The Saint Paul globe., 1901-05-06

In speculative booms there is no pre-
tence of keeping values within legitimate
limits; and when conservative principles
Of valuation have been abandoned, there
is no saying to what lengths CVervalua-
tion may be carried No one regards
railroad stocks as being as good an In
Sestment as railroad bonds; and yet the
former are selling as high as the latter,
and in some cases higher. The simple
eH planation of this iucopgruity is that
the market is under the impulse of an
unparalleled furore; and operators buy or
sell from no consideration of intrinsic
merit, but solely from their idea as to
how long the excitement is likely to con-
tinue. AT present there appears to De
little apprehension that the sanguine I'M
pulse of speculation has reached it's cui-
mination, ana because there is still
crowd ready to buy at advancing prices
it is sssumed to be safe to keep on buy
ing
who have principally contributed to this
extraordinary furore. The local out
siders are far from being the most SAN
guine participants Their attitude is in
tho main cautious and rot a few of
them are distruStful of the present range
Of prices The most courageous buy
ers are from the West and South The
two past years of prosperity in the in
terror have accumulated an unpredecenr-
ed amount of unemployed funds, and the
owners of. those Surpluses have formed
such Sanguine estimates OF the grow
ing wealth of the country that they are
willing to stake these accumulations
without stint in anticipating the future
national expansion. 1t is very largely
from the influx from these distant
sources that the immense buying or
ders are constantly coming on the mar
ket; and. as the operations chime in
with the interests of capitalists engaged
in great industrial and railroad deals
they receive every encOura cement from
the local millionaire interests. The ne
gotiations of the great railroad alli-
ances have involved immense temporary
purchases of stocks by railroad capital
W ff4h v..r-l,.
Stlmulant to the rise in prices; and 50
long as these deals are continued the
speculative boom will be backed by this
very eucctlVe source Of support But
1t Is to be kept in mind that many
stocks procured for these temporary
deaI purposes Will have to be market.
cd as soon as practicable; and the Ques-
ton is OF much interest as to what may
happen If these securities are shifted
upon the distant and less closely in
formed buyers of the interior This is
a contingency to be sharply watched. as
1t will have more to do with the wind
ing up Of the boom than any other in
lluence. At the moment. however there
are rev indications that this culmina-
tIon OF The great speculation is near at
hand; ana, if further deals are to be
lorthcomlng, there may be further spe-
sight, -
Wall street is apparently figuring on
the consolidation of the various roads to
comprise the three trans-continental
lines. connecting by rail the Atlantic
with the Pacific ocean This movement
started by the Northern Pacific securing
control of the {. B. & Q. to complate
its through line. The New York Central
and PENNSYLVANIA people, it is thoucht
mt st necessarily fall in line in self-der
fense, herce the rise in Atchison com
mon to 30 implies that the Pennsylvania
road may be buying 1t for control. and
the same theory applies to the New York
Central people in eadeavoring to acquire
control of the Union Pacific road to COM
plete its through line TO the Pacific coast.
Whether these impressions are true or
false, they form the basis of rumors
WHICH in this Wild market are acted upon
as though they were based upon actual
fact. hence the recent Tapid advance In
the price Of both Union Pacific and At
Gibson stocks. It is a rity. however, that
the New York Central magnates were
rot sagaciaus enough to buy in the con.
troll Of the Union Pacific when its stocks
sold down to Sc share, instead of now
laying up 10 $l30 for it. 1t is also un-
fortunate that the Pennsylvania people
did. not buy Atchison common stock
when it sold at SO a share and the pre-
tCired at SIS as recently as six years ago.
irstead Of paying 105 for the preferred
and 30 Tor the common at the present
time. The same also applies to Mr.