Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1908-12-17

Net AT the present art10c10l level
The abundance and cheapnes Of mon.
ey Is powerful aid to such purpos-
es; In fact present high prices are
highly iniiationary and the sequence
OF a redundant currency. In addi-
ton to these sources Of strength
there Is the backing Of many OF our
leading bankers and financial insti-.
buttons who are interested in the
placsOent OF numerous new issues.
1t Is q necessary part Of their policy
to keep the market in condition fav-
orable to the absorption Of these H.
sues, which Will amount to many
millions. 60 long ~ business con-
tinues to improve and NO unfavorable
condition develops, It IL easy there
fore to 80 why NO reaction comes.
While buyers are scarce sellers are
equally 20. and the market would be
threatened with stagnation were It
not for the operations Of big profes-
sional traders. who have been the
largest real buyers. and who are In
some cases anxious to lighter their
burdens. No doubt activity would
be promoted and the technical situa-
ton improved by q decline Of s to
10 points. This would bring In .
new class Of buyers. especially a. the
short interest IL increasing, broaden
the distribution of stocks and revire
the investment demand. But until
the present leaders step aside. or UNI
favorable conditions occur. 1t IL ues-
less to anticipate any important
break in prices. The investor can,
OF course afford to wait for better
opportunities, while the speculator
will have to be satisfied with the
quick turns and small profits which
the activities Of big traders may Of
fer.
The opening of congress-. as ex-
pected, had little effect. This IL 4
short session. and Mr.. Roosevelt's
valedictory excited le@ comment
than usual, for the reason that his
term Of ONCE shortly expires, and
the carrying out Of his policies VIM
then depend upon man of less az
gressive and more judicial tempera-
ment. Congress and the will Of the
people will once be the hnal
authority in legislation and reform.
Aside from tariR legislation, the
present congress and the special SEES
sion expected to follow will be free
of discussion disturbing to financial
interests. There has been a noticeable
substance of indiscriminate hos II.
ity to railroad and other corpora
lions, and fortunately q more zane
treatment is to be expected from the
state legislatures and others in au-
thority over great corporations. The
tarif agitation may temporarily but
not seriously unsettle business. I'm
certainly viii do more harm than
any revision that Is likely to be
made. No doubt that many OF the
schedules that are unreasonabiy high
will be scaled down; but It can be
taken for granted that no cuts will
be made that win seriously threat
en- American industry; in fact the
reductions most likely to be enforced
will be such as should be positive
-ssimulous to manufacturers. Tariff
revision should cause no fear.
Foreign exchange rules very Arm
and conditions favor a renewal Of
gold exports. Europe has been re-
turning our securities more freely
than usual, and owing to the search
ty OF commodity bills gold would
have gone earlier had it not been for
the approach OF large remittances
for January dividend and interest
payments. The exchange situation
is further complicated by new BE-
curity issues. fair proportion OF
which will find market abroad:
also by the manipulation Of some OF
the principal drawers OF exchange.
The gold movement, therefore, Is
still involved in uncertainty. with
prospects OF larger shipments later
on. Much of the gold recently sent
has gone to Paris; the extraordinary
OF the Bank OF France
having given rise to much comment.
is positively known Of the
reasons for this policy of that great
and as 1t cannot be ex-
planned by any known financial OPP
erations, the inference is that France
Is quietly accommodating a great war
fund merely as a protective measure
against Germany. This Of course, is !
onjecture. and cannot in the nature
of the case be proved. The local
money market shows slightly Arm |
er tendency. which may grow as the
for January disburse-
ments- over $180,000.000 pro-
gress. After the middle of January,
however, easy rates should again
prevail Tn undertone Of business /
steadily improves. though tine vol
line is not just now increasing. De-
cember usually is period of quiet.
in mercantile circles
where stock-taking and plans for the
,ov-fnr coocDv ,,c,,o H.. ohcOrh otkon.