The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-20
MISCELLANEOUS STOCKS.
A WORD FOR THE INDUsTRGALs.
(Watson & C1ibson.)

That business alike in the lorms of
manufacturing, commerce and trans
portatlon is unprecedentedly good can
not be questioned. Indeed Mr.. Keene,
in his interview yesterday. said: Il re-
allze that the volume of business is
large, and, l dare say, profitable, and
that railroad earnings are good" yet
Mr.. Keene is bearish. On the face of il
II does not seem very logical to believe
IN the profits of all these forms of bust
ness, with no hint that there is any near
prospect of a decline in such favorable
conditions, and at the same time be
bearlsh on the stocks of the companies
which conduct this enormous and prof
liable business There was doubtless a
great deal of imitation in the industrial
common stocks, but that has been pref
~ severely and heroically taken out Of
them, as few figures will demonstrate.
Ta-le International Paper, which sold at
6S1a last January, is now down to about
20. Continental Tobacco, which sold at
657s Lass April, hangs around AZ. Fed
eral Steel and American Steel & Wire
are down about 20 points. The original
whisky stocks, now converted into the
Distilling Company of America have
been cut in two in price. American
Smelling common, which sold at SO last
April, is now around &c. American Su-
gar, which was 1872 last March, down
to l451a. Union Paper & Bag down
from 40 last March to, say, 27 now
Electric Vehicle, which sold up to $50
last spring, is down below so, Electric
Boat has been cut in two in price, ami
the electrical transportation stocks of
New York, New England and Pennsyl-
vania have gone almost out of sight.
These examples suffice to convince
any one that a very large part OF any
imitation in these stocks must have
been eliminated. If they had gene UP
on good business and gone down be-
cause of a change in business to the
bad, then there would be- no ground to
expect recovery in them. But no such
change in conditions has occurred and
there is no prospect of any change yet
in sight. These declines have been
purely speculative, and present holders
who carried these stocks through a 40
per cent. money market are not likely
to get frightened now. turn in the
tide is pretty sure to come and it ought
to be in full swing by Jan. l. 1t ought
to begin very soon.
The strongest argument in favor of
industrial combinations is that they are
economical and prevent waste. but the
next strongest is that they promote eX-
port trade. Big manufacturing estab-
lishments with plenty of capital and
large and modernized plants can afford
to advertise their brands abroad, and
thus create new markets for American
wares. Small manufacturers never
produce enough to warrant the expense
Of establishing foreign agencies and
making packages to suit foreign tastes
and whims. With our Astounding and
unrivalled natural resources, which fur
nish in unlimited quantities all raw
materials, with our immense machinery
and the mechanical genius of our peo-
pie, with the large capital at the com
mand of the great trusts, and their ia
cility for borrowing at lower rates than
smaller concerns, there can be no ques-
ton of the supremacy of American
weres in foreign markets. To be bear
ish on industrial properties now, after
their market values have had a heavy
decline and while their business is
larger and better established than ever
before, would not seem to be very pru-
dent 1t will be time to be bearish whelt
some faint signs of a decline in bust
ness and profits become visible.