New-York tribune., 1900-07-15
tuaurlai.
The Financial World.

its
of apathy. was stimulated the past yvaa1-
activity and advance of Union Pacific ~. Tue
ing influences were certain aIarnist ,ases
about injury TO corn. and the foreign nav,.
regularity has been the net result This -
seems likely to continue. The crop n,,as.t.
one OF locality. In some sections the vita
very large; in others it is small Tbi. -.
vsriously affect the prices of the stocks 80
railroad systems which draw their train, -
the several sections In the industrial san.-4
ment. the steel stocks are kept down hv -
still unsettled state of that Industry. in vbta,
prices are trying to find but have not VET ,orS,
bottom.
The first railroad stock which advanced sn
ly the past week was Illinois Central IN -
that the dividend is TO be increased fror,
8 per cent So much of this stock has sn.nU
found its way to this market from London 81.
hereafter it is probable it will be more aeti,.
in the trading than it has been After Tut,.,-
Central stopped going up, Union Pacific sts-..s
and scored gain of several points So nron,
inent stock this could not but svrnDatb..s
oally influence the general list and it did n cu,,.
a marked extent. Its influence. however wa,
much less than would have been the case 10 -
temper of the public were more cheerful The.
it is. This temper is either apathetic or a,r
trustful. The state of affairs in China ~.
political situation at home and the uncer,a,,
outlook for the corn crop. combine to bring abo,,
this condition. But it is one that can cbaDga
very quickly.
The exhibit which the Union Pacific Cor,ns,-
will be able to make in its report for the 6,.,
year just closed. is one which will prove varv
gratifying TO holders OF the stock. PreIiminar,
figures have been given out, unofHciallv bn+
whose correctness may be relied upon shovying
net earnings of about S12OOOOOO after Avs5
/ chs bavro
dend for the preferred stock calls for S4OOOOOo
| leaving SS0OOO00 for the common This is 8
per cent on the stock for the year The eon-
pany has $4,000, 900 of cash on hand The A.,
rectors under these circumstances feel that y
is only fair 10 the stockholders 20 raise the div
idend from 5 10 per cent. This will be done
unless between now and the time for deeIar,n,
the dividend some calamity should happep :,
the corn crop in the territory of the road. Thara
are no fears Of this now. There is every reason
to believe that the crop will average we'll dam.
age in some spots being made up by extra Yields
in others.
Ordinarily. one would be safe in predictinv
that Union Pacific would certainly go TO 65 an
such a showing and on the increased divf5an5
1t would be rash TO make such a prediction AZ
this time. The public is not buIlishIy inclined
1t has become skepticaL Therefore the nova
ment Of the stock upward is likely to be slower
! and with more reactions on the way. than IL
would he under more fortunate conditions Trio,
Pacific viii reach 60 sure enough-barring sucb
disaster that referred TO- but il will proba
bly, dtsappoint a good many people in the time
| 1t takes to set there. Attention may properly
he directed TO the preferred stock. 1t is selling
about a. and is a fixed per cent stock. It's
almost as good as bond-better than MANY
bonds selling at higher prices, II is an invest
ment stock; and will surely in time. from ab-
sorption by investors. ind steady market near
er 10 go than II is now 10 30
The way Atchison preferred sticks around
/ 40 is good evidence Of the distrustfu
[ temper OF the public. Two or three weeks
ago, the calculations of the officers ~
the road were given as TO the vastly n
creased amount Of wheat they would haul out
/ of Kansas and Oklahoma this year as comusrsd
/ with last, if the wheat crop went through all
right. At the same time it was added that thssa
/ figures would make almost no impression unon
the public, though they might have their effect
/ later when the public felt more cheerful The
| wheat crop in the places named has come I'd
/ 10 the most sanguine expectations and the
price has risen because Of shortage elsewhere
/ Has il brought any buying of Atchison pre-
! ferred? Just enough. and no more. than to keep
/ the stock steady; and doubtless the insiders had
/ 10 keep protecting orders in the market TO a.
I feet that much There is no question about the
Atchison system being in splendid condition
''he testimony OF every one travelling over 1t is
/ al one way The most competent observers are
I the most enthusiastic. These are facts that will
! tell eventually, hut they so for little Just now
There has been good buying of Burlington
/ which carried the stock up 10 126. There the
/ buyers probably found they were getting no fol-
J lowing. and some decline resulted. The buying
was done on the good crop reports from the
roads territory; but 1t may have happened that
when Chicago started in 10 bull corn. after ex-
| hausting the possibilities Of wheat III that line
| some alarm was caused by the flood of damage
reports which poured ever the wires Chicago
/ is wholly bearish on stocks because it is hotly
/ bulling the grain markets.
/ The heavy tendency of the stocks of roads
! which draw large traffic from the spring wheat
sections, is entirely logical No one is sur
prised to see Northern Pacific decline nor to
note that St Paul is heavy. Both TOO. are in
ternationaI stocks, which is rather a disadvan-
tage in the existing condition of the foreign
l markets. There is no crop damage, however IN
/ the St Pauls territory which for moment
endangers its per cent dividend. il simply
! takes away the chance of an increase.
1t is perhaps. we'll 10 bear in mind with -
I spect TO Pacific coast stocks that the Pacific
| coast is region which is growing and is des-
/ tined TO grow with perhaps more rapiiity than
any other large section of the country. The de-
velopment of Oriental trade the develop
lnent of Alaska. the fertile soil and fine climate
all unite TO ensure a great future for the Paciae
coast States. Our Oriental trade is only in its
. infancy, but it is pretty healthy infant al
| ready. 1t from the Pacific Coast States that
! the first urgent cry was heard that the Philip
| pine Islands should be retained The Bryan
people know this well enough. II their clamoF