New-York tribune., 1908-01-27
,fONEY AND BUSINESS.

= .o,+ s1n a share in Reading. Proghosuca'oi'
- s+rone market with the return OF easy
.,o,o,, must have been disappointed "heh Sc
curities exhibited buoyancy III 'ne
call loans Offering below per cent ie' -
- 1oo,c IN the decline in price OF a STOCK
Exchange membership to S65'ooo' Duii"9
,,raceding rise in quotations Of securities winch
80 ,1,,,(,st wholly professional the public couid
NOT he persuaded TO take any interest WI
.,o ,,,, evidence of outside speculative puylhS
- It'll, borrowing terms more attractive imam
o+ orv time since early last autumn. Two red
sons are readily found. In the first place mus
of tho old traders have no aValaple iui"''
either having lost heavily during the p@iiO
recurring all their surplus funds IN thei. i0su,"'
occupations Meanwhile, the fortunate io
have money are not encouraged ov sta'eIl
of declining earnings and idle freish' car iS- "
GROSS earnings fall off almost invariably theie 10
no corresnonding reduction in operating eA
nenses aside from the one factor OF ii''"
winter with few snow blockades'
Tsck Of demand in speculative channels IN
conjunction with accumulation of cash In iocdi
hanks depressed call loans to IA per cent ias'
r,.ool, ord time money on good Stock Exchange
ouo+era1 foil TO per cent While these rates
,,,oro etril,inglv low in comparison with quota
+io,,s for several months past. it is noteworthy
that the banks are most cautious in the class oi
collateral accepted. Only securities read1iy MAJ
ketad find willing lenders. and it IS evident tiat
recent experiences have not peen ueNoiu "
effect This is forcing merchants 10 pay : p'
cent or more for commercial loans acco'Nih5 "
tho quality Of paper offered but conditions are so
much better than those prevailing last hloi''i
that business gradually improves forelsh ca
change rates have responded 10 easier i"I'
~ risine almost continuously, strength being the
rfr,cyc nf
are light In the face Of unprecedented eH-
cess of T7erchan ndise exports over imports the
scarcity of exchange is puzzling, but 1t Is prop
ab1,- dino 10 the fact that gold imports were
fac;Ii+ated in November and December ny the
IRA wing Of bills in anticipation of present snip
,nAnts of grain and cotton. The favorable trade
balance has been 50 large for the last three
months that gold may not be exported as carry
as many expect. especially as each week OF late
has brought lower discount rates at some OF
the leading European banks.
Tardv winter weather is bringing out better
INQUIRY for seasonable merchandise, but 1t came
so late that many stocks have been reduced oy
sacrifice clearance sales. Footwear dealers who
were carrying large supplies of overshoes were
enabled to turn part of the stock into cash.
which should stimulate preparation for spring
trade that was very backward As this forward
business is placed, shoe shops will be able 10
start up more machinery, and the leather anu
hide markets have already shown signs of in
crea sad strength and activity. Drygoods buyers
are coming to the leading markets, ana the
lower prices for several descriptions of cotton
goods accelerated their distribution. Recent
changes in quotations have been so radical IN
some cases while other fabrics are unaltered,
that tho market is irregular and unsettled.
Mills still operate only part time. and the situa-
ton is not helped by the erratic course of raw
cotton. Wooen goods are not yet fully on the
market makers deferring the opening OF new
lines because of the Indifferent reception OF
those already presented. yet the raw material is
steady here and prices average slightly higher
at the London auction sale which is still in
progress. A few reductions are noted in iron
and steel sales of pig iron being recorded at
about 81 a ton below former figures, and light
rails are s. cheaper, but most products OF the
Industry are sustained and a slight increase is
noted in the tonnage of business. Furnaces
and mills are gradually resuning, and possibly
30 per cent of the full capacity is now active.
The whole trade situation is dominated by this
partial operation of plants, which throws thou
sands out of work and curtails the demand for
all the necessaries Of life. Prices of commodities
steadily decline as a logical concomitant.
At the exchanges dealing in leading farm
staples fluctuations in prices have been erratic
and speculative operations significant Cotton
suddenly declined and continued its downward
course until spot mddling uplands showed a net
loss for the week of 81 30 bale Mr.. Sully
was not supporting the market. and it ru
rnored that the new pool had taken its profits.
Thus far the old leaders operations have been
disappointing 10 the many traders and planters
who believed his return assured the long desired
1J-cent cotton The short account presented
many reasons for lower prices, notably the labor
I irn nd larc ~
the ginning return. Neither OF these expecta-
tions was realized, how ever, as the quantity
einned up to January Ii was only 1887 .607
bales whereas. over fO.5OO0O0 had been pre-
dicted and at the end of the week it was stated
that an agreement had been reached by which
the 100000 British spinners would continue at
work Exports were larger than in the same
week last year, and the amount that came into
sight was 1900 bales smaller As all these
factors were strengthening, must be presumed
that prices declined because the preceding ad-
vance was not warranted, A multiplicity of
confusing influences produced little net change
in sthe grain markets, although wheat trading
was active at times and large short interest in
corn was covered at Chicago Lack of sufficient
snow protection in the winter wheat states
caused some anxiety. Not only is the crop ex-
posed to injury from frost. but insects are more
prevalent under these conditions. Exports con-
tnued far in excess of the movement a year
ago and Northwestern mills increased the -four
output on the other hand, the new crop moved
freely from Argentina, Liverpool cables declined
and receipts at domestic primary markets rose
to double those Of the same week in 1907. 1t is
evident that prices satisfactory to producers
who market their wheat freely.
National patriotism will one day give way to