The Washington times., 1901-10-06

most generally held by people optimis-
ticaliy inclined is that this weakness Is
not a matter of grest Importance to the
general list Some of the Industrial COM
panies have not had very prosperous sea-
sons, but the general trade reports are SO
good that II seems out OF the queSuon 20
draw any general conclusion from Few
cases, even though they occur IN NUM-
Der of different Industries. And, moreover,
it has been shown that in some cases
there has been weakness in the indus
trials when there Were no bad reports
on which to base it, as, for instance, Peo-
pies Gas. The incident is one to cause
Conservatism and caution in making in
veStments, and ii will probably hurt the
industrial securities generally in the
minds of Lhe public, bat as far as can be
seen at the present time it should not
hurt the railway stocks. Perhaps when
the advance in prices comes next 1t VIII
be with the industrial securities a class
on a lower comparative level than they
have been heretofore
Henry Clews, in his weekly letter, has
this to say Of the industrial situation as
developed in the past two weeks:
'One of the most important considera-
tfOns just now is the course OF the IN
duStriais. In August and September We
witnessed a series of annual reports, all
of an unfavorable nature. Reduc ID earn
ings have followed lower prices for pro-
ducts, and ii IS very evident that the
era of abnormal Industrial profits Is on
the wane. New competition is also slow
ly but surely making the burden of over
capitalization felt. The developments in
AmalgaHsatcd Copper acted decfstVely
against the entire market. Fortunately,
the United States Steel Corporation took
the public irto its confidence and made an
excellent showing as to earnings, which
removed an important element Of doubt.
The management deserve cOmmendation
for their courage as well as sagacity
"A policy of secrettveness such as is
followed by most of the industrials inevi-
tably provokes distrust and investors and
spectators will do well to leave those
alone that fail to give reliable informa
tion as to earnings and general financial
condition. 1t is almost unnecessary to say
that the industrials are especially exposed
TO trade fluctuations and that their course
will be largely Influenced by general busi
ness. The latter is sim in good condition
and the outlook is for a good fall and
winter trade; nevertheless. the industrials
are a weak feature and will still bear
watching Those that avoid publicity re-
garding their affairs will probably be
sharply Disseminated against
AT this time Of unsettled values 1t is
well TO draw the line between railroad
shares and those of the industrials in esti-
mating intrinsic worth, as il must be re-
membered that the former are mostly
connected with corporations that were
pessimist:cally, hence drastically. reor-
ganzed while the latter were mostly op-
tmistcally organized, and many of them
may have to be pessimistically reorgan-
lied. Then the railroads and industrials
viii be on common footing
The financial situation is not developing
anything novel from day to day. The
bank statement yesterday was not very
good one, but it was not poor either.
The actual amount Of cash on hand was
increased more than a million dollars,
which was much better than expected.
on the other hand. the loans were in
creased S5,WpDO0 and the deposits 81 .G0. .OO0,
so that while actual cash increased the
additional requirement of reserve made
the surplus reserve show a decrease OF
about $50 COO The figures OF the state
ment were as follows;
Reserves decreased ................ $7S3. 600
Loans Increased -.......--...-..-... 5,giS,5O
Specie increased ................-.-- Ifls,2o
Le,,ais decreased ....-...........-.. 3Ib,0O
Deposits increased ................. 7,lOOSU
Circulation decreased ............ 81, 400
Two explanations are offered for the
large increase in loans shown. 1t Is sug
gested that money was borrowed to make
the payments on the Peoples Gas sub
scription and that it was deposited in the
New York banks when paid. This is the
only way to make this idea tenable, as
very evidently the money borrowed found
its way back to the banks. on the other
hand, there are those that believe the
money was borrowed by spectators or
others and Immediately deposited to their
accounts. II is evident that the ship
nents of cash to the interior were not
heavy as expected during the week or
that the receipts from some source We're
particularly heavy. as the Financial
Chronicle and other authorities esti-
mated yesterday morning that a loss of
cash would be shown instead of a gain
Call money rates have been easy md
there is no expectation that there will be
any tightnesS in the money market in
the near future. An advance in sterling
exchange Indicates that imports OF gold
may not be looked for either. The action