plant of slow growth.
and the public confidence has been rudely
| shattered. Wall street has promised much
| from its harmony of interest and on the
| heels Of 1t the public has witnessed one
panic and threatened rate war. 1t had
| been assured Of harmony between capital
| and labor. and it witnesses capital and la
l Dor clutching at one another's threats. over
dispute arising in the largest and most
important industrial corporation in the
1 country.
| Had Ignored Important Facts.
| 1t has been led to believe that business
/ conditions were uniformly favorable. and
4 witnesses q reduction of so per cent in the
net earnings Of the n. B. Clafin Company
| for the first six months of the year. 1t
was led to believe that crop conditions
might be ignored. because the South and
the West had undergone industrial develop
ments and manufactured articles would
supply the place Of the cereals. and it has
found that crops are still q potent factor in
country's wealth and prosperity.
1t is by no means strange that the public
should pass from one extreme TO the other.
i and that when reason returns It should sell
with the same freedom that It bought while
laboring under an hallucination. Wall
/ street has promised much from its high
prices and performed little. but all the
while the wheels have been working grind
ing out new securities which the public has
been asked to buy. Apparently manipu-
lators. Ike the Augurs Of Rome. have real
lied that the fiction could not b much
longer continued. It is not upon them that
) the burden Of declining prices falls. II II
! Is any consolation to the public, It can be
| stated that the oracles are already pro-
} claiming that the securities are going into
} stronger hands. perhaps the hands Of thoss
who sold at the higher prices.
II Look for . Reaction.
, II - highly probable that the feactios
q may Be oyerdons, a. tho buying was over
done. Wall street holds ~ an axiom tha
: prices ebb and dow like the tides Of tn
/ sea, and that at intervals securities vii
sell as much below as above their intrinsi
worth. In the present selling movemen
} there are shrewd market Observers who holl
, the extreme view that the irresistible out
, ! dow has set In and that the reactionar!
/ movement must take its course. II such 4
; the condition, the stock market has no
: seen the end Of the selling movement IN,
, will speedily solve the problem that has .
! long perplexed the spsculators, which 1
: contained in the familiar question. "Wha
has become Of all the stocks? Who hold
themr' It would b idle. then to look To-
3 the weak spots. for they would come fortl
b like erupdons ON the body, not a. the cause
: but as the manipulation Of . diseased con
Q dition.