The Washington times., 1912-03-24
IANOTHERWEEK OF ACTIVITY AND GAINS .
THAT AMAZES FOLLOWERS OF STOCKS
indications of Beermen and
dusta Show More Than Their Share of Almost
Top of Advance-Commen onP Phases of Situation
BY JOHN GRANT DATER.
Hncial ReDressntatIv the Mnnsey Publications

h"aSi nebEesthtnuVe the Muhsey
keep the buying movement going, under
the theory that brokers must reclaim
their stocks. -
Rumors and News.
Although as usual thing when pools
and cliques are active, the street is
filled with deal and rumor stories, there
was surprising dearth of them dur
ing the week. Even the rumored sale
OF the Erie road to the Great Northern,
which played such a prominent part in
une market recently. was not revived,
ana the activity In the various copper
STOCKS was maintained without the
shgntest whisper of the alleged giant
combination or copper companies, which
mas zone yoeman service In every move
lnent in copper stocks for nearly Hvc
years past. The report that the Ameti-
can Can Company would bring out a
BOND to take up the 3S per cent Of &c.
cumuiated preferred stock dividends,
ana then put that issue on a per cent
basis, was revived In connection with
the hpbidding, but no confirmation OF
this was forthcoming.
u Is doubtful II any OF the actual
news developments of the interval had
direct influence on the stock market
movements. A very sharp advance in
the closing hour on Wednesday was, to
pc sure, associated with very definite
reports of an impending settlement of
the British coal strike abroad and the
adjustment Of the threatened strike of
the anthracite coal miners of this coun-
Try; which suggests a rather interesting
problem In stock market psychology:
Why should the settlement OF labor dis
putes put stock market up, when
these disputes did not put the market
down? As a matter of fact the English
labor situation appears to be clearing,
and 1t is high time that II should, II
there is any foundation for the press
dispatches telling OF the awful suffer
ing abroad entailed upon 100000 Of
starving workmen.
Threatened Labor Troubles.
The situation in this country between
the anthracite coal owners and the
United Mine Workers continues un-
changed, despite the efforts to adjust
the difficulty, but the general impress
sion is that the strike, IL declared, Is
not likely to be serious, and It may be
avoided entirely. On the other hand
the strike among the bituminous coal
miners on April ! appears almost an
assured fact, and there seems to be a
growing disposition to regard it as the
more serious of the two. One threatened
labor dispute which wore a serious as
pect week ago, the possible strike
among 5000 textile operators in the
Fall River district, has been averted,
fortunately, but to avoid the difficulty
the mill owners were forced to meet
the demands of the workmen. who
secured an advance of 10 per cent in
wages in place of the per cent ad-
vance which they declined
Though not in the slightest degree
sensational, the principle development
Of the interval, from an economic point
of view. was the foreign trade report
for February, which disclosed the larg-
est volume of exports for that month in
the country'ss history, and with but one
eEhon. that Of 1908. theg largest ex-
February on record. The totals are
Exports. $l9s,s7 900: imports. $l34,2l7.91O;
eXSess exports, S64 SS7, ,5lS: In February,
country was rushing merchandise
abroad, regardless OF price. to secure
FUNDS. exports amounted to $l67757, ,032,
the largest on record to that date, but
thus obtained an excess on exports of
SS3OOi ,38l. But that. of course, Is not
fair comparison.
An Expanding Credit Balance.
The manner in which the merchandise
credit balance is mounting up abroad is
highly gratifying to those who recall
how very seriously the community was
disturbed about two years ago over the
fear that we had lost our command over
the international exchanges. The trans
formation is better shown, however. by
comparing the figures of the fiscal year
than OF any one month. In the eight
months Of the fiscal year to date we
have created a credit balance on n1er-
chandise accounts OF $45S, ,S6S, POI. During
the same interval In 1910 the credit bal
ance amounted to but $lS7, ,933 80. a gain
for the present interval of 2i0,934, ,961
This credit balance, by the. way, has
been exceeded but twice during sim
liar interval in our .history-in 1908. when
1t was $5l5, 266, 7Sl, and in 1901, when the
figures were S491, ,655,1H. 1t will be seen,
therefore, that despite lessened activity
in domestic trade our foreign business
has been exceedingly good this year.
Another feature which was a cause OF
qualification was the final census gin
ming estimate on the cotton yield, show
ing the ascertained figures to be l6,206,-
900 bales, as against a previous estimate
OF 13,43S,OOO bales. That staple cotton
indicate a crop 100000 bales larger
than any previous cotton crop in the
country's history, seems wholly anomo-
lous, but the speculative cotton market
found a ready explanation for this in
reports Of unfavorable conditions, con-
cerning the next crop. of which We may
know something six or eight months
hence. A more rational explanation, 1t
would seem, might have been discerned
In the heavy takings of foreign spin
ners at the outset of the season and
the textile industry Of this country, but
a market in the grip of speculative
clique seems to thrive better on con-
lecture and remote possibilities than
lIDon plain facts.
The trade authorities without eXcep-
ton speak of improved sentiment in
various industrial departments. and
there seems to be manifest dtsposl-