The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-18
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL.
SATURDAY, Sept. II. 1


The matter which occupied Wall Street'f
attention to-day to the exclusion Of nearly
everything else was the weekly bank state
ment, this being the first time in months
that the spectators have seen fit to pay
the bank return such compliment Be-
fore the publication Of the statement the
market was dull and heavy. a rather I'M
favorable exhibit of bank conditions being
generally feared. These expectations were
more than fulfilled. The bank surplus
was reduced by so,Os5, 900, 80 that the total
surplus is now but about one-hah what II
was three weeks ago; bank loans having In
the meantime, to-day's reported expansion
of $lO,472. 900 being included, risen $42,-
$4,000 and standing at $l,l4o, 95s. 800, or
far and away the largest sum ever known
to the New York Clearing House. The
loss of cash by the banks during the week
was So, Acc, 800, or nearly two million dollars
more than was reckoned upon in advance,
and was said to be due to unusually large
transfers of money to the interior yester-
day afternoon. Comment upon the state
Of affairs here revealed seems quite I'M
necessary. 1t Is improbable that any such
rate of decrease in bank reserves as here
shown will be steadily continued, mas
much as rise in money rates. which can
not now be long postponed, will bring the
trust companies and other institutions
not represented in the Clearing House
into the market as lenders, SO that
some Of the burden Of loans will be
shifted from the shoulders OF the Clearing
House banks. But even with such aid,
the case can be but little alleviated II the
gross loans themselves, however accounted
or distributed, continue to enlarge. The
same situation presents itself that invariably
does at this time Of the year despite host
Of prophecies to the contrary. The West
and South ask the great financial centres
OF the country for a huge sum of money
with which to move the crops, even il their
demand be no more than a recall Of their
own funds previously deposited, This
demand is now in progress, exceptionally
increased by the high price of the COM
modities which the farmers and planters
are selling In the past, under such cir
cumstances, all that Wall Street has ever
hoped to do was to check as far as possible
the reduction in bank loans on speculative
collateral which the outflow Of funds neces-
STATED; but In almost every instance the
curtailment OF speculative credit has, de-
spite all efforts to prevent it, been large.
This year Wall Street, or certain element in
1t, has, apparently, been possessed with
the idea that not only can it avert the con-
traction of bank loans normal to the period,
but that it can go on expanding these loans
for purely speculative purposes in the face
of a vanishing bank surplus to figures
that each week make new high records
The end of the experiment is not yet, it
is true, and it will be very interesting to
observe just what the end will be.
Following the publication of the bank
statement there was a plain attempt to
rally the market in the manner that was
more or less successfully accomplished last
Saturday; but the effort was a failure
Stocks flowed readily from the hands of
holders and the market closed at a general
decline. In the final one or two minutes
of the Stock Exchange session another
endeavor was made to force a small adj
vance, but here, too, the manipulation
was ineffective. Bidding up such issues
as those Of the Standard Rope and Irvine
Company, and such stocks as the Union
Bag and Paper, Leather common and
Detroit Southern shares, was naturally
not taken seriously; neither was any inter-
est excited by show of strength in Toledo
st. Louis and Western and Denver and
Rio Grande. A further heavy fall in the
price of wheat passed unnoticed, principally
for the reason. no doubt, that it is we'll
understood that, however strong may be
the reasons for a relatively high price
for wheat and other agricultural staples
at present, large share CT tine recent ad-
vance in these commodities has been due
to speculation cad that operators in the
grain markets are as desirous OF taking
profits at time; as are other people. The
Southern Pacitcs July earnings state
ment showed a surprising falling off ia
gross of nearly $500, 600. which was, how
ever, reduced by curtailment of operating
expenses to a net loss of but $40, 1885, The
annual report of the Reading companies
to-day published explains in considerable
degree the recent rise in the Reading stocks
Readings earnings for the year were shown
to be Ga per cent. on the common stock
of the company, or, If expenditures for inn
provements, &c. are counted in, about
Q per cent. Considering that these earn
ings are the result Of year admittedly
more favorable for the coal trade than can
ordinarily be expected no large distrbu-
tion upon the Reading common shares
can be expected, and indeed there il au-
thority for the statement that no dstrbl-
tion at all il at present meditated.