JtiTy9,1892





Record  and  Guîde.





37







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"Entered at the Poetofflee at New York 'N. F., o* secimd'Olnss matt'^r."





VoL. L.





JULY  9,   1893.





NO. 1.269





rTTHAT thTe is very little to be said of the present condition of tbe
-L Stock Market íb proved by Ibe readiness with which it returns
to professioDal lines after the agitation of the early part of theweek.
Tbe raliy from the lower pricee iiflrects most a limited line of specu-
lative issues provĩng the character of the trading, and from the
fact thatinvestment issues readily respond to depression aud rally
tardily, it may be conciuded that there is no prospect of a aubstantial
bull move, Tbe best that can be hoped is ihat tbe market wiU not
deveiop more weakness than it now sbows or has shown for some
weeks. With a renewal of Ihe melancholy affair at HomeBtead or
further Congressional actim toward free coinage of silver, prices
would undoubtedly stiffer, though it is not so sure
that they would benefit very much by the failure of eĩther.
The moveraent of prices on Tuesday forcibly illustrated the fact
that in matters of ũuancial leeislation the thine to hs most feared
Í8 not a scientific deduction of its results but what the public think
or fear the results will be. The passing of the Siewart bill by the
Senate to thinking minds was not sufficient to warrant the dechne
in Stock Market quotations that took place. The action of one
chamber of Congress is a long way from making a law, and espe-
cĩally when the session is aDparently near its close and, more
important still, when it is presumed on good grounds that even if
suchaction Í8 approved by tbe House íts admissĩon to the Statute
Book would be barred by the PresideQt's veto. The fact is that on
the BÍlver question there is în the minds of the public a sensítive-
nessapproaching tbe fever point, and a mere indication on the part
of our lawmakers of an intention to force thÍB country furtber on
in the bimetallic experimenc witbout the co-operation of the other
great nations creates fear, while a move in that direction canuot
fail to be disturbing and tDÍschievous. The House of Eepresenta'
tiveshashad more than one opportunity of seeing how harmful
silver legislation caa be 10 the business community,aDd if it wants
to remedy the injury so recently done by the Senate it will give
an emphatic disapproval of aoy attempt in that directíon until
the views of tbe whoie businees world bave heen obtained
on the questiou in the confetence for wbich aiTange-
ments are now heing made, It is a melancholy fact that
buBÍness men look upon the adjournment of our legislative
bodies witb the same saLÍsfaction as schoolboys regard tbe back of
a severe schoolmaster, At oae time it is ihe lawgivers of Texaa or
Elansas, or some other granger State, whoserelegation to their pri-
vale coDcerna is most desired; at the present moment the on.y
pleasurable prospect afforded by the present session of CongreBs to
the eye of Wall street is the prospect of its ciose. The feara of the
advocates of a single standard, it is true, may be exaggerated and
the uUimate results of a larger measure of silver currenoy less
injurious tban tbey believe. Tbere always is a good deal of tbe
hogy in any figure set up by a partisau. But io tbis case the par-
tisans happen to have the power of realizing for tbe tĩme being all
the fears that animate them. The act of 18itO has been followed by
an accumulation and jealous holding of gnld by the banks and a
lessening of tbe Treasury gold surplus. An erlargement of the
purposes of that act, such as is contemplated by tbe Stewart bill,
in tbe present circumstances, would unquestionablylead to further
hoarding of gold and might compel ihe Treasurj to resort to
extreme measures to maintain the paiityof gold and silver, The
very first evidence that tbe Treasury had to take such steps
would be tbe sigual for a sbarp decline in securities.
The decline in tbe price of silver is a fact which alone ought  to

, alarm its friends, and to warn tbem t..at tbeir eff-Tts are mis-
directed, Increased production does not esplain tbat decline. If
there is any iiicrease of production, the amountannually takeninto

^ the Treasury vaults under tbe act of 1890 verV much more tban off'
pets it, That the price of silver is lower lO'day than ic was prior to
tbe passicg of tbat act is onl? explained by tbe faot tbat tbe atti<
^de oí tbe ânaucial worl^ fowaid tbat ^ct makea lulver a 1«|)^





desirable commodity to hnld than it was before its enactraenfc.
There are those who maiotain t at even if a silcer basis was
reacbed no harm would result provided it wae fixed, and m sup-
porfc of their argument they point to the time prior to the
resumption of sf>ecie payments wben the ccuntry prospered and
grew rich, had its boomH anrt its paoics. Those who argue this
way forget that since tbe resumption of specie payments neither
booras nor panics have been so violent, simply becauee the basis
was the most stable one that could be devised, and the trade and
commerce of the counlry have beeo all the better fur such steadier
conditions as have been. Nĩr do they take mto account the dan-
g*TS incident to and inseparablefroraa processof liansition. What
they may be, the last two years have given a mild Bpecimen.





