The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-05

unwilingness Of the Bank Of Franc TO
give up any gold for the use OF the English
market, or indeed for the use OF any OF
the foreign markets, despite the high bid
for money now addressed to the French
bankers from all these financial centres.
The reason for this hesitation on the part
Of the French bank Is "a yet unexplained.
The second salient circumstance-which
Is really. of course. more Of an inference
than anything else-is comprised in IN
dications that the position OF our country
in the general foreign exchange market
is a great deal stronger than has OF
late been commonly imagined. It does
not seem possible that If we were debtors
TO England in 80 large an amount as has
been popularity supposed the directors of
the Bank of England should be compelled
to consider the necessity Of forcing their
discount rate to Z per cent. or perhaps
even a higher figure. in order to obtain
money from us. One source OF the ext
gency that exists in England lies probably
in the heavy purchases Of cotton that her
s~pinners are now compelled 10 make in
this country at high prices. Cotton has
in the last few weeks been moving out
Of the country in larger volume than it
did last year. and exports Of the staple
are, as is well known, usually heaviest
in November and December. The Bank Of
England, therefore, has to contend with
the cotton bills of English merchants in
this market in it's effort to bring money
into England. The local financial problem
of the moment is the necessity cast upon
our bankers Of taking care of the 200 ,OGO
or 800 GOO shares Of stock recently sold
hara Co. G.. ain, aoooatnN To MN awfopt
this stock has already been paid for in
the shape Of purchases Of cable or demand
exchange made by buyers of the stocks
here in remittance to London at the time
the options for the securities were sold;
but the usual custom is in these matters
for London houses TO ship to this country
the stock certificates with which they have
parted ownership and to receive payment
for the same when the stocks are delivered
to their new owners 1t ia improbable,
therefore, that our market has yet felt
in full the strain of the recent London
liquidation; though the current impression
il strong that il there are no further
sales for London account it will be no great
urden for us to take up the stocks that
have been already thrown over. From a
broader poinpDf view, however, the money
situation affords room for careful thought
as to the immediate future. On the sur
face of things sufficient reason for the
tightness Of money appears in tho I'M
precedented activity Of business through
out the land, which requires a greater
circulation of actual money than was esti-
mated earlier in the year, and the crop
moving necessities, which have made calls
for larger sums in cash than anybody
previously calculated upon. Yet there are
reasons that are not quite so readily APP
parent as the foregoing for the prevalence
of these high money rates. There is now
a congestion Of freight upon every large
railway line in the country, which makes
it impossible TO move freight in an orderly
and economical way and delays payment
for merchandise that has been sold, es-
pecially for export. Again, the state of
the bond market makes il difficult for our
railway companies TO raise money for
many needed purposes by sales of bonds
or by ISSUES Of stocks except at rates Of
interest that would be a reflection upon
their credit. Hence they are compelled to
borrow money in the open market on short
time notes. with the intention Of paying
them of at some future time by new Sc
curity issues. This naturally helps 10
stifren the price of money both on call
and on time. II is, OF course, constantly
to be borne in mind regarding the money
situation that the Secretary Of the Treasury
has by no means exhausted his power 10
relieve il.
Some attempt was made to excite a pes
simistic feeling in Wall Street last week
by the circulation Of stories of the extor-
tionate demands being made upon the rail-
road companies by various organizations
Of laborlng men. the idea being that strikes
and labor troubles we're threatened. This
is a time of the year when adjustment
Of wages on the part Of many classes
Of railway employees ordinarily takes
place; and it must be said. canvassing
the situation through and through, that
anything that may be called serious
difficulties in making these adjustments
is not looked forward to 10y our leading
railway managers. Many propositions in
regard to hours of labor and wages of an
extreme nature have Eeen advanced by the
men, but they have already been withdrawn
in various instances. and those Of this kind
that remain undoubtedly stand merely on
the basis Of the "claim everything in sight
at first" principle usually ruling in these
parlevs. No doubt the heads Of OUT great
railway systems are feeling very keenly.
az do all employers just now. the rela-
tive ineficiency of labor which seems 10
have come about with the resent pros
perity. The difficulty OF getting work done
thoroughly or even done ut all seems 10 he,
after all, the greatest drawback which the
business industry of the land il feeling
at this time. II is this very rushing ac-
tivity Of business and the bothers, largely
of the sort described, that our business
men have had to contend with in the trans
action of their affairs that ave contributed
much toward the general apathy of the
stock market in the current twelvemonth.
A charge that has been often made of late
Is that the security market Is suffering from
over speculation; yet a review OF the course
Of prices in the present year does not prove
this. There may ave been over specu-
lation in real estate and the like. but
there has been no unwonted enlargement
of DEALING and very little booming" of any
sort on the Stock Exchange. Indeed, TAX
ing the market for securities from the first
Of the year, it has been upon the whole a
declining one. During the first six months
v.s.y - drI..-.-kL D.-.