The Washington times., 1901-07-22
STOCK MARKET COMMENT.
Western Spectators Attempting
to Force Break in Prices.
Damage TO the Corn Crop Their
TeNt-Important Interests Against
Their Effort steel strike Gossip
The BauI, statement Rcassuring.

Damage TO the Corn crop Ihetr
Text-Important Interests Against
Their Effort - Steel strike Gossip
The BanI, Statement ReassurinE.
NEW YORK, July 21.-The stock market
has been under the influence of the Chica-
go bear clique largely since the boom
ended on Thursday. They continued TO
hammer the grangers under the battle
cry of burned-up corn fields. As specu-
lative venture in the abstract. there are
many chances for profit in bulling corn
and selling the Western transportation
stocks, the most profitable results being
attained when the managers of the deal.
through creating crop scare, can frlght-
en- either the grain pit bears or the stock
exchange bulls into . panic. During the
last two or three days there has been an
effort on the part of the Western short
interest to stampede the stock market
through the old-fashioned way of sending
a dozen brokers at one time in with sell
ing orders. When the market is full of
stop orders such games have frequently
caused an immense slaughter OF the inno-
cents. because stop orders must be exc
cuted Immediately on the best terms
available.
The trouble which the Chicago shorts
have met is that the public has not been
buying stocks for long time, conse-
quently there are no stop orders in the
market and big clique of the wealth
lest capitalists eagerly absorb all such
shares as the crop scare orig.nators are
willing to sell. None of the companies
could be damaged to an extent repre-
sented by the decline in their stocks If
the entire corn transportation was lost.
Thus the proportion of corn carried by the
Atchison has furnished only per cent of
its entire freight receipts, and the rates
charged have been so low that they barely
paid the cost of the fuel and crew en-
gagged in the transportation thereof. In
the meantime the price of Atchison stock
has been showed down nearly 20 per cent.
1t has been a comparatively short time
since the short interests in Northern Pa
cific common stock paid very dearly for
their attempt to depress that property.
1t is unlikely that any other corner Will
pay such handsome profits. but 1t is a
fact that the same coterie of capitalists
who took the bearish cash on that oc-
casion have been almost the only pur-
chasers of Atchison, Union Pacific, and
St Paul within the past two weeks. EV-
ep yesterday the market closed steady
at the figures at which the Chicago spec
ulators had forced quotations. Set
tlement day will come within the next
three months, and it may be difficult for
some houses to buy in their short ven
lures.
Perhaps because its showing conformed
to expectations, the very strong bank
statement had very little effect On prices
yesterday For once, the increase in cash
rfaa NIFTlQ toe
the gain of a trifie over 100000 resulting
in almost equal measure from the Treas
ury's disbursements and from the inte-
rior's remittances. How really vast was
the flood of stock market liquidation. ear
Iier in the week, may be judged from the
movement of loans. On top of last weeks
s2l. oo5000 contraction and of the sl3,-
cCl.OOo reduction in the three preceding
weeks, comes a further shrinkage of sl2,-
0O0.0O0 This movement, it may be OBJ
served. is already more extensive by six
or seven millions than the reduction which
followed the panic of May 9. 1t is also
greater by fully S25011,cJo than the eX-
treme decrease in loans from the highest
figure, during the summer of 1900. To the
money market, such wholesale striking
off of bank liabilities is reassuring; it has
raised the surplus reserve above S2l,eeS,-
Goa figure which, although still below
that of the present date in 1899, 1886, or
1891
1t was characteristic of Wall Street, in
its present mood, that Mr Morgan repu-
diation, on Friday. of the rumors of COM
promise in the steel strike should have
upset the market. That his statement
had this effect, resulted naturally from
the indulgence of the stock exchange in
the luxury of foolish dreams. Any share
holder fearful of the effect OF strikes on
the steel trades future fortunes would
have been wise, if the company $ mana
gers had surrendered, ia selling his stock
at once By virtue of such surrender, Mr..
Shaffer would have been given control of
the Steel Trusts labor outlay.
Attention Will now be converged on the
movement of corn TO market, quite as
closely as it would have conyerged had
young Mr.. Phillips carried his corner past
the 10th of May. one of the oddities of
the grain situation Is that nine weeks ago
a good part of the trade was asserting
that there was not enough old corn in
crib to upset forestalling plans, whereas
today the very same critics are confident
that enough is on hand TO make good the
losses of the drought. The result of the
Letter episode proved that contents OF
private granaries will often be underes-
timated. But the comparative figures are
more useful than the absolute,
and the Government estimates show
that, with 1900 corn crop of 2.lU5.O1JJJ
bushels, almost exactly the same amount
was left on hand March /, 1901, as on
March l. 1900. For the earlier date, the
estimate was 713, 12g, 600 bushels; for the
latter, 176, lG6.OJ0 1t follows necessarily,
granting some accuracy to the figures,
that If the crop OF l91l is reduced from
last year only by the moderate estimate
of 4010s0,00e bushels, either the home or
the foreign market for the grain must
suffer.
Probably it is the export trade which
Will be contracted; for the American con-
sumer must have his corn, whatever the
price to which ii rises, whereas the for
eigner can at a pinch dispense with it.
This decision of foreign consumers to do
without is the usual cause for the fall
from famine prices, even in years of ac-
tual shortage. Spectators with their
eye on variations in supply alone are apt
TO be rudely reminded, at such times,
that change in demand cuts also some
figure in the market Europe, in short
has learned to use the American cereal
in dozen new was since the abortive
effort of Minister Phelps. twelve years
ago. TO convince the German mind of the
virtues of corn-bread. It's regular TAX
ings of the cereal have increased four
fold II is not yet, however, one of their
necessities. IL our merchants ship from
]. $50. go 0V0-bushel crop only the average
percentage taken by Europe before 1885
the outgo will be some 100000 bushels,
against the 2l3,0000e0 sent out in 1893.
New York stock Exchange. July 20.
High Low Clos Net
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