FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1901. 



231 



.the Fourth of July holiday there was a sharp fall 

 in prices, due to the above-noted disturbing con- 

 ditions, and also to the unfavorable bank state- 

 ment of the previous week, to active money, to 

 reports of renewed friction between the Harriman- 

 Kuhn Loeb and the Morgan-Hill interests, and to 

 .a proposed cut in rates by the Atchison, Topeka 

 and Santa Fe Railroad Company. The market 

 was more or less unsettled until July 17, when 

 the new board of directors of the Northern Pa- 

 cific Railroad Company was announced by J. P. 

 Morgan. This was regarded as indicating that 

 the differences between the Morgan and the Har- 

 riman interests had been adjusted, and the market 

 gradually, though irregularly, improved, and at 

 the end of the month there was a substantial re- 

 covery. The steel strike continued throughout 

 August, but there were indications at the close of 

 the month of its speedy collapse. The Bureau of 

 Agriculture on Aug. 10 reported the condition of 

 the corn crop much worse than had been ex- 

 pected; later advices were, however, more en- 

 couraging. The effect upon the market, Sept. 7, 

 of the murderous assault on President McKinley 

 was to some extent minimized through the 

 prompt and effective action which was taken by 

 the Clearing-House Committee of the New York 

 associated banks to avert a crisis and to restore 

 confidence in the situation. The immediate re- 

 sponse by the Secretary of the Treasury to the 

 .appeal of the above-noted committee for relief to 

 the money market and the issue by the Secretary 

 of an order directing purchases of bonds to the 

 amount of $20,000,000 also had an assuring 

 effect. The Stock. Exchange was promptly closed 

 on the receipt of news of the attack on the Presi- 

 dent, and by the Monday following the excite- 

 ment had subsided, and the tone of the market 

 was thereafter generally strong, there being no 

 renewal of apprehension on the announcement of 

 the death of the President. The steel strike col- 

 lapsed on Sept. 14, and this contributed to an 

 improvement in the market. On the 20th the di- 

 rectors of the Amalgamated Copper Company de- 

 clared only the regular quarterly, omitting the 

 extra, dividend on the stock, and this action 

 caused a sharp fall in that property. This had a 

 disturbing effect upon other industrials, and also 

 upon the copper speculation at the European cen- 

 ters. Later, however, there was a partial recov- 

 ery in the local market, influenced by a rise in the 

 Vanderbilt specialties which was due to a report 

 that the organization of a securities company to 

 take over the stocks and bonds of certain roads 

 in the Vanderbilt system was contemplated. The 

 generally unfavorable reports of the condition of 

 industrial companies, which were made public at 

 the beginning of October, had an unsettling effect 

 upon the market value of the shares of these con- 

 cerns. Stocks of railroad companies were, how- 

 ever, generally strong during the month. Among 

 the notable gains were in Atchison, influenced by 

 an increase in dividends on the common stock ; in 

 the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific, due to 

 rumors of a settlement of the differences between 

 the Morgan and the Hill interests ; and in St. Paul 

 common, New York Central, Lake Shore, and 

 Michigan Central. At the close of the month the 

 market was irregular and lower, in consequence 

 of liberal sales for European account due to the 

 development of unsettled conditions on the for- 

 eign bourses. Early in November the market 

 gradually improved under the lead of Union Pa- 

 cific and the properties in the Northern Pacific- 

 Great Northern group ; these were affected by con- 

 ferences having for their object the adjustment of 

 the matters in dispute between the interests repre- 



senting these roads. As the n--u!l c,t' those con- 

 ferences a corporation was or^an !/:! under the 

 laws of New Jersey to be know n us i h* Northern 

 Securities Company," with a capital <>: .-5 100.000,- 

 000, to hold the stocks of the Northern L'ucififl, the 

 Great Northern, and the Chicago, liiirlin^ton and 

 Quincy Railroad Companies, the Marriman-Kuhn 

 Loeb and the Morgan-Hill interests beiri</ repre- 

 sented in the directorate of the Securities Com- 

 pany. The stock market grew active and stronger 

 after the announcement of the above-noted or- 

 ganization, and there was an exceptionally good 

 demand for Union Pacific, the shares of the grain- 

 carrying roads, the Vanderbilt specialties, and 

 local traction stocks. Though there was some 

 realizing in the shares of the Northern Pacific- 

 Great Northern group of roads, caused by the 

 opposition of the governors of the Northwestern 

 States to the plan for the control of these proper- 

 ties, the declines were not important, and the 

 market was generally strong to the close of the 

 month, with the Vanderbilts leading; amalga- 

 mated copper was, however, quite weak. 



Total sales of stocks at the New York Stock 

 Exchange for eleven months ending Nov. 30 were 

 249,193,674 shares, against 114,908,555 shares for 

 the corresponding period in 1900. 



The following shows the highest prices of a 

 few of the leading speculative stocks in 1900, and 

 the highest and lowest prices to Nov. 30, 1901 : 



The Crops. Crop conditions early in the year 

 were quite favorable. The acreage planted to 

 grain and cotton was large, and the weather was 

 generally such as to encourage expectations of 

 an abundant yield. While there was some impair- 

 ment as the result of drought in the condition 

 of fall-sown wheat, indicated by the early June 

 report of the Department of Agriculture, the 

 average was much higher than that at the same 

 time in the previous year, being 87.8 per cent., 

 against 82.7 per cent, in June, 1900. The out- 

 look for spring-sown wheat was far superior to 

 that of the year before, when the crop, in some 

 sections, was almost an entire failure. The har- 

 vest of fall-sown wheat began in June, and the 

 results were very satisfactory. Early in July, 

 after this crop had been gathered, extremely high 

 temperatures prevailed throughout the entire 

 grain area, accompanied by severe drought, which 

 caused great damage to spring-sown wheat, while 

 corn was in some sections almost destroyed. To- 

 ward the end of the month the drought was 

 broken by showers, but these were insufficient in 

 many of the States west of the Mississippi to af- 

 ford the needed relief, and the corn situation was 

 critical. Spring-sown wheat, however, suffered 

 small loss. The drought was entirely broken 



