Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1884-01-28
STOCK JOBBERY.
HOW LIES WE'RE MADE TO Do SER
VICE ON WALL STREET.
'Rtgot0's" Revietc of the Course of Values
Ho,c the Lambs are S1sOrn by the Manfpu-
t0tors-St. Paul & iO,ae the Leading Fea-
tures-GouId and Sage Sustaining the Ee-
TfJIard;s.
Especial Telegram to the Globe. ]

| WpOh 4A " cIl 6bIOOb nob OL0 lI6b, DOOl5
and famines. AS matter of course lies
do not introduce any new element into the
business. They have been at all times the
| greatimPlements of stock exchange opera.
| tions. Without false reports, crooked
accounts and various other imprudent
Misrepresentation, Wall street could never
have recovered from the panic of 1873,
risen to the boom Of 1880, and collapsed
egain into the prostration of 1888.
There is consequently nothing TO
| wonder at that 10 and of false reports con-
| tinue to be circulated, and that up to yes
terday afternoon nobody had any poaitive
information as to the result of the meet
ing of the committee on the western rail
road troubles. Both private and published
telegrams contradict each other. Some
said that everything was perfectly har-
monious. Others asserted that all nego-
tiations had broken u in row, and that
fierce rate cutting began on Saturday and
is to be intensified this morning.
The fact that Mr.. Alex. Mitchell,
president of the Chicago, Milwaukee
& st. Paul road had been in
town some time past, and that the stock of
that company had recently substantial
rally, led many people to believe the
Northwestern road difficulty was sure to be
settled amicably. 1t had been observed in
the past that whenever Mr.. Mitchell came
to New York his stock went up. His Union
club friends say that 'old Aleck" was like
"oId Harry" and went nowhere unless he
had some business to attend to. Certainly
ne has SO far Enever visited the Empire
city without making his expenses on the
bu lside, but no one cen youch for it that
this time he did not ceme with the
intention of making an honest dollar on
| the other side. It would be nothing sur
prising to find the old foxy gentleman
| short OF a good line of his company's
| stock, for he knows the exact condition of
the road better than any one else, and if
the condition is really such as Milwaukee
correspondent suggests, it certainly oes
not look enticing to merchants. Here is
what that correspondent writes:
1.-THE gross earnings of the st. Paul
road Ia 1877 were somewhat over $8,000,-
600 upon some 1,400 miles Of road,
quail to about $500 per mile
The stock was then fuctuating between
eleveniand forty share. In 1882 they
had over $500 miles of road, and the gross
earnings did not reach $4,000 900, show
ing something like $4,7OO per mile. Yet
the stock sold away above par. That the
company cannot go on paying Z per
per cent. dividend is best shown by the
fact that the gross earnings are by $500 9
mile less than the bare operating expenses
of its sister road, the Rock Island.
The attitude of the Chicago, Burlington
Quincy railway toward other western
roads is accounted for not only by
the natural position of that
concern, but also by the hostile attitude
of the general manager, Mr.. L. J. Potter,
toward the Vanderbilt interest. Mr.. Van
derbilt put Mr.. Potter out of the Lake
Shore, and subsequently out of the Omaha,
and Mr.. Potter is now said to be anxions
to get square with him in the Chicago &
Northwestern concern, of which Mr.. VIM.
Il. is the leading spirit, and certainly the
heaviest individual bond and stock holder.
The bull element of the week was rep
resented by the formation of several pools.
All of them are said to be copper fastened,
with stout marginal deposits, and
heavy penalties for delinquents. There
are said to be pools in ST. Paul and in
Western Union, and one in the ex-Villards,
these pools are all kept very quiet and
calm, but as an old oriental proverb says:
'In calm pools devils love to DWELL" sew
eral devils are sure to be found in evsry
one of these pools, and to raise havoc with
any outsider that sticks his nose into any
of them. The ultimate result of Wall
street pools is the same. Some body
begins to sell out upon his confding
friends, and the whole concern "busts"
wide open. The pool in ex-Vlllard's
seems to have been formed under Mr.. Jay
Gould's guidance. He and Mr.. Russell
Sage are reported to nave made a large
loan to the Oregon Transcontinental COM
pany on Saturday afternoon, and thus to
have saved that concern from final COL
lapse, heavy indebtedness having rea eh
ed maturity. The amount of accommoda-
ton thus supplied has been variously es
timated at from 100000 to $6,0O0.O0O.
The correct figure will probably prove to
be $1,50O,0OO, and the terms fully
satisfactory to the loaners, whose interests
are of course Numerically opposed TO
those Of the borrowers. Mr.. Gould and
Mr.. Sage are too deeply interested in
maintaining prices at the stock exchange
to allow any big catastrophe. They were
consequently compelled to stretch out
helping hand to the Oregon Transconti-
mental. for the purpose of sustaining the
market. They have unquestionabIy sue
ceeded in their efforts, for the market
closed quite strong, with q substantial ad
vance in all the ex-Villard stocks. But all
| this does not alter the fact that these
stocks are going as of yore. Once in
awhile little squirt sets in upon an over
sold market, but the moment the shorts
have been driven out down go prices
again in rush. Poor, worn out patients
who are still remaining in the wards of
| benevolent institutions are screaming with
pain and implore the doctors to tell them
what the matter is with them; but alas,