The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14

with so few developments in the way of
news. with no confederation OF many OF
the deal stories that are afoat, and with
the money outlook, as il has been re-
Gently, far from satisfactory. As has
been pointed out in this column hereto
fore il is not a matter of inconceivable
difficulty to make prices go UP as they
have continued to do after the entire pro-
fessional talent has become bearish, but
it is entirely out of the ordinary market
experience that no violent reaction should
follow such an advance.
The explanation that Mr.. Morgan is
running the market is a figure OF speech
that means that the big people are be-
hind it with Mr. Morgan doing the steer
ing. SO much is true beyond a doubt But
this does NOT explain the situation by any
means. People that know him to be the
leader still do not understand how he
is working, and what he expects to do
IN the end There IS a persistent asser-
ton in quarters that ought 10 know that
he is not selling his stocks as rapidly as
he was expected to get rid of them. 1t is
said that he sells very heavily at times,
but that he is forced to buy heavily, too.
( The same is true of other large interests
in the market, the Gouids. the Standard
OIL people. and the Pennsylvania crowd.
One explanation offered for some of the
mysteries of the market is that the in
SiderS have not found The public nearly
so eager to buy stocks as they hoped for.
According to this theory stocks were
I bought heavily and continuously by the
/ insiders all last summer and during the
entire winter as well, and few were sold
because when an attempt to sell was made
the public was not in sight This. it is
said, had continued to be the fact even
during the Immensely active speculation
of the past month, when the advances in
prices have been of that particularly wild
character that usually proves such an ir
reSistihle bait to the outsider. The peo-
pie that take this view are less clear as
to what the end OF the movement viii be.
Some believe that the public VIII at last
| be enticed into buying and that the in
siders viii get out gradually during the
coming year They believe that for this
| reason there is no probability of a large
and sensational break III prices. The same
conclusion may be arrived at if one con-
SiderS the present boom to be exactly as
Mr. Morgan planned, and if it is believed
that he is not trying to sell out yet to
any great extent and not worrying about
that end of his programme
Another theory is that the insiders are
| not at harmony: that they are struggling
/ for mastery in the West and bidding for
| the different railways against each other
| in yeritable battle of the giants. This
! theory has some features that commend
| 1t. The immense blocks of stocks that are
! daily bought and sold at the highest lev
| els must be for the very most important
! interests. Few people are willing to be-
| lieve that they are matched orders. A
table has been compiled showing the con-
| trolling interest in $4,000 miles of railway
i'm the country to be in the hands Of five
groups of capitalists, the Vanderbilt
group, the Pennsylvania group. the Gould
group. the KUhR-Loeb Hartman group,
and the Morgan group.
In the Vanderbilt group are the New
York Central, Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern, New York, Chicago and St
| Louis Michigan Central. Canada South
ern, Lake Erie and Western, c. G. G. *
st. L. system, Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western, Chicago and Northwestern,
Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis and Oma-
ha. total of 17.427 miles.
In the PENNSYLVANIA group are Pennsyl-
vania system, Buffalo. Rochester and
Pittsburg, Western New York and Penn
sylVania Chesapeake and Ohio. Norfolk
and western, Baltimore and Ohio system,
Long Island total OF 1872 miles
In the Gould group are the Missouri
Pacific. Texas and Pacific. st. Louis
Southwestern, International and Great
Northern, Denver and Rio Grande, Mis-
souri, Kansas and Texas, Wabash a to-
tai Of IS 2l5 miles.
Ia the kuhn-Loeb- Hartman group are
the Union Pacific. Oregon Railroad and
Navigation, Oregon Short Line. Chicago
and Alton. Southern Pacific, Kansas City
Southern, Chicago Terminal Transfer,
total of 14l5s miles.
In the Morgan group are the Reading.
Lehigh Valley, Erie, Central of New Jer-
sey, Chicago. Indiana and Louisville,
Southern Railway, Mobile and Ohio, to-
tai of l5.7l5 miles
The table is a good one and up to the
present time an accurate one probably.
But il will be seen that il does not in
railway systems of the West, the North
ern Pacific the ST. Paul the Burlington.
the Rock Island, and the AtchiSon among
them. 1t will be noticed also that IL is
in the securities of these lines largely
that the most sensational advances have
been made during the past two months,
and that during the same time there has
been comparatively little advance in the
general list. One difficulty in the way of
believing that the big groups are fighting
each other for control of the grangers
Hes In the fact that such a fight is in its
nature entirely al variance with the en-
tire trend of recent railway history. The
consultations of the past two or three
years have ali been made with the view
of uniting the millionaire interests and
terests have been closely I'm touch II has
been the theory, in fact. that competition
was TO be done away with.
The best plan for the ordinary investor
in such market is to sell out his securi-
ties when they reach a level commensu-
rate with their intrinsic merits as the
Srangers have done now. In the end no
matter what the cause of the present ire
mendouS prices may be. these securities
will sell at their proper level. Stocks
should be bought that have a legitimate
advance still ahead Of them. The Atchi-
sons. the Southern Railway securities. the
anthracite coaleTs. many of them, the
Fries. and some Of the Goulds. may be
included in such a list OF low priced
stocks
The following table gives the prices OF
the active securities in the present mar
ket at the close yesterday in cOmDarisOu
with the close two weeks ago and the
level in last September before the present
boom began The level OF two weeks
ago compared with that of yesterday
shows in a very interesting v,av that thor