The Washington herald., 1911-04-23
Cut i'm Iron Ore Causes Fall
in Steel Stock.
BANK RESERVES INCREASE
Weather Depresses-Pfg Iron May
Observation-Disclosures Present-Mar-
ket Attack FailH-Overproduct
May Be Cause-Business Cheer.
Funds for Investment.

impression was made In the financial dis
trict this morning by confirmation over
night Of the news which was the subject
Of rumor yesterday, that a cut Of so cents
in the price of iron ore had been made by
the largest Independent ore producing
companies in the country; nor was this
unfavorable impression any way miti-
gated by the character of the statement
made concerning the matter by the board
of directors Of the United States Steel
Corporation.
The result was an extreme decline to-
day Of full point in the quotation for
the United States Steel common shares
and a sympathetic fall in other stocks.
The increase formed substantially the
only market facts of the day; no atten-
ton whatever was paid to the passage
Of the reciprocity bill in the House OF
Representatives nor to such purchase by
a prominent house OF S15,OOO.0O0 AZ per
cent five-year notes of the Chesapeake
and OHIO Railroad Company.
Toward the close of the market prices
rallied somewhat
The weekly bank statement was re-
markable for the large increase shown
in the surplus reserve. At the close of
the business last night 1t appeared that
the actual surplus of the institutions,
comprised in the clearing house, had in
creased S6,SOl,0O0, this being due almost
entirely to an increase of nearly $780, coo
in bank cash.
Surplus Makes Record.
Bank loans increased slightly in both
the average and actual forms of the
statement. At the moment the surplus
reserve of the banks stands at the high
rlr
thirteen years with the single exception
of the year 1908.
factor Of considerable Importance in
depressing sentiment in Wall street since
the first of the present month has been
the prevalence over most of the country
OF cold, dark, and rainy weather. 1t is
open to some question whether condi-
tcns of this sort are not really normal;
that is to say, whether the mild weather
al this season, which has been the rule
for the last three or four years, was not
CT itself out of the ordinary. 1t must
also be conceded that such weather as
las been experienced this month has
been almost ideal for the crops, so that,
fundamentally, it should be a source of
optimism rather than otherwise
The most important development of
the week, after all, has been the char
acter of the news contained in the
trade journals, like those of Dun and
Bradstreet, published this morning. 1t
Is obvious that business over the country
is slow; that the business revival which
was in progress in the first two months
Of the year is at an end. and that
something like renewed liquidation is 60
ing on in nearly all lines of trade.
Railroads Resent Rule.
This change for the worse dates al
most exactly, in point Of time, from the |
day when the Interstate Commerce Com |
mission announced its refusal to allow |
the railway companies to charge higher |
freight rates. This action was entirely |!
unexpected by the railway companies, |
which had been universally led to be- !
lieve that at least a certain small adj |
vance in freight rates would be allowed |.
Yet admitting the force of this as !
genuinely adverse element of the situa- /
ton, and also the holding up of large |
plans of business enterprise incident |
upon the delay in getting a decision |
from the Supreme Court in the trust |
cases, it begins to look as if tle inher- |
ent difficulty in the existing condition |
Ut business affairs was n plain, old-fash-
Toned overproduction, which must be |
remedied before a really sustained for
ward movement can take place.
The Mexican and Missouri Pacific SIT
uatiOns were the preteXts for the attack .
upon the market on Tuesday. But this .
attack, nevertheless, resulted in good
deal of genuine liquidation, showing that
SPECTATORS for the rise, in their turn had !
become doubtful of their ability to main
tain their position.
Steel Stock Falls.
Weakness in certain stocks this week
could be accounted for by specific cir
cumstances, such as those applying to
the American Cotton Oil, Virginia-Caro-
lima Chemical and Missouri Pacific COM
panies, and an unfavorable influence upon
the general market was, of course, ex-
ercised by the pressure brought to bear
against the United States Steel common
shares.
The cut in the prices of iron, the basic
commodity in the trade. has been gener-
ally taken as indicating that reduced
prices in pig iron and in finished materials
are imminent, and whether fears of this
sort are or are not justified a feeling of
as TO the present stability of
IRON trade conditions is manifest
Meantime the more cheering element In
the general financial and business status
will by no means be lost sight of. Money
is heaping up in the great financial CEN
tiers and particularly in our own city in
such a way as to make II almost inevi-
table that sooner or later the supply of
funds will overflow not merely into chan
nels Of investment but those of regular