Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-09-12


further improvement this week. Elk
pectations of favorable result at next
Tuesdays sale of $40,000,00 Az per
cent corporate stock and bonds of the
city of New York have been largely re-
sponsible for this condition; while a
more cheerful feeling in regard to the
money situation-time money at any
rate-seems to have modified recent
fears of excessive stringency. 1t is
quite true that Secretary Cortelyou's
action in depositing public funds in the
banks of the country before conditions
| became actively acute has had a reas-
| surfing effect; but it is still more than
probable that the money situation will
| continue an important adverse inf1u-
time. extending at least over the turn
of the year.
Demand for Call Money.
| We are now on the threshold of the
riculturaI section to finance the crops,
a fact emphasized by the firmer ten
dency of call money. These call
! funds have been available for ship
ment for some little time, the banks
refusing to commit them for fixed
ke-iods, we'll knowing that the de-
| mand must come as soon as the crops
were ready. Call money rates have
/ been almost nominal for some time
under these circumstances, but are
now showing a firmer tendency, and
the Withdrawals for shipment to the
| interior may be, under ordinary cir
cumstances. depended upon to force
! interest rates up to at least the same
basis as time money. The natural eff
feet of such an advance will be to
cause liquidation, especially of securi-
ties that banks and other lenders do
not favor as collateral While call
money is in the vicinity of 3 per cent
lenders are not so discriminating in
their scrutiny of collateral as when
! rates reach and above. When the
/ latter range becomes general there is
the poorer classes of securities, which
causes in turn liquidation of these Sc
curities at a time they have a very
limited market The situation, there
fore, is one requiring caution in buy
ing and offers distinct encouragement
to, confine purchases to the higher
grades of securities. whose efficiency
as collateral is never questioned. Sc
curities of the lower grades, if pur-
chased at all at the present time
should be purchased outright, as with
more active money there is apt to be
pressure to sell on a market that will
not take them freely.
Banks Forcing Conservatism.
Banking interests are fully alive tc
the money outlook, and are enforcing
conservatism in channels where such
action is necessary. This means a
continued check in business of q
highly speculative character, and to g
measurable degree is protection
against an eventual widespread bust
ness embarrassment On the other
hand, the favorable agricultural out
look is a decided influence against ex-
treme depression, and the market foI
the immediate future is apt to be one
of wide and active fluctuation within
comparatively safe limits Barring
possible damage by early frosts to the
corn crop, otherwise the record fol
the balance of the harvest of 1907 Is
now about assured. AS already noted
in these advices, the prospects GER
tainly do not favor bumper crops IL
any direction, but in all cases they
will be we'll above the average and
will be worth in dollars and cents Il
the farmer fully what actual bumps
crops have in the past proven to b'
worth.
Situation Is Improving.
News developments of the weel
have, taken altogether, been rathe
favorable. Active purchases of whea
for export have been prominent fea
ture, which has naturally operated
against sterling exchange, removing
the probability of further gold exports
for some little time. Crop conditions
remain favorable, although the harves
viii not, of course, reach the extrem
figures of 1906. There, however, ha
been a compensating benefit in tn
much higher prices the farmers ar,
receiving for the smaller product Thu
year than they received for thei
bumper product of last year. Whea
prices, for instance, are about Csc |
bushel higher than at this date las
year, while corn is selling about 15
per bushel higher-fguras which, whel
applied to products aggregating hun
dreds of millions of bushels, mean ;
tremendous increase, not alone in thu
wealth of the agricultural sections, bu
in the additional credit that sucl
wealth provides; and which in turn
must necessarily be reflected in thu
: increased purchasing power of lux
uries and the more staple products o
ln..