THE polifcical sifcuation of EuroperemaînsunusuallTundisturbed
and consequently the businees of both the contineot and
Great Britain, althouab dull, is regular and suund. According to
thGbestaccounts the visit of theKmgand Queen of Italy to tbe
German Eoaperor appears to have strengthened the trauquĩlity. It
has certainly assisted a rise in the price of It.nlian Funds. German
politicians and siatesmen put such enormius síress on the import-
ance and stabili'y of tbe Italian Alliance, that boih operatofB aud
tbe public see a reason for putting higher appreciation in Italiau
finances than they would be iuclined to do if they made tbeir opĩn-
ion upon a considerationof the Italian Buãget alone. Tbe favor-
able impressions derived from polilical calculations are very much
emphasized by the silent, yet powerful ac[i<m of thesyndicate cim-
prising the leading banks and banfiere all over Gtrmany. Ifc was
establisbed some years ago at the suggestion of tbe German Foreie-n
Office, which very probably looked <in the abimdant sale of ĩtalian
Funds in Germany as a sort of subsidy giveti to an all^ed
Power. Subsidies in the ancient form are no longer
in fashion between firet-clatis Powers. Tbe modern crganiza-
tions of credit allow other means of supporting an ally
without having recourse to the ofien odious measure of
íncreasing the direct taxes. The operations of the syndicate were at
firsE signally successful, and wben subsequent eveuts made Italy's
finances rather more inaecure the syndicate had etill both tbe
power and the will to continue operations in a slow, steadv, silent
way. Tbis action bas produced the expected result, Germany
holds now a comparatively large amount of Italian loans, and a.
large part of tbe holdings bave been acquired at advantageoualy
low priccs. In this way politics even in the tranquil years largely
affect the stock markets, and in this way are political alliancea
effectively strengtbened, The prosperity wbicb Austro-Hungary
enjoyed in tbe earlier part of tbe year has been succeedf d by some-
thing very much Iike depressioo. The fears once entertained for
tbe crops have, however, pretty well subsided. The eastern coun-
ties of Hungary have enjoyed since tbe end <if Aprii very fine
weather. The crops in these provinces are very rich. But in tba
vineyards the damage tbrougb pbyllosera is spreading rapidly,
whereas tbe work of revival bygiafting and planting American
vjnes is going on very slowly, because manyof tbe proprietorshave
not sufficient means. lu consequence the prices of land are very
mucb depressed. No important changes have taken place in the
English market save a tatl in Vicfcorian secuiities owing to tbo
announcement of aaotber targe loan.





THE Eapid Transit Commissioners have been criticised because
tbey did lay out every other possible route in every other
feasiblf way than the route tbey have laid out. Tbey bave been
critici=ied because ihey did not ptan an elevated road ; ibey bave
been criticised because tbev did not plan a viaducD road ; ihey have
been criticised because they decided on a tunnel : they bave been
criticised because tbey did noc not make the tunnel deep enough ;
they have been criticieed because they laid outa rouce along Broad-
way ; they have been criticiscd because they did not lay out sev-
eral otber possible routes ; they have been criticised because they
made tbeir systeai too expensive to construct, and now they are
criticised because they did not make it expensive enough. Louis
Heilprin, in the current immber of tbe Engineering Magazine,
analyzeB the number of passengers wbich the new systpm will
have to carry, and comes to tbe conclusion tbat in order to pro-
vide comfortably for the antount of trafSc that will be oífered
the commiûsioners oueht to have planned to build twice as many
tracbs as their scheme calls for. In order to arrive at tbia
conclusion Mr, Heilpriii enters inlo a number of calculatiouB
which are not of Bufficient irterest to detail. It may be
mentioned, however, that be wants to provide a seat
for every passenger, run trains at a very bigh rate of
speed, and do other things tbat would make the cost of opera-
tion so large that it is very doublful whether any corporation
could fulfill hÍB requirenients for a five-cent fare, and a ten-cent
would throw oul all of his palculalions. But the suffîcitínt objec-
tion to planning rapjd transit systems on tbe "pigantio tcale"
which Mr. Heilprin adyocatee íb the apparent difficpĩty of laising
fiapital to buil4 ft B.ystem ofi íb^ 6omparativel,y modfirate ecale pro'