The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-31
The Week in Business.

alone in all matters pertaining to America.
The Week in Business. E..
A combination of circumstances beyond
their control has brought upon the rail-
roads Of the west "a situation more seri-
Gus than any they have eyer before been
called upon to face. Under the strain of
an effort to care for offerings Of freight
of volume utterly beyond their capacity
to handle, the railroads have broken down.
The delicate machinery Of traffic man
agement has been thrown out of gear.
The system has given way at the points
of greatest pressure, and as a result there
exists to-day the most unsatisfactory
freight service ever known in the west.
Of the week. 1t bears upon every line of
business and strikes especially hard at
the milling industry of Minneapolis.
Much has been heard during the past
year of freight blockades and shipments
Of merchandise long delayed. At times
| the eastern centers have had such
freight congestion as ito require heroic
better But within. few days the con-
gestion at Chicago has reached stage
as serious as at Pittsburg some weeks
ago, while the outlook for relief at Chi
cago is not very encouraging. =" =9S 2
| At all times since the, new year came
in, the. western roads have beenv taxed
to handle their immense, tonnage. The
fuel. shortage aggra vatedtothe situation,
and thousands Of {alts1 SsordfniariW available
for general merchandise have been forced
into use as coal carriers. More recently
! the cold weather has lessened the motive
power Of the average 1ocomo olive. Ship
ments of lumber and building material
have been, heavy and higher prices for
grain increased the movement. At the
principal western primary points there
was received in the week ending Thurs
bushels more than in the previous week.
while of corn, 5000, 900 bushels moved in,
or 2,2s5, 900 bushels more than in the cor
responding week last year. In these two
items alone there is shown the need for
about 5000 more cars, and the compari
son might be carried much farther. In
j view Of the uncertainty of prompt return,
the western roads have refused to let
their cars go east Of Chicago, and with
the transferring of through shipments and
the transferring of west-bound shipments
as well, much delay and no end of confu-
sion is reported. .@.'
The month closing to-day shows a job
bling business greater than ever before
known In January. The reports of good
demand for staples come from almost
every section of the country, the north
; west doing more than holding her own
j, Not only the jobbing but the manufactur.
ing lines in the northwest report goo6
demand. But in the manufacturing he1e
, there is the double handicap of pool
freight service and fuel supply out
look that threatens to become very Sc
rious. .,1.os@ ... : $500
Although some of the leading railway
, lines have shown moderate, decreases il
earnings, the general tendency to increas,
still continues, and in the total of report!
SO far received, there is a gain of 81 PEE
, cent over last year and Of 17.2 per cen
over 1901. Many favorable signs are noted
IN the money markets and it would seen
that something of an advance in price:
/ of good securities might be expected. Ye
( the public has been keeping out Of Wal
street of late, and neither in the invest
i ment nor in the speculative divisions %
the stock market. has there been 1ra,1c1
activity. 4 number of things have served
to scare, out traders, not the least o
which is the Venezuelan situation. Will,
!, it is generally conceded that the prospec
of our country becoming involved in
, controversy with Germany is remote, Their,
) is, nevertheless, tendency to hold of
, until the matter assumes better shape
! And some Of the financiers are quoted a.
: saying that, however favorable might b.
$ the opportunity in other respects, Their
: can be no bull market in stocks while thi
8 Venezuelan matter is in its present stage
: Accent decline In wheat prices was
j. feature of the week. A fortnight wa
r necessary to work the market UP to Z
1 cents for Minneapolis May, while in tW
t days the advance was lost. The Armou
: influence. no longer appears in Chicag
v May, and traders are now getting bacl
&. on the old basis, and forming opinion
more from the news Of the day respect
: ing legitimate supply and demand condi
S tons, rather than from the manipulation
t in the Chicago pit. A strong bull argu
G |mert and a strong bear feature develope
!, this week. The depressing feature wa
r the Shipment Of 1,OsOso00 bushels OF whea
II from Argentine, this indicating that
y free movement from Argentine may
n expected from now on. Dffsetting thi