The Washington times., 1905-05-19
NEW YORK.

The nervous tension of the market was
rudely broken yesterday by the ilrse
genuine crop scare OF the season. and
during the final two hours OF the trad
ing every active issue sustained sharp
decline, ranging from 2 to points. That
unofficial reports of serious damage 10
the wheat crop by rust, causing a sharp
rise of cents bushel for July delivery
at Chicago, should have sent rails and
industrials cayalcading down hill IN the
local securities market. can only De at
tfibuted TO the inherent lack OF stamina
in the market itself. The fortnight or
see-saw trading by professionals seek
Ing to scalp a fraction IN this issue and
a point In that, with the public, intimi-
dated by the war scare as reflected daily
In the European bourses, remaining
studiously aloof, has brought the mar
ket into a condition OF nervous fidgits
where almost any news development
capable of bearing an unfavorable con-
struction is calculated to produce an
immediate and violent break.
It was the Northern Pacific meeting.
strangely enough, that precipitated the
de cline-strangely, because the actie<4
taken by the stockholders was precisely
the action which every we'll informed
man in the financial district knew weeks
in advance would be taken by them at
this meeting. Had the Union Pacific
mem bers of the board of directors not
retired, and had their places not been
Hill interests. the Street would have
been treated to a surprise SO genuine
that some extraordinary movement in
the market might reasonably. have been
looked for. That the market should
nave reacted as it did on the announce
nent OF the withdrawal from the board
Of members identified with the manage
rnent of Union Pacific a competing
road. simply denotes that the market
was hopeiessly demoralized.
, receiving from banking and pool inter
ests DESTROYS of renewing or creating an
outside attention to market affairs was
withdrawn with a suddenness that sug-
gested a concert of the powers. It
might have been supposed that by gen
eFa1 agreement prices had been propped
uI earlier In the week under the sue
cessfye blows OF crop damage and iron
trade recession, so that the collapse
should not take place until the bad
| news had accumulated, when the pegs
ali through the market would be stimuli
taneously withdrawn. What was re-
garded as G. much more likely explana-
| ton by good judges of the trading was
| that the larger financial interests have
themselves been cropping in the dark for
some time. Yesterday they did with
draw their support but more because
they saw the trend of events and sentf-
| ment setting in against them than be-
f fail, ''sS A'' 'u'' '' '''' 'ii''' A'' ''i
| with the itdOltlS OiIiCid3S VI SSEcIui
steel companies invited 10 Washington
| to testify before the Senate Committee
on Interstate Commerce on the subject
| OF freight rates, Wall street men be-
| gan to think that official curiosity was
getting a little too close TO private
| business" for comfort. Some OF them
| asserted that the sellers OF United
| States Steel stocks were watching
| Washington more closely than Pitts
| burg The possibilities Of Government
| investigation into the actions OF the
<l1 <,.vrr
count for the bearishness of London.
] which has until this week been a cour-