The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-20
WALL STREET REVIEW
PAUSE IN OPERATIONS IN THE
 NORTHERN PACIFIC.
Professional Traders Made Uncertain Work With the Stock in the Absence of Assured Leader
 ship-The Week Reviewed.

New York Oct 19-There seemed to De a pause in the large operations Tn Nor.n. ern Pacific preferred that nave 6iNeh character to the stock market TOT .wo days past, and the professional traue,o made uncertain work with the stoch In tke absence of assured leadersnp. stock opened unchanged and adVanceu point. dipped two points and huctuateo doubtfully. This unsettled the whole mar ket and semi-stagnation settleu over 'ho dealings. Amalgamated Copper was an exception, and was strong ana aSuve throughout, with only occasional shghe fluctuations. The buying was cohcen.ra- tsS in cbaracter. and was attributed to Boston account, supposed to be covering Inv shorts. There was no news to ac- count for the movement beyond the in- sistence by copper interests that the com panfes' stocks on hands were not uhouiy large. Sugar and Peoples Gas showed some sympathy in the late oeahnes. Amalramated Copper rose three points and ciosed within a shade of the best. This stock held the market against the diaannointment of the increase in bank loans. revealed by the weekly statement 1t is confidently assumed that this IS que to reborrowing incident to paying OH sterling loans, which has kept the eN- change market firm all week. m sp,'e d o, largely increased supplies of cotton ana wheat bills.
 A further withdrawal of gold for Ser lin from the Bank of England today in- dicates 6 continuance of the condition or hardness in foreign money markets' which has been responsible for enforcing this paying off of sterling loans. The market closed irregular and dull.
 The animated upward movement Tn stocks which was inaugurated in the lat fer part of last week was checked at the beRinning of this week, and there was considerable backset as result or the profit-taiSing by last weeks buyers
 The reports set af1oat last week point ing to the renewal of extensive plans or additional consolidation in the trans-con- tinentaI railroads. were discredited by the emphatic denials from buyers. The ais position to revive all the old rumors which fed the speculative furor of last spring seemed to awaken uneaslness Tn the minds of some of the great hnanclai mowers. with the fall pressure upon the money market still unreheved, ana the efforts to awaken an active bull specula- tion were discouraged. But much inter est has been felt all through the week in the Northwestern Railroad situation, and there has been some degree or eA- citement, although of suppressed cnar$ acter. owing to secrecy maintained as to ,ha actual developments. There have heen many indications that the situation in that field Is developing and changing, inc most impressive of which was the sudden activity of Northern Pacihc pre- ferred in the stock market, after period If almost absolute stagnation ever since fhe Northern Pacific corner and the shut ting panic of May 9. The public Is quite uninformed as to what steps have been taken toward a solution of the tangle which resulted from the conflict for the control of Northern Pacific. beyond the appointment of the conciliation members of the board as recommended by J' +. Morgan The task of settlement re- mained for this conciliauon board to work out. Meantime, the situation. so far as the public was informed. continued to be one of armed neutrality, with each interest jealously guarding its holdings of securities to insure their advantage. The liberal supply of Northern Pacinc xreferred stock which found its way to the market on Thursday pointed unmis- takably to a relaxation of the solicitude with which every available share has been held, after securing every security market in the world to secure 1t. The nrices to which the securities were push ed by that wild scramble and the enor- nous accumulation reflected in the vol ume of the transactions in them left nc doubt that vast amounts of capital had been locked up in the struggle. Where the capital came from the financial worlt has never known definitely. Nc subsequent Cdpllal lSSuo Dy any eh' railroad companies concerned has re vealed any provision for the money ex pended in the wholesale purchase O Northern Pacific stocks In the open mar ket at that time. The heavy borrow ings from foreigners since revealed b sIstairnd demand for foreign exchang with which to repay them point to tn conclusion that much of 1t has been car ried by bank loans here and abroad The embarrassment of this condition obvious and was the basis of the crec ence given to last weeks rumors of tn Formation of a security holding corpc ration to hold the securities of the roa cornered and "release large amounts ( capital" It is not difficult to deduC that this phase deals with the fact ths a corporation which owned ma1ortt of inc stocks of these roads would D SbIe to offer a minority of its own stoc fo the public without losing that cor frol' which would be multiplication the nrocess used in the control of Bui iins+on by Northern Pacific. This impol tant problem and its bearings on tn money and exchange markets have bee e the prominent influence on the TTepre:s,, ad spSculation of the week. In tf money market the renewed movemeI nF currency to Southern points Ina vaarked the belated movement of cotto to market in large volume. With u