New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-25
INVESTMENT AND SPECULATIVE FRENZY

IN
RecorCl-breaking has been so much the fash
ion Of late that 1t has grown monotonous. But
I'm the stock market the sights which strike
the young generation with amaZement are not
IN essentials so novel as Is supposed. 1t Is not
Of much consequence whether the number OF
stocks sold in n day or week was never as large.
when the country was younger and the popula-
ton and accumulatons OF wealth were smaller.
That might be expected. Wild excitement Is
not now witnessed in the Stock Exchange for
the first time. and after men become intensely
excited they cannot well go much further in
that direction. Great advances In stocks, far
beyond the dreams Of the most sangulne. have
not been unknown prior 10 this year of grace.
After specie resumption proved a success and
the greatest crops then ever grown had been
harvested in 1879 and marketed with the great
est exports OF each ever known, there came a
state Of things In the security market which did
not cease for nearly two years and which has
not yet been surpassed.
II Is not intended to recall these events with
any wish 10 feed the flames Of speculative ex-
element. There has been too much excitement
already; indeed, vast deal more than the act
ual change in prices has yet warranted. With
n more sober and steady advance there would
eft TO substantial investors would not he in part
ncutralzcd by occasional spasms of reaction.
But the frantic state Of mind which many show
is largely due 10 idea that this is the one
great chance in all human history to make
profits fast. and may be missed by anybody who
waits twenty seconds If this stock market has
a tenth as much reason for rising ms the abest
men in Wall Street suppose it has, 1t will be
f,~ tt,,,o Will han FAr
all sorts of little traders to get In and out again
every day. and even TO get badly bitten II they
get ont At the wrong time. Apparently that was
what happened last week. 4 good many seemed
to have concluded that reaction was certain
and close at hand and they sold all they had
and then sold more When Monday came it
brought bear panic which is about the
crazcst thing observable on this planet But
that came because the substantial buying con-
tinucd.
The addition OF gold 10 the available cur
rency In 1879. the heavy excess OF merchandise
exports amounting TO nearly S265 100000 In that
fiscal year. enormous Increase IN the production
of all leading Industries and in the profits real
tied, created n surplus Of money for investment
such rs had never been seen before The move
ment Of great crops rendered railroads prohta-
blc and in about two years the sixty most ac-
tive stocks more than doubled their earnings
md their dividends. The same active stocks
which averaged less than S33 when 1870 began
reached $50 n share on November 10 when the
first important reaction came. and then went
further TO SO 81 share by the end of 1880 and
then still further 70 500 IL share by Nav %
1881. This was not n case OF Isolated gain
The figures given are the averages Of all stocks
in the active list Of sixty, the best and worst to-
gether In 1870 Central Of New-Jersey gained
from lowest to highest SO points. and AZ in 1880
md 90 In 1881. In 1879 Cedar Rapids gained
80 from is lowest 10 It's highest and In 1880 It
ealncd 30 and 81 again In 1881. Delaware and
Hudson gained over 81 points In 1870 from low
est 10 highest. and nearly SO in 1880 and nearly |
80 In 1881. Louisville and Nashville rose from
the lowest point "a points in 1870. md again % |
points from the lowest In 1890 and again 81 /
from the lowest in 1881. Burlington and Quincy
rose from the lowest 40 points in 1881. and Han |
nibal and ST. Joseph 1864 points. But such H. /
Illustrations, after all. only blur the effect Of the
great rise I'm the entire body Of stocks.
The phenomena then were much like those
now seen. The country was not so large. II
has gained much over half in population and
far more than doubled its actual wealth. But
it's greatest increase has been in what may he
called available wealth. ready for new enter
prises or for Investment The increase In /
that class Of capital has been greater than
can be measured. Purchase OF plants and
by the hundred in order 10 form the
been seen has placed vast amount OF avnila- /
Bile cash. or securities readily sold or hypothe-