The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-10-07
THE FINANCIAL aTTUATION.

The barometer OF our etOck Es4fbet ~
the clo-- Of business upon In Stock FL
,h.nse Last saturday was q decidedly
t.Il.ng one. Throughout the week there
,.s continuous and. In some cases. urgent
Bou,da,ion. though largely connned 20
n. industrial list. The prominent rail.
,o.d stocks did not greatly suffer. Buying
nv the public. either for Investment or
,.-.ila,ion. was as notably absent A. II
~. been for a long time back: while the
,ro., syndicate- who ave important
,iluay interests In charge were as I'M
.v.rying A. ever In expressions OF faith
d, their properties and In according support
IN them whenever pressure was mani
t.s,ed. The weakness Of ths industrial
shares was ~variously declared to he due
n alarm over the decision Of the Court Of
,pteals upholding the Donnelly Antitrust
.w. "a the great prejudice against blind
nrl companies and TO the attacks Of
ap-rators for the decline. All these e1-
rlanation- seem beside the mark. The
nonn.lly law IL little different from other
statutes now In force, and It's operations
will Ii, delayed until the Supreme Court
4 the I'nited States can pass upon IL;
COMPANIES which refuse 10 make reports
II their earnings are not by any means
novel. white attacks 10y hear spectators are
nn.t unlikely when directed against shares
which can h. borrowed with such difficulty
A. those 81 the so-called minor industrials.
IN. real reason Of the fall was. simply, gen
nine selling II stock by people who had
I..oma fearful Of the market position
and Intrinsic soundness 81 their pro per
'ie. and. considering recent incidents.
II cannot be denied that the apprehension
-as reasonable. On top OF the dismaying
,,pper situation, and the blows given TO
confidence by the Republic Steel and Iron.
Lin-.-sd Oil and other difficulties with
which ,verybody " familiar. came the
news ~ the loss In four months OF nearly
40 in the net earnings Of the Ameri-
can ,ar and Foundry Company. OF a surplus
Il over 500 900 in the previous seasons
op-ra,ion Of the Glucose Company con-
y-rtssi this year into a loss Of equal amount
and ~ q great trad. war started by the
American sugar Refining Company against
the beet sugar interests OF the West.
one s,ockholder after another In industrial
properties who tried tn market his holdings
last week found that few people wanted TO
buy them and the buyers decreased as
the week advanced.
w Na'At'h ~ 49,
Lore is a curious Instance Of the ~mutabiity
Of, ,hing- human n speculative. Two
and one-half wears ago. when the fever
over the newly formed industrial com
uana.- Wa at its height. Brooklyn Rapid
Transi, was selling In the iSs. while Man
haitian Elevated wa not far from its present
pr,oa Tn" latter stock was feeling the
rnec, Of the Metropolitan Company CON-
80. Iii. a.. n~AnEl.n lnVnN.nnU WAS
raridly absorbing. one after the other, all
the street railways In King county. and II
vas mdiantly believed and predicted by
GOV Flower and his friends that the stock
Il tho cpmpany would sell A. high and re-
urn a. great dividends ss that Of the Metro
rnitan Traction Company itself. How all
his has changed h Manhattan COM
yany has PASSED through the prrod OF the
Me~tropohtan's competition and II looking
forward Ia the benefits Of It's electrical in
s,allation. and II IL the future OF
BROOKLYN Rapid Transit that l. now dark.
Whether 1t te general disappointment over
he failure Of the management OF the road
20 get the expected results out Of the syS-
tenn. or a more acute realization OF the
dangers ~ the Franchise Tax law, or dis
gust over tho damage suits and other legal
hArar-ments In Brooklyn which yearly re-
quire over n million and q quarter dollars
~ the company's cash 20 fight and settle,
il H. CERTAIN that tho-e who were onc~
moe, optimistic in their convictions con-
cerning the property are now, in private
~ least. confessing their encouragement
Really the company IL doing httle better
man when u was formed. Its annus
repoTt. soon To he made public, can hardly
show that il IL earning more than ~ per
ccn, on it, stock. and the report will make
formal admission. doubtless. of the sale
during the wear 81 the Brooklyn Union
and Kings County Elevated first mort
gage bonds remaining In the company.
treasury. The real diffculty with this
road and there IL no reason why II
should not I've frankly stated Ia its over
equalization and its burdens in the shape
Il necessary provisions for the excessive
guarantees allowed To the Brooklyn city
Railroad. Nassau and other surface railway
stocks when these were absorbed by this
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. The
PAYMENTS and contracts made 10y ex-Gov,
Flower a, that time were far too sanGuine
II In times 81 exceeding general prosperity
like tho-e Of the last two years, when the
road has had all the business u could handle
" Gan make no better showing than IL has
done. the sagscious observer must dis
miss the question 10 dividends upon the
s'ork. and direct his attention TO the se-
curi,y q the company's fixed charges. In
d~,d. ComInon sense plainly enough indi-
cs,es the future reorganization % the
property
Favorable events % the week werc the
strong financial statements Of tho Penn
svlvaniA Railroad and Of the United States
S'ocl Corporation and OF the continued
gratifying reports from the iron and steel
business, and. broadly speaking. from the
entire trade of the country. But the effect
9TH" steel %company'- report was overborne
IN the general scepticiSm excited az inst
all industrial securities; while good re-
ports of the Pennsylvania and other rail-
rad companies werc offset. in