The times., 1901-06-24
STOCK MARKET COMMENT
Bank Reserves Almost the Lowest
of the Present Year.

The Statement Generally Considered
DisapPointment-Th SteadiBess
OF The steel stocks Talk of The
Dividend outIook-Trade Reports.
NEW YORK. June S.-Yesterday'
showing Of the banks was in several ways
Disappointing Instead OF the decrease Of
S15o 900 or thcreabouts. foreshadowed on
Friday. ii reported a loss in cash Of 81
50G.el0 Loans are. moreover. increased
by $3.50, 0o}-a result. it is pretty certain,
Of some large operations quite outside Of
ordinary stock exchange undertakings.
The statement. as usual. is confused by
the distressing average SYSTEM; bat tS
S2.070.UV0 loss in surplus nevertheless as's
up nearly one-feurth oE what was SIN
left in that fund and brings taC total
down &c thc lowest fgurc reached ia amy
week hui oUc aii'ce t9H
II current Wait Syreet comment Is any
guide this active aee,easions IN mauN We
notvNefthN srezaens 5Rsa she absence of
suv Essyssssea Wrats,-eT iH yhe St,ei com
t,esssca saszee. ghe sensv7oT 81 ;isse
s5,=sss nas. 81 fsct. osen sskelssr. Neeo1y
raa 5erzt ser e-Rsl soi4 ~ 6zers vas .at
se sHe s7s,Ist5 nsrS5ts. auly "a fyw
Faens1x so. hs shores 81 tEe cofhp pantes
saSe ssvaroes ir Jhe S-6ice5 S,ayes SJeol
Ccrra7e5 s-a Not 10 raentioa the pr
scsaareeS ~ sEe rot-y%oas AH1eyaSaa
S,c<5 ana N17e sscsk AVA Ets noyo5so5S
c5stue 81 stock Sosssas aaaaseezS. even
ccaScsesssyesS Taaaas-e5 VessceT1s ssSch
aS Ec,,CgSs Stec- a16 Is aesAStc& easa-
vaatvS keo.sstt s,sGips - Goiat move
utS ur q. down la q series * sacces-
ss1e weeks. Yet 50 complete has been
the change oI heart since the ''hiiiion-aol-
lar amalgamaJioa. that nowadays
threats Of trade rivalry seem as power
less TO put down the shares Of the com
bination as surprisingly favorable trade
reports 10 put them up. \ net change Of
i or =. in the days quotation has become
an average.
The curious fact in this connection is
that this inertia Of prices does not reflect
inertia Of business in the shares. Only
three stocks on the list have more record
ed transactions against their name in the
past weeks stock exchange compilations
The two facts. however, taken together,
may somewhat explain the situation.
They suggest that a process of distribu-
ton IS at work, and that the bankers
managing this distribution are shaping
their orders so as fairly to balance buy
ing or selling movements from outside
Such a policy serves the double purpose
Of getting. on the whole, the best con-
tinuing market. and Of giving the stocks
q name Of conservative respectaoility as
compared with the skyrcckets elsewhere
In the list.
There can be no doubt that this conser-
vatism. at an hour when time-honored
investment shares were plunging about
in the style once monop3l:zCd by Sugar,
Tobacco, and other delights Of the
bucket-shop. has had very. considerable
influence on serious investors 1t has been
not a little singular lately. when the av-
erage small investor would describe the
disposition of his money, 70 hear him
enumerate in a rather matter-of-fact
tone, such and such shares Of steel pre-
ferred. The movement may be wise or
it may not; but it certainly exists 1t
leaves the question open, how far this
growing sentiment will be fostered by fu-
ture incidents OF the season. The COM
panys action on its common stock divi-
dead. ten days hence. will provide one
interesting indication Highly conflicting
ruInors are IN progress, possibly all un-
verified In view Of the enormous and
doubtful item Of depreciation, with steel
works running at the pace OF the last few
years. II is pretty safe TO say that pay
me1t Of any dividend on the haif-biliion
common stock al this time would be un-
wise. But, on the other hand, people who
received diEidcndS "A year ago on the com
mon shares Of subsidiary concerns, and
v no have since exchanged those shares
for the Steel Trust : common stock, are
beginning to talk Of their rights in the
u eInises Their annoyance, II no diVi-
dend We're paid, would be easy 10 under
stand. even il the wisdom Of the act w'.re
shown 70 them ne question IS, LIell,
VIII their protests overcome other and
more valid reasoning in the councils OF
the company?
The weekend returns Of American trade
tel the familiar story. Checks drawn on
the banks and passed through American
clearinghouse last week increased
no less than G6 PEI cent over 1899. Rail
way earnings for the week averaged
sA5 per cent larger than last year. and
exceeded by , per cent those Of two years
ago. The VICE K : exports OF wheat were the
largest ever recorded for the period, run
ming j. per cent beyond the same week in
800 and p per cent beyond either 1888 or
1898 Oddly enough in its way, even cotton
exports rose nearly thousand bales be-
Eono last year outgo Tor the week, and
England took half as much again & II did
year ago. The showing Is uniformly
striking and satisfactory.
One legitimate influence in causing this
uniform expansion must not be forgotten.
especially since il is permanent in its ma
tUre- The increase In population is a
factor Of high Importance, and this in
1895. more than million and a half Of
new citizens have arrived in the United
States-ma1ing an increase, from this
source alone, Of per cent in the COUP
try's productive population. Taken nu-
merically. the immigration since 1886 has
been almost equivalent 10 placing another
New York City IN the heart Of America.
with an the resultant producing and con-
suming power.
II IS In this population question, and not
In the mere fact Of transient increase in
Interchange of goods, that railway pros
perity IS fixing its foundations OF wheat
there are today under cultivation IN this
country s,5l90JJ acres more than in 1885.
Where the railway lines, "A dozen years
ago, passed through deserted lands, they
are traVersing farms TODAY. Where thcv
passed farms in 1885. they now touch
growing towns. and in not few cases
the villages Of that period now claim the
rank Of cities. All this has happened be-
fore in an earlier stage Of American de-
velopInent. and In the end with some
what diversified results. Perhaps the most
interesting financial question now is
whether the reckless use Of cspital In the
enterprises feeding this region VIII or viii
not as IN the eighties, follow the Derf:3a-
nent trade expansion.
New York stock Exchange, June -.
Higfl- Low Clos Net