New-York tribune., 1900-12-23
fnanrinL
The Financial World.

from the gratifying contrast they present with
| Christmas year ago. The market was then IN
the confusion and distress following a panic,
this year. the confusion. what there is OF H. "a.
suits from a volume of business almost over.
taxing the facilities of the Stock Exchange to do
ii. Over one million shares Of stock were dons
\ in the two hours OF neutrality-suspicious. which
entirely distances any previous record for ths
| same day And the special point OF the thing /.
that the great bulk of this great business is dons
| in leading railroad stocks. and is based on tbs
| increasing revenues OF the roads. which promise
larger dividends on stocks already dividend nav.
ers. and viii promote non-dividend stocks TO thu
| dividend paying list; or it results from new
| financial arrangements. or requirement Of val
liable properties. as in the case OF the Northern
| Pacific and Erie companies.
The announcement has been made unofFiciaft,
| that the purpose Of the Northern Pacific man
| agement is to retire the outstanding preferred
stock. which may be done on any January lst m
to 1917 The preferred stock is entitled to shar.
equally with the common stock after the latter
has received per cent dividends. and II may IA
| called at par. Part OF the scheme involves nav
arrangements IN regard 10 the land grant IN.
details of the scheme are not yet public pron.
| erty. With the preferred stock out Of the wav.
the common gets all surplus after the nxst
charges.
been in the contemplation Of the Northern Pa
cifc directors. has been well known in the higb-
er financial circles Of Wall Street. but not many
even among the well informed supposed thas
Mr. Morgan would, or could, press the scheme n
such a quick conclusion 1t was only two or
three weeks ago that leading banker, speaking
Of the proposal added But this is two 4,
three years work"
In the case OF the Erie. IL may be said that
much of the late rapid rise in it's securities was
long overdue. for the earnings of the property
justified IT, The figures OF these earnings hava
been repeatedly shown. as evidence that the s4-
curtties were cheap at their then market prices
But so long as no big operator. or conbinatIono.
them. started a movement. the Erie issues "a
mained the deadest things on the list The uub-
lie waited for a leader. as it always does. Prob
ably the thing that delayed the buying Of then,
was the threat 70 Erie's great coal traffic in
volved in the Pennsylvania Coal Company's pro-
jected line to Kingston. When this obstacle was
finally removed by the purchase OF the coal CON-
pany's property, the way was cleared for ths
long delayed upward movement in Erie securi-
ties.
IL was said last week that the money was Il.
the Erie preferred stocks They have been Jump
ing since. The first preferred went I'D until ie
reached near to so. when it went back little
and has hung there since. The simple PROPOSE
ton about this stock Is that IT will soon pass on
TO the dividend paying list, as a per cent stocks
which means that 1T will sell between 20 and so.
1t may even sell higher, simply because it Is an
Eastern trunk line stock. which always has a
strong attraction for the investor
In connection with this, one may nots the Sig
nifcant advance in the Nickel Plate stocks
which by its extent seems TO foreshadov sorns
contemplated financial rearrangements IN respect
to them.
In the granger group. the big buying Of Sc.
Paul has attracted much attention II Is gsner-
ally credited to HiI1 interests Mr. HIT Is known
TO have always had great idea OF the future ot
the St Paul road; and one OF the r1ln1ors IN CDR
culation is that much closer relations than havs
hitherto existed between the two companies
viii be established between the St Paul and
Great Northern: more particularly IN relation to
the of the ST. Paul as the Chicago terminal
OF the Northern.
An immense business has been done In South
ern Pacific and Southern Railroad common Tna
former stock for long time stuck between 43
and 431s: but in the past few days II has moved
up a couple OF points. with thousands OF shares
done at every eighth the way-just as hap
pened in former movements in this 200 mf1lioa
stock. The buying of Southern common IN big
blocks suggests the idea that very much Of the
buying must be of stock intended TO be put
Atchison preferred and common were bought IN
the same way when both stocks were down very
low. and dividend on either seemed a very re-
mote possibility. In respect to Southern pre-
ferred, sufficient has already been said in this
column to show that while the last dividend
paid on the stock was at the rate of per cent.
the investor who buys il will not have so very
long to sit on his investment before he gets the
full per cent to which the stock is entitled.
In the Atchisons. the preferred has been slug
gish- 1t seems to have been left to take care OF
itself: or rather. to let it's . per cent dividend
take care of it. The speculation Is running in
the common. and it is running pretty warm The
explanation must be sought in the words OF a
leading director The whole thing" he said. 'Is
just this-in the Spring it will simply be a ques-
ton with US whether declare dividend OF
1h or per cent semi-annual on the stock"
Turning from the great railroads to the trac-
tions. a Enthusiastically wild movement has
taken place in Brooklyn Traction. on circum-
stantial statements that Metropolitan interests
will be represented in the Board. The other
stocks in the group have made no such startling.
movements. merely swinging with the market.
There is much talk that the industriaIs VIII
have to get their turn before the present bull
movement is over. A beginning has already been
made in Sugar, which must have taken the
rather large short interest existing in the stock
considerably by surprise. 1t is always danger
Gus to be short of Sugar when the bear points on
1t come from the inside. which they did very
numerously aacOupie of weeks ago. In the steel
stocks, Steel Wire remains the black sheen "a
usual. The disguised remarks OF the average
trader in respect to it. would not look well IN