The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-30
FINANCIAL REVIEW Security Markets Encouraged by Events of the Past
 Week.
COURT DECISIONS A FACTOR
Discounting of Developments the Cause of Irregular and Halting
 Movement.

Several events last week were view ment by the holders of and dealers in securities. The movement of the mar ket~for securities, nevertheless, was somewhat halting and irregular. The reason was plainly to be found in the extent to which operations based on the expectation of the most import ant of the developments preceded the fact. This was notably true regarding political affairs and the course of ad- ministration and legislative policies at Washington. There had been a very active speculation for more than a week preceding last week based on the daily reports of consultations going on at Washington looking to the shap- Ing of the legislative program for the rest of the session of congress. Great stress had also been laid on the mild tone which was to characterize Presi- dent Roosevelts special message advo- eating this program. The progress of the formation of the legislative plan proved to have been quite accurately detailed in the daily press reports and the introduction of the proposed Hep burn amendments to the antitrust law and the publication of the presidents s message brought no new force into the speculative situation. In fact the natural disposition towards realiza- ton, induced some reaction The ac- tion of the market however, does not obscure the fact that hopes of benefit to the financial and industrial situa- ton are hoped for from an amend ment to the antitrust law which will permit reasonable agreements even though in restraint of trade in the strict application of the law as inter- preted by the supreme court
 The financial community was not so unreserved in it's encouragement over the prospect of this amendment being coupled with regulations for federal registration of corporations and OK tensions of governmental control over them.
 The judicial department of the gov ernment supplied a factor of encour- agement in the supreme courts decis- lon against the validity of the Min nesota and North Carolina railroad rate laws. The pendency of this de- cision seems not to have been foreseen in the stock market, so that it fur nished a genuine new influence in the speculation. The effect was especially pronounced in the case of number of low priced railroad stocks the de- pression of which has been coupled with open complaints from officials of the companies that they were being driven almost to bankruptcy by the stringency of legal requirements put upcn them by state governments.
 On the side of the industrial and business situation, conditions showed bad. Additional assumptions of steel mills and the rise in the price of cop per caused a feeling of encouragement over the metal trades. Large eurtail- ment of cotton goods production and reduction of wages in the New Eng land mills made depressing factor from the textile trade situation. Rail road officials do not speak with en- thusiasm of the rate of betterment in their traffic and retrenchment con- tinues to be the order of the day in the railroad world, while returns of carr ings thus far made do not show the process has been extended to q point sufficient to offset the inroads upon the rate of gross earnings of previous corresponding periods. Sat isfaction is felt with the condition in which the grain crops are reported to have come through the winter, and growing influence is looked for in the news from'that field.
 The movement of accumulation cf money in banking reserve centers con- tinues and the withdrawal of govern ment deposits from the banks has not prevented increasing ease in the tone of the New York money market. For eign money markets have been inclin- ed to harden and continental demands for gold upon London were factor The London money market was sensi- tive to large issues of new securities which were not offered with success The easing tendency of the New York money market has not yet improved the conditions for absorption of new securities. The report of preliminary arrangements looking to later mort gage issue of s4o.000, 900 to $50, 0,000.- GOO in unmortgaged Union Pacific lines gave a sensible check to the whole market.
 PAINT CLUB EXHIBITION.