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Vol. LXIX.





APRIL 12, 1902.





No, 1,778





T X yiTH daily transactions on the Stock Exchange crossing
J^ * the million-share mark, and the hond market cor¬
respondingly active, it would seem that the manipulation of the
past six or seven months had succeeded in enticing the puhlic
Ijack into the field of stock speculation, if it were not that ao
large a contribution to the total of stock business was made by
the Southwestern stocks. There is undoubtedly more business
doing in the commission houses, but uot enough to account for
the increase of exchange business. Endless rumors are afloat
to account for the rise in Louisville & Nashville and the buying
of Southern Railway, not one of which is satisfactory. Both
Louisville and Southern are doing well enough to attract specu¬
lative buying on earning returns alone, but purchases of any
considerable amount would put quotations up sharply and the
popular imagination could easily he relied upon to do the rest.
The strength of prices generally is due as much as anything to
the impossibility of organizing a bear movement because of the
scarcity of floating stocks, and "shorting" must certainly be
followed hy swift punishment. When men get over the sensa¬
tion of the moment and turn their attention to basic conditions
they will flnd the crop situation, as displayed by the Government
report, one to create caution at least, although it is early in the
year and there has heen some improvement since the data for
the report could have been collected. Money has advanced in
tne week, and we may now expect an increased demand from
the agricultural sections and possibly also from abroad.





NOTHING- shows better the caution the Boers have taught
the British than the failure of the latter to act upon the
reports of approaching peace, notwithstanding the inferences
that may be fairly drawn from the fact that the Boer leaders
are meeting under safe-conducts granted at their own request.
"What this really means seems now to be breaking in on the
minds of people in Europe, because yesterday the markets there
became active and, as was natural. Consols became the most
prominent feature and advanced sharply. With the war ter¬
minated and the Government given the chance of issuing a
guaranteed Transvaal loan instead of more Consols to meet the
cost yet requiring to be funded, or even with an issue of Con¬
sols which could be considered the last likely to be required
for a long time, there would be a substantial rally in the latter
security and in other Government issues sympathetically. The
Government officials decline to be caught predicting again, but
it is evident that they expect a satisfactory outcome of the Boer
conference from the way they are holding back the budget and
other financial matters. Preparations have indeed gone far
ahead for a movement in South African mines, as we note that
of a total of £4,400.000 of new capital applied for in London in
the past quarter for mining companies £3,589,500 was for South
Africa—£2,987,000 being for the Transvaal and £602,500 for
Rhodesia. Altogether, with peace in South Africa assured, we
can look for a very large increase in the gold production of the
coming twelve months, a fact that cannot tail to have a favor¬
able effect upon the values of investment securities in all parts
of the world. The London Economist's special commissioner is
again warning the puhlic of the mining traps and pitfalls that
are being set for them, and says despondently; "If there are,
say, five hundred more mines going to be floated shortly in the
outside districts of the Transvaal, I suppose about five of these,
or just one per cent., may eventually reach a profit-earning
stage. But what does it matter? The public is going to have a
huge gamble on sentiment, and the value of the mines is really
a secondary point. Someone may say: "But how will it be pos¬
sible to float five hundred mines; where are there only just so
many reefs?'   To this I reply that there are hundreds of miles





of reefs in the De Kaap, Lydenburg, Murchison, Heidelberg and
Klerksdorp districts. There will be no trouble on that head."
The Transvaal gold output for March waa 104,127 ozs., an in¬
crease over February of about 23,000 ozs. The first of the cur¬
rent monthly reports was 39,095 ozs. for last November.





The  Municipal   Departments.

—^ HE Board  of Estimate and Apportionment by  its action

-*■ during the past week in reducing salaries, and in estab¬
lishing a classification of departmental subordinates, has taken
an important step toward the introduction of some economy
and organization into the departmental service. By so doing
the administration has shown that it proposes to stand by its
pledges, and that it will do its best to cut down salaries and
expenses whenever consistent with the good of the service. The
statement is explicitly made that the work of reorganizing the
departments, which is now only begun, will be continued
throughout the whole term of the administration, and that
no effort will be spared to stimulate into efficient activity the
members, as well as the body of the municipal service.

The reform administration is confronted by rhany' difficult
problems; but surely none of them is more difficult than that
of securing a collection of competent and trustworthy depart¬
mental employees. Many circumstances combine to increase
the difficulty of the problem. The standards of municipal ad¬
ministration have in the past been lax. The departments have
been iilled with clerks who have been taken on for every reason
in the world except those of expert knowledge and tested ability.
The employees knew that they were appointed to office and re¬
tained there for other reasons than those of special competence
and energetic work. They have been habituated to taking their
task easily and considering that a good day's work could be done
in four or five hours of leisurely employment, and there is a
well-founded suspicion that in some cases they made personal
profit out of the evasion of the laws which it was their duty to
execute. Many of these employees would doubtless, under a
better system, make useful and energetic public servants; hut
under existing circumstances they can see in effort to reor¬
ganize and invigorate their work only an obnoxious disturbance
of a pleasant and leisurely life. They know that the term of
the present administration will last only two years, and they
do not forget that it may be superseded by another, which will
consider itself in duty hound to undo all that a reform adminis¬
tration has done. Consequently they feel encouraged to offer
a stubborn and passive resistance to these attempts to reorganize
the departments into economy and efficiency, knowing full well
thai if they can only hang on for a couple of years the good
old times may return of advancing salaries, abundant leisure,
and, for some of them, an occasional "rake-off."

If such is even a fairly just description of the present situa¬
tion the difficulty of reorganizing the service along better lines
will be immediately appreciated. The present administration
must in some way combine the tasks of introducing economy and
efficiency, and at the same time of winning the confidence and
support of the departmental subordinates; and it has started
in the right way to accomplish these apparently contradictory
jobs. The most necessary preliminary step is undoubtedly a
proper system of classification, so that a man's salary wil! de¬
pend upon the kind of work he does and not upon arbitrary pref¬
erences or "pulls" of any kind. The next step will be to provide
some recognized and established method of advancing employees
from a lower to a higher grade—according as they became quali¬
fied to do more difficult and remunerative work. If such a proper
system of promotion and reward for good service is introduced
it will do more to increase the support which the employees will
give to the administration than any other single step in the re¬
organization. It will rally to the policy of the Mayor all the
more energetic and ambitious employees, and will provide them
with a motive for doing their best. This motive will not, un¬
fortunately, be very strong, because the Legislature of 1901, in
its wisdom, cut down the term of the iVIayor from four to two
years; but it should be strong enough to get them started in the
right direction—a direction in which the succeeding administra¬
tion may at least keep them moving.

Such measures are in the way of a good heginning. but the
goal is still remote. In the end there is one necessary condi¬
tion to securing the best possible service from a set of govern¬
ment employees, and that is the presence throughout the whole
body of a pervasive and effective "esprit de corps." They must
take pride in their service, just as a soldier takes pride in his
fiag. In a private business such an "esprit de corps" ia not
necessary,   because   as   a  rule   under   such   circumstances   the