The Washington herald., 1908-06-15

New York. June 1.-THE dullness that
prevailed in the stock market during the
greater portion Of last week could GER
tainly not be said 10 be the result Of any
insufficiency OF financial news
Paradoxically, as IS often the case in
Wall street. there was more going on"
in the way Of occurrences and announce
ments that might naturally be supposed
to have an immediate stock market bear
ing than there has been al any time
within the last two months; and whereas
previously the market was in a state Of
commOtion for no ostensible reason what
ever. last week when decided cause for
activity presented Itself a greater stagna-
tion ruled than had been witnessed for
| more than a year. Indeed the apathy OF
the market was only comparable 10 that
which held for a season in March. 1901
In reality, Of course. all this was due
to the fact that such favorable news as
greeted Wall street in the week had al
ready been discounted in an extraordinary
way in prices; while the unfavorabIe
news was not or at least was not until
the close Of the week OF force powerful
enough 20 bring about any particular de-
clines. II was obvious that the great
manipulation which had stirred the mar
ket for so long in the immediate past had
wholly stopped. one great purpose Of these
artificial efforts having been already cf-
fected in the sale of the onion Pacific S
new issue Of bonds.
Market Naturally Pause4.
With all these extraueous impulses At
an end. and with the political conven-
tons impending, It was no more than
natural that the market should pause and
hesitate. From the technical point Of
view OF merely speculative trading. such
inertia as the market exhibited last week
was not an Ovcr-enc0uraging sign. Dull
ness in stocks AZ the end Of a long decline
In prices usually means that the market
is sold out Dullness az the end OF a
long rise often. although not invariably.
signifies that the market has become
overbought, and that Impulses Of new life
and vigor are necessary for a renewal
Of the advance. and the weakness .evinced
by values az the end Of the week was not.
all things considered. AZ all surprising
To begin with. the news Of the pro-
ceedings preliminary 70 the meeting Of
the Republican national convention was
plainly such as 70 chill market enthu-
s!asm. II was % be expected that the
members Of this convention would in
dorse IN general terms. and perhaps
unanimously the conduct Of the present
national administration in It's relation 20
corporate affairs. because this was made
inevitable by party necessities; but IL
was not anticipated that there should be
forced into the platform resolutions
pledging the party 10 the support OF the
auti-injunction propaganda and 70 other
radical policies Of NJ. Roosevelt that
have heretofore utterly failed TO receive
the approval OF Congress.
Fears RooSevcIt'S Power.
True. it is by no means fixed that these
measures viii he adopted al Chicago.
and IL is the fervent hope Of every person
Of intelligence in the financial world that
they will rot be- Yet Wall street came
to realize last week that NJ. Roosevelt,
and his friends possessed absolute power
70 so frame the membership OF the COM
mittee on resolutions Of the nominating
convention as TO be able in al probabil-
ty 20 dictate what should be done N the
matter; and Il was 70 dismal forebod-
!rgs in this regard that the unsettled
character OF the market was chiefly due.
The cuts in steel prices that were an
rOurCed or Tuesday were really mean
lrgleSs IN their bearing upon the iron
and steel trade. Everybody having
knowledge OF these matters is aware that
the railroads and other large consum-
ers are not now in a position 10 greatly
increase their orders for iron and steel
materials. and that a rushing business
In these lines Is hardly 20 be thought of
until political contingencies and the out
look FOR tie crops appear in more definite
light than they now do.
wheat Outlook Good.
The indications are for a wheat harvest
that has only been surpassed on one or
two occasions IN the last decade, and
then by but little. for q bumper yield
Of oats and for an immense hay crop. and
while it is too early Yet TO speak Of
corn, and the CrOp-plantlng season has
been delayed somewhat by the wet
weather I'm the West yet all the dif-
ferent state reports, particularly that of
Iowa are such az 70 make SO far as
they can. prospect no less gratifying
true that the wet weather in the West
and Southwest has continued in an uu-
pleasant way. and that II may serve 10
curtau the estimates Of the winter wheat
harvest that may be made in the next
government report. But too much mois-
ture very rarely materially injuries a
crop. and il is fact In nine instances
out Of ten that a great quantity of ram
in the spring or early summer IS The pre-
cursor Of an exceedingly bountful corn
crop. The price OF all grains last week
was inclined TO hrmness. but this was
more than anything caused by the strong
statistical position of wheat and corn
that now exists
stock Food Bins Empty.
Stocks OF foodstuns in every quarter Of
the globe are small. very small. as COM
pared with those Of a year ago. and even
a record yield OF all these staples in our
country this season would by no means
I'LL the empty bins in the world to their
normal quantity. II is calculated that
a crop Of 6SS,o00.000 bushels of wheat this
year. as is now indicated. would only
leave about 16O.c0O0OO bushels for export.
not making any account Of the quantity
that may be drawn from this to make
good home reserves. and with wheat
sellns at price Of cents a bushel less
than in 1907, underlying causes for firm
ness in the price OF the commodity are
obvious. The outlook, therefore. OF an
other season Of remunerative returns TO
the country's farmers, taken along with
the scarcity OF stocks In Wall street
caused by the investment purchases Of
last year and with the very abundant
supplies of money in every financial cen