New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-10-05
financial.
The Financial World.

out straw me temper OF the best judges OF tn
existing troublesome situation. operators, cant.
talsts and bankers. is that II is best ~
slow. We have a perplexirg state OF arai,.
here through what is virtually the DISPERSED
and tying up the working capital Of Wall s,ra..
and until this condition is righted, 1t is M ,,.,
for entering new commitments
1t suffices to point out. to show how Far IA.
working capital is tied up. that the loan. !,
the banks aggregate S72 millions and the A.
posits S72 millions: while the reserve is Ar -.
legal % per cent line. At this time last va.r
loans were S73 millions and deposits DAB: Win
the surplus reserve above the legal line waa :
excess OF 10 millions. That is the stuationh
a nutshell.
In the closing paragraph Of last weeks arr
Gle. II was said that in the opinion Of consery,
tive bankers the acute money situation wouH
continue some three weeks longer: after tba,
there would be Improvement The acutenass a,
the situation has been relieved by the aeton a,
Secretary Shaw; but the banking eommunItv
talk OF nothing but the necessity for caution AZ
the probability of further liquidation, of the az
pediency OF waiting until the return of monev
to this centre from the country. No one can
get any advice in bank parlor to-day other
than to keep quiet and reduce extended lines
That the action OF Secretary Shaw aver,ed +.
IN
admit OF question. The way the market closed
last Monday had all the signs in it OF a bad
time coming the next day There was the nm
defined feeling that something was impending
the hasty efforts to sell stocks. the dropping
quotations under the heavy sales, the scram-
bling for money which sent the loan rates away
up and all this coming in the last hour after a
days steady Hquidation-sure sign that the way
was preparing for trouble next morning With
the announced action Of the Secretary, the tide
was so turned that it simply a question
then how high over the previous days close
stocks would open. They did open from two to
SIX points.
The shock the market received Friday after
noon. from the hrebrand dispatches sent from
Washington about Controller Ridgley's action
was outrageous affair. The customers OF ths
commission houses were the main sufferers.
The big operators apparently did nothing until
they had had time to ascertain what had really
been done; and then they rushed in buying or
ders so that the rebound was as sudden as the
fall But in the meantime, the slaughter among
the commission house people had been severe
They were scared with visions of another Mon
day afternoons fall. and threw over their stocks
as frightened men do
The many explanations denials. correction,
patches leave it tolerably clear that some one IN
the Controllers office had been giving out hints
and limitations since Secretary Shaw's orders
were issued. that the Controllers Office would
have to be heard from. etc. ETC.: until finally
something given out which the senders Of
the dispatches put into the startling form OF a
statement that the Controller had "overruled"
the Secretary. The chief overruled By the sub
ordinate! This was chaos in the most important
financial policies OF the Government II is no
wonder that the market. abnormally sensitive
at this time. should go TO pieces under sucha
prospect Of topsy-turvey business.
Although the rebound was so quick enough
mischief had been done to make the Street feel
uneasy; and the failure OF the Washington con-
ference on the coal strike from which 50 much
had been hoped and expected together with a
disappointing bank statement, combined alto
gether TO give us a dropping market yesterday
and to send most people home in very dis
gu.ted frame OF mind
II was. in fact. a pretty poor week There
was the ugly drop on Monday; the recovery I'M
der the secretary's action and the calling of the
conference by the President; then came the
shock from the "overruled' dispatches and the
disappointment at the outcome Of the confer
ence: lastly the bank statement. The combina-
ton was not agreeable.
However the situation Is not so bad as IL
Iooks-which Is lucky. In the first place. the
chief has not been overruled by his suoor-
dinate: and the new rulings Of Secretary Shaw
will be carried out in their letter and spirit
both as to bonds to secure deposits and the re-
serve against these Then. though the Wash
ington conference was a failure directly. ind-
rectly it may open the way TO a speedy ending
OF the strike: and this ii probably will do al
though the exact procedure may not De evident
now. Next, the banks have been placed IN
position where they can increase their ereua-
ton IL they want TO; and there are few mul-
ions OF gold due to arrive in few days WHICH
will help.
1t is proper to say that some leading men =.
Wall Street think that In view OF the increased
cost Of living, a fact unpleasantly patent 70
everybody, the wages Of the coal miners mish'
Justly be increased. But as TO the union, WIN
it's long list OF murders. deadly assaults mu'ia.
-io7s. riots burnings and dynamitnss-~a'
thing should be put down with a strong manu.
ii IA taxes all winter. -
The one comfort we can extract out OF '
Industrial war is, that because OF its length an.
severity when it is once over a long peFIou
peace is absolutely assured. 1t VIII De many
long day after this before there is another So
in the coal regions. We may also defV' -
consolation from the evident friction 01'"s
the offices of the Secretary of the Treasury a.
of the Controller. in that common sense -
hauling Of the laws relating TO the Treasury
partment Is inevitable. The outcome WI" !.
suredIy be that our Treasury system W." s,nr
put more in accord with the general Oa -.
system of the country than it now is. - .s.
nateIy for the doing OF this. we are riu a.
wretched silver question, with It's moo ..,
natics wanting to cure all human Ills oy hA'
a cheap dollar. AIRY