The Washington times., 1902-09-08
First Week of September
Finds Exceptional State
of Affairs.
POSSIBLE DANGER SPOTS
Damage to Corn by Frosts and the Mon
etary Situation the Principal Factors
of Uncertainty-Growing Significance
of Gould Operations.

NEW YORK, Sept. AS has been oh
served before. the first week of Septem
Der begins, sentimentally, the financia
year. After the dull and more or les
depressing days of summer and the en-
Of the vacation period business men re
turn to their work with minds clarifie
and bodies renewed.
This year, for an exception. the sum
mer days were not dull and depressing
but were as notable for business activ
fty as for cool and. for the most part
exhilarating temperatures. The stool
market In particular has been buoyan
ever since the middle of May, witt
quotations. The fundamental factors il
the advance have been the general con
viction that, high as the prices of Sc
curities were comparatively. they wer'
not absolutely high as long as the pres
ent degree of prosperity in the countr!
remained undiminished and the larg,
assurance given to a continuance of thi.
period of prosperity by the good crop!
now nearly harvested.
Operations and Combinations.
The earnings of railroads and of near.
showing increases over the great earn
ings of previous years. Millionaires
Plungers. and men made newly rich by
the conversion of their properties into
cash as the result of the great industria,
combina tions have made the stock mar
ket, as well as the trace track and the
roulette table, the scene of gambling op-
erations on scale of breadth and dar.
ing unparalleled in our country's his.
tory, save in the flush and feyerish days
of the civil war
Great banking interests have taken
advantage of the prevailing conditions
TO complete and even extend their plans
OF railway and general business con-
eolidation and reorganization. The spec
tacle of advancing prices has naturally
allured the public" into Wall Street
cnce more to some extent; but testimony
is general that, considering the volume OF
the transactions on the stock exchange.
the quantity of commission house busi-
ness is exceedingly small.
The notable development in railway
corporation finance has been. of course.
the dissolution in many instances, OF
stock that represented both the owner
ship and control of properties into these
elements of ownership and control sepa-
rafely. That is. the old stockholders
were asked to retain their original hold
ings at high valuation in the form
of mortgage liens, standing for owner
ship only, without control, while the
control or voting power formerly at
ferred elsewhere.
A New Buying Power.
The absorption by the public of the
vast quantity of these new collateral
trust bonds has been slow, and the is
sue of these bonds has undoubtedly
deadened general popular interest in the
general list of stocks. Yet surely
buying power of sufficient consequences
has taken the place of the old-time in
vesting public in the professional
forces that have been described.
Obviously, it cannot be said until the
end of the present month that the big
and remunerative crops assuring heavy
tonnage TO the railroads are absolutely
safe this year. The corn crop is about
three weeks late and its ripe ears cen-
not be counted as in the bins until dan
ger from frosts is over There is
enough in the abnormally low tempera-
ture of the season to make timorous
person anxious as to how the corn crop
will eventually turn out.
But Wall Street has made up its mind
hat frost will not hurt the corn this
year. and there is probably small reason
for ouarreling with the conclusion. The
cotton crop IL appears. has been badly
damaged, and. instead of a IL, SOC, 600 bale
crop. talked of in the early summer, H.
l0e, 600 bales is now the maximum esti-
mate. Yet. even admitting that the cot
ION crop has been reduced as stated, il
Is very debatable whether good, instead
Of evil, will not result thereby TO the
Southern planters.
Small Crop May Do Good.
The bane of the South has long been
Its enormous yield of cotton, selling at
prices that made the production of the
staple unprofitable, and It has been
round many times il the past that the
improvement in the price, due to a
small crop of cotton. has much more |
han compensated for the reduction in |
is quantity. A big cotton crop is,
however, much better for. the Southern |
ailroads than small one, for the rea- |
on that il is a transportable com |
modify whose bulk OF tonnage alone is
Caution on the part of investors and |
'peculators of comparatively small |
means would still seem to be the wise
,lan Just now, despite the deals and
that are going on, many
If which will undoubtedly be success
ul. 1t is a time for prudence and
arge margins, If there is any margin
business conducted at ALL Good crops
lone do not insure continued smooth
ailing and clear skies over the finan- /
ial sea, and there is abundant proof of I
his fact in Wall Streets annals.
Danger in Money Situation.
So far as outward indications go,
all in prices, il one comes. will be
rought about by the money situation
ears over this trouble were acute some
me ago. then subsidized, and are now
My active In optimistic Wall Street
pom the approach of the weekly bank
l4tement. The known facts of the sit
alton are not roseate. but all the