Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1901 — COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

i Commercial conditions on NeiYOrk. Whole remain steady. 1 • 1 u The situation regarding the copper and steel industries has been brought into prominence by the developments of the Aveek, and if the indications of overproduction are true it contributes a feature which caunot be regarded as otherwise than unfavorable. Copper companies controlled by the Standard Oil interests appear to be loaded Avith an enormous surplus stock, which they have been unable to dispose of at the present market price. Of more importance than the copper troubles alone is the question of the position of the Standard Oil interests on the geenral business and financial situation. Stocks Of the corporations in which they are largely interested have declined sharply. Amalgamated Copper at the low point avus off 41 points from the high mark it touched last June; Shares o{ the Standard Oil Company, stock of the bank which is commonly spoken of as the Standard Oil institution, and also securities of railroads with whieh that group of financiers is connectad haA’e fallen off in sympathy. A number of hints that the truce between the Morgan and .Rockefeller factions has been broken are abroad. So tbe problem arises whether the decline in Standard Oil stocks is an evidence of the diminution of the prosperity which the country has enjoyed or a different movement, one of a speculative character. It is said that the United States Steel Corporation Avill advance its price gradually. Work is being resumed at the mills that AA’ere idle through the strike. The output of steel rails this year promises to be eqormous. Production of anthracite coal in August Avas large, and for the eight months of this year the output Avas 3,831,801 tons larger than the corresponding period of last year.

j Real estate dealers in Chifllicano. Icago note a continued dea 1 niand for small lots to be used for dwelling purposes. Bank clearings hold up remarkably Avell as compared Avith last year. The money market displays an easier tone. No more gold has arrived from Europe, but money rates have eased Avithout it. Industrial conditions in this country are not of the brightest, as recent reports of some of the recently formed corporations reveal, but they are much worse in Europe. A number of mills are closing in Austria, and countries other than Germany, which has been in unsatisfactory condition for some time, are passing through periods of trial.