New-York tribune., 1902-05-25
financial.
The Financial World.

Exchange the past week mas been small
the market has shown narrowing tendency.
there has yet been great frmness Of prices. This
was better than had been expected. So manv
things had corne along the previous week to de-
press the market. that the general feeling
seemed to be quite blue. Monday brought lower
quotations during the morning. but it also de-
veloped the fact that comparatively little stocI<
was for sale. The result was that by the closA
of the day. the mornings losses had been nada
up This seemed 70 indicate that the road was
clear. at least temporarily for bull operations;
and since then the market has shown the active
work of the Western bull party. though as vet
with limited public following.
They have had two things to work on: one
the favorable crop weather; the other. the rising
tide of speculation in London. 1t has been a
long time since the crop question has been so
important it is this year. AL food products
are high. because Of the severe shortage OF hay.
oats and corn last year. combined with the fact
that because of previous prosperity. consump-
ton not restricted. People had the money
to buy. despite the high prices. and they bought
1t has happened before that there have been
short crops and low prices as well. Neverthe-
less if this year should record another crop
failure, the country could not stand IL as II did
that of last year. There would be serious trou-
BILE. and Wall Street would be treated TO as fine
a bear market as any could desire. There
would be a great slaughtering in the Western
stocks particularly. Hence IL is that the crop
question is so unusually important. and the
weather reports are daily bull or bear material
according to their tenor.
A prominent Western cattle feeder expresses
himself optimistically as 70 the corn outlook
He says that if only sixty per cent of the sown
acreag is harvested. It will be a bumper crop;
for every farmer has put in corn up 70 the
limit Such prices as corn has brought and Is
bringing with the eager demand continuing for
it, has set the farmers corn crazy.
AS all the weather reports the past week have
told of rains. there has been more disposition to
buy and less to sell; and London. on its own ac-
count has sent higher quotations for our stocks
nearly every morning. OF course the main spec
ulation over there has been in Kaffirs, but there
is overflow into Americans; and if the peace
news turns out as expected, the overflow will be
larger Not a few operators on this side have
been taking flyers in British consols and have
made good thing OF Il. Consols have been go
ing up. and ought soon to be at or above par
again. They should do that even if the sur
render OF the Boer leaders does not entirely end
the fighting. as it probably will not Indvidu-
ality is strong a characteristic OF these peo-
pie. that Boer minorities usually submit with
bad grace 70 majorities: and are more inclined
10 look for some way OF getting out IN this
case, therefore,. a CODSlOeTdDIc IEdCJIOu HICC-
onciables will stay in the field no matter what
the leaders may do But the release OF troops
from the peaceful sections will permit Of sending
overwhelming forces against them
South Africa has been advertised by the war
TO the ends OF the earth. and the war has settled
the question which shall be the dominant race
there: as the seven years French and Indian war
here settled it that the English speaking race
was TO be the dominant one in America. The
development OF South Africa is assured. and IL
will be factor OF no small Importance in the
worlds progress. The first effects OF peace must
be the immediate extension OF the mining In
dustry. and consequent increase in the output OF
gold
The local industrial war here-the coal strike
will reach an acute stage only il attempt
be made to stop the pumping OF the mines. The
coal operators seem quite content to suspend all
attempts to get out coal and intend, apparently.
to play a waiting game But those pumps must
be kept going, if 1t takes all the militia force Of
Pennsylvania to protect them To cease pump
ing means the drowning OF the mines. II this
happened. there Is no near date at which coal
could be got out Of them again Only the ex-
treme hot heads among the strikers would seri-
ously try to effect such destruction: unIuckily
however. it is the hot heads who carry weight
among the strikers. and the leaders will need
10 hold them in proper bounds.
Now that the strike is on Wall Street men
who believed and hoped until the last moment.
when they saw that Mitchell. who wanted TO
avoid strike. could not hold the convention
these men now expect that the strike will be a
long one One Of the best informed OF them
says that the last strike lasted six weeks and
then the men won This time it will take six
weeks longer to beat them. When their funds
exhausted. the thing will end. But it is
going to be a fight TO a finish seeing that the
success of the men in the last strike has only
brought on another strike. The coal operators
say they would have that fight if it had not
been for outside interference: therefore they
are determined not TO have that now.
If these views of the situation are correct it
will be seen that the market for some period
will have worry along as best it may with
this Industrial struggle to disturb it. The worst
strike. however is as nothing to a crop short
age: and it is less to the mining section than to
the agricultural regions that the Streets atten-
ton will continue to be directed. There is no
more trouble from the money market We are
getting to summer rates again. The very IA
vorable bank statement of yesterday had been
indicated beforehand by the dropping of call
rates as the week went on; and the surplus
reserve now is getting up TO more comfortable
figures.
Most of the week the market was very duh.
and the limited public support which the active
bull party. mainly the Western men, have been
able to command makes continuance OF this
dulness probable for some time to come one
or two stocks have been made the leaders every
day. but while active operations in these have
advanced them more or less sharply, the gen
eral list has remained quiet Canadian Paeino
has been one of the more prominent leaders.