The sun., 1904-07-14
FINANCIAL AND ooxxsaoTAL.

Whotovof pooon0y nao ,oCtaoneo " tho
idsa that the current hss.in security prices
has bssn brought about by the forces US
ually described % those Of .traders'
market was pretty well dispelled BY. the
action Of the market to-day. Deepfte
profit taking sales on scale that may
truly be called enormous, which, caused
many speculators to begin operations for
the short account on the theory that q
process Of general realization had begun.
prices yielded hardly atall. and In the last
three hours Of business rose buQyantiy, to
figures well above the highest, In the fnajor-
ity Of instances, seen In the present year.
Reviewing only cursorily the character OF the
market in the last two weeks, and consider
ing that the public hasgut hut little aguretn
II, II is abundantly evident that the strength
and breadth Of the buying power there dis
played could only haye been furnished by
financial interests Of the first magnitude.
Superhcially. the rise In the market to-
day was the more notable inasrnuch as II
was accomplished in the face Of advancing
prices for grain, but there Is among tntelfi-
gent observers very thorough understand
ing Of the real reasons underlying the fiTmer
tendency In grain prices at this time. These
reasons. instead of presenting bear arRu-
ments on Western railroad securities, are
such a. to encourage purchase Of these
and 'othor leading railroad stocka. They
are that the increased homo consumption Of
foodstufs, the exceedingly small quantity
Of the reserve store Of these commodities
both here and throughout the world, and the
fact that poor harvests threaten In some OF
the largest grain producing areas outside our
own country, justify. in the faoe Of all the
indications that our own crops this year
viii be OF full average size at least, what
may be called high prices in the present
season for all our principal agricultural
products Indeed, a. has. often been
pointed out in his column, all probabilities
are that for term Of years to come the
price Of these products viii remain on an
elevated level a. compared with that known
in former years. The weather map
for the: farming section. to-day was very
favorable. everywhere except in certain
sections Of the Northwest, where a cold
rain was falling. The speculation for the
rise in grain has, no doubt. been assisted
BY the repeated assertions Of certain
crop prophet who has a considerable
personal following In the Northwest that
the current Government estimate Of COM
bined production this year Of winter and
spring wheat of 'oe4, 900, 900 bushels Is too
great by about sooooooo bushels. Also
the possibility Of corner in some OF the
nearby wheat options where the amount
Of grain available for delivery 10 danger
ously small has had . stiffening effect,
naturally, upon the price Of the wheat op-
tions in general. even those OF the next
crop. But allowing these facts all their
due force, they should influence the stock
market but little; and this they do, as wit
ness current events.
Prices in the stock market to-day not
only touched the highest point Of the year
a. stated-yesterday' quotation average.
indeed. passing the previous high record
In January-but the dealings to-day were
better distributed than they have been at
any previous time in the year, and this last
named fact was really the most striking
feature Of tho days business. There have
been many days since Jan. whom the
volume OF transactions was greater than
It was to-day. but there has been no time
In the period when the purchases and sales
were better apportioned than thay were
to-day among the leading securities issues
Advances in all the prominent stocks ran
between 1 and points as . rule. and the
criticism could not be passed that It was q
market of spotted II extreme strength.
Another matter OF which mention must be
made was the prominent part taken In the
days buying by the strong and long estab-
Nshed commission houses whose purchases
are usually and generally correctly adjudged
to be for the account OF, powerful capitalist
and banking house interests. The strike
Of the employees Of the packing houses
attracted little or no attention. the
conviction obtaining that the difficulty
would cease before 1t seriously curtailed
railroad freight traffic The rumor again
circulated, as it did yesterday that the
United States court at Trenton had handed
down decision favorable to the Hartman
contention in the pending suit against
the Northern Securities Company. Upto
the close Of business, however, no such
again be repeated that it,is open 10 very
great question II the recent advance in
the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific
stocks has been influenced In any way
by this matter The suggestion seems
very pertinent why, II the advance was
predicated on this basis alone, Northern
Securities stock should also be 90 strong.
The one sufieing reason for the rise in tho
price Of these issues has been, purely and
simply, that Of increased earnings, and
the prospect, which every day becomes
more clear, that these will result, at time
not far away, in the one case in an initial
distribution and in the other in aninoreased
distribution OF proflts to stockholders.