The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-03-21
FINANCIAL AND CoxxsscIAL.


ft' FRIDAY. March 70.
The excitement that has recently, ohsr-
acterised the market because Of fears OF
Southern Paofo corner and the general
nervousness felt by all market operators
over the entire Southern Pacific Union
Pacific situation disappeared, apparently.
with the close Of business yesterday. To-
day the market resumed its firm though
quiet tone. Estimates of to-morrow's bank
statement are that the banks have 'loa
about $500 900 In cash, a loss Of q little over
81 ,OOO, 900 to the Sub-Treasury being cur
tailed by gain of half that amount on the
interior movement OF currency. The gain
from the. interior. though gratifying. is
less than occurred last week. So far as
actual cash reserve Is concerned however
there is reason to hope that to-morrow's
bank statement will not be In any way dis-
turbing. Tho same confidence cannot De
had regarding the loan account. Taking
the week as a whole, prices OF stocks have
ranged higher than they did last week ana
the borrowings Of commission houses from
the banks have been correspondingy
larger. The strength OF sterling exchange
leads to the suspicion, ct least, that ne
gotiations of bankers loans upon sterling
bills have been suspended. II is q ques-
ton, therefore. whether to-morrow's state
ment will show any great reduction IN
bank loans. But what the statement VIII
show, or will not, is. of course, matter
of pure guesswork. In, a general way
the renewed strength Of sterling, despite
the comparatively stiff rate maintained
for the use of money here both on call
and on time, Ia not favorable feature OF
the situation. 1t seems to have been caused
by higher rates Of private discount In all
the leading European capitals, and this
points TO the fact that money is In demand
there and is not available for our use a.
freely as it once was.
To-day's market showed very clearly
that the temper Of speculation favors higher
prices and that the profess onal operators
who have recently been busy in depressing
prices are now. or many Of them are, en-
deavoring to advance quotations. This,
added to the belsted towering purchases
of operators for the fall. n sufficient to mako
a strong market In itself without reference
to any great amount Of public buying.
All news Developments continue generally
favorable to values. Tho feeling prevails
that the labor situation IN In much better
shape than II once was or than II was feared
il might be at this time. The Missouri
Pacifics net earnings for January were
reported to-day as Increasing In the great
sum OF ss23 ,o2s. Its gross earnings for
February were extremely large. and II II
believed that the same relative prcport ion
of net earnin gs for the. month as shown
for January will be repeated. Corn exports
for the week have been about the same as
last week. though exports Of wheat are
about O million bushels less.
Nearly all the stocks on the list to-day
showed good gains in price. Brooklyn
Rapid Transit was especially strong and
active. Large transactions at the opening
OF the market in Union Pacific again led
to the belief in many quarters that the Union
Southern Pacific difficulty was over.
But 1t recognized that this dispute is not
one that can be easily settled. and at the
close OF the day the net gain In Union
Pacific common was smaller than that OF
many other stocks. st. Paul and Rock
Island and the St. Louis and San Francisco
stocks advanced sharply, the last-nan,ed
two on the understanding that the
formal announcement Of the purchase Of
the st. Louis and San Francisco Rail-
road by the Chicago. Rock Island and
Pacific Railroad Company will be made
early next week. probably on Tuesday.
Another notable feature Of the trading
was the strength OF Metropolitan Street
Railway shares. The short interest in
these shares is very large and 1t found
not at all TO its liking the statement Of
District Attorney Jerome. published in
the morning newspapers, that the expert
accountant employed by him to examine
the books of the Metropolitan company.
had discovered that some OF the alleged
discrepancies, at least, were easily
explainable. Southern Pacific was com
paratively neglected during the day. The
grvat majority Of traders are naturally
unwilling to conduct any operations In II
The market closed at about the best prices.