The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
WEATHER MAKES WALL STREET TALK Crop Prospects at the Moment
 Are Indeed Dubious OTHER FINANCIAL NEWS The Fear of Another Monetary strln- eency Such as Occurred in the Fall Has Made Brokers Extreme
 ly Careful.
OTHER FINANCIAL NEWS
sy W. c. NICHOLAS.

BY W. c. NICHOLAS.
 New York, June 27.-The state of the weather Is a very serious topic in Wall street just now. There IS time yet for 1t to mend and partially redeem the out look but crop prospects at the moment are, indeed, dubious. Corn is from four to five weeks late From the point of railroad tonnage 1t is the most important crop of all. 1t is too early to predict it's failure this year, but on the very best terms now possible corn will be ripening 80 or 90 days hence, with killing frosts nightly probable. A short yield of corn seems to be inevitable, considering tho av- craze chances of the situation, and that will be bad enough. A crop failure, such as occurred two years ago. would be some thing of disaster. Wheat prospects are somewhat more promising, but in the seo- ton where harvesting of winter wheat is now in progress the yield and quality are disappointing. The western stock market contingent is bearish on stocks and bullish on corn. It's advice Is to sell stocks short and buy corn The advances that have taken place this week in the deferred corn options are of more than speculative sig nifcance. In spite of the enormous crop of corn that was taken last year, prices have ruled so high as to Interfere seri- ously with export The same has been true of wheat and cotton. One needs only to consider the spectacle of cotton selling at 13 cents to realize that the outlook for that crop this year Is discouraging. Meanwhile our imports continue to gain on our exports which becomes serious matter with our prospective surplus of stuff for export constantly shrinking. And this Is all on account of the weather. The failure of the corn crop year before last never figured to any extent in rail- road earnings for various reasons. The extraordinary railroad tonnage yielded by industrial and commercial expansion everywhere and 8 very large wheat yield more than offset the corn shortage It Is likely to be different this year. A reac- tionary tendency in the general line of trade and manufacturing has already been observed
 It is an axiomatic saying that the un- expected is forever happening in Wall street. Fear of another monetary strin- gency, such as occurred last autumn, has been religiously dinned into the Wall street mind. Although brokers are carry ing fewer stocks than at any previous
 
 been stocking up with time money at 61h per cent to carry them over the end of this year. They have no use for the money now and arc lending 1t out on call at from to 8 per cent. The difference is their loss, of course but they feel that if Is worth it to be protected against tight money this coming autumn. It is to be noticed that there is an unlimited. supply of time money at 61b per cent carrying in- Ta. aA T1a1. There is strong suspicion that shrewd money lenders have been fostering the ap- prehension of monetary stringency in order to work off funds at that rate In- dications do not point to large demand, during the remainder of the year, for money for purposes of speculation. Mo- body is expecting a wild outburst of spec ulative enthusiasm on the part of the public, and with this demand out of the way the chances for monetary strin- gency are lessened. The recurring strin- gency of money each autumn is due to the demand from the interior banks for money with which to finance the movement of crops, and if crops are to be short this year that demand will be less. Two months ago agricultural conditions oth- erwise crop prospects, were almost too good to believe. They were more nearly perfect than any Wall street farmer could
  There was some reason then to look for ward to a monetary stringency this au- tumn The subsequent decline of crop prospects, however, has greatly changed the outlook and those who have been stocking up high priced time money are in a fair way to see their calculations go wrong.
 Within the past three years the sky line of the lower end of Manhattan Island, 4ta has so change as to be almost unrecog- nizable by anyone who has not uncon- sciously watched this alteration from week to week More sky scrapers have been put up in Wall street district in the last three or four years than during the ten preceding years, and whereas only a few of those built in the preceding decade sscut into the sky line, nearly all of the re- 't.zpt creations figure conspicuously there fnNx The transformation which has oc- curredNr right in the heart of the Wall street district makes the banking house of J. Pierpont Morgan X Co., look really shabby. Directly across the street Is the new temple of speculation, otherwise the new Stock Exchange Then there are the beautiful Blair building. just completed at the corner of Broad street and Exchange Place, and the monster Broad Exchange building diagonay opposite. Speyer & Go. and Kuhn, Loeb & Co., have also erected expensive buildings In the neigh borhood. In short. building operations on e colossal scale have been epidemic in this community, and it would be impossi- bie to estimate the aggregate of money thus expended within the past few years. It is significant to note that these hand some structures have been put up. so to speak, at the very top of a bull movement in the construction market, with labor, steel. real estate and material of every description at the highest prices that have prevailed for many years If as many ehrewd observers believe. a reactionary tendency is now developing, these large investments may experience gradual