The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-02-10
HENRY cLEws s cos LETTER.

The current weekly letter OF Henry
Clews & Co. treats chiefly of the condi-
ton Of the country's finances and OF
the outlook in stock and bond specula-
ton. It touches though on the pro-
posed increase of power OF the inter
state commission and on the
probable effect Of the decision in the
beef trust case. It declares that there
is little prospect Of the former becofn-
ing law. While this letter was PROP
ably sent out through the mails De
fore the recent conference OF republic
can members of house of represen-
tatives at which it was decided by a
very large majority to support the
views Of President Roosevelt on this
subject, Clews & Co. will. no doubt.
adhere to their opinion there expressed.
for it is well known that the chief op-
| position to legislation oe this kind Htn
come from rer ublcan senators. That
firm thinks the beef trust decision viii
do more good frorr a political than
from a practical, Standpoint, in that IT
will remove to a great extent he hos
tiIity toward capital, out of which have
grown many of the socialistic tender
cies # the present tine. II their views
on the money and the stock markets
are or y ct it is a miel.ty good time fer
outsiders to let aIon- stock gambling
and all kinds of trading in futures.
Their letter says on these three s'l5-
jccts:
Under ordinary circumstances the
movement in congress to give the gov
power to fix railroad rates
would nave created serious alarm in
Wall street: albeit there is little pros
pect of such legislation becoming law.
Another event that in ordinary times
would have unsettled values was the
beef trust decision, which takes the
ground that the packers business was
interstate and therefore un-
der the control of the national anti
trust law. If the beef trust was en-
gagged in interstate so are
many of our great industrial combind-
tons which possess a monopoly in thei:
line Of business, and the application of
the law to them may only be a mat
ter of invocation. The sweeping char
acter of this decision In the wide
extent of it's application are mo- yet
fully appreciated. Politically consider
| GU, II Is d SOOu ucClSIOl, DIS II VIII
moderate, if not remove much of the
hostility towards capital, which has
its foundation in monopolistic combina-
| tions and which has been the basis If
many Of the socialistic tendencies OF
the day. Financially considered, it's eff
feet remains to be seen. Thus far ii
has been nil.
Much of the business on the stock
exchange has been Of a professional
| ohar,a otar and ponira1Io ti0n nnna &c
easier for the rise than the fall. Money
is plentiful and easy, and this is d
| powerful instrument in hands O1
cliques which single out fist one prop.
erty and then another for their opera
ions. Since prosperity has been amply
! discounted and the investment demand
except for good bonds, is subsiding, the
chief arguments for advancing prices
are dividend prospects or deals Of one
sort or another among railroads. Thes:
are the potent influences on the stool
q market at present-infuences, it may
be noted, which in the past have gen
orally marked the climax in an up
ward market. In the present situation
Il however, it would be premature to as
sert that the top had been reached, fol
unless restraint of some sort comes
either through a turn in the tide OF
n affairs Or conservative action by Oul
leading bankers, we are almost SUR
y to see a revival of unhealthy specula.
ton. The chief basis of this opinion
! is that if business conditions remaI
satisfactory the market cannot foreve
Withstand the i~nf1ationary effect o
n abundant money. The circulation D
u national banks a been increased
to S467, 00O, 600, compared with 1884, 900,
!, GOO this time two years ago. Mean
while our gold supply has been great
ly augmented, so that the nation!
monetary supplies have been increased
i out of all proportion to the growing
activity in business. Bankers are nov
> looking for very easy money during the
next few months, a condition. which
i must inevitably affect security values
Already some of our large institution:
have been buying good stocks ant
bonds for temporary investment OF
the theory that they would yield better
returns than loans. Had we an elasti,
currency system such as congress ha:
been repeatedly asked to give, we
should be spared the danger of sue.
II excesses. and the supply of money
Il when s~uperabundant, would contracr
naturally until the equilibrium between
supply and demand was restored to {
healthy basis. Such a situation will
! naturally facilitate gold exports. al.
though recent shipments were mainly
attributable to genuine European ne.
7 cessities.
Indications point towards continue:
activity, and in the absence of unfav.
orable developments prices may ad.
vance It is, however, a cliqued ant
artificial market, particularly SUBJECTED
u to the setbackS arising from such con.
t ditiOns. AS before said, cheap none,
and good business are not zeal argu.
ments and the facilities for m%anipuia.
ton are somewhat unusual. Fortu.
nately the public is in a cautious mooi
and not o~ver-hungry for high-prlcei
fancy investments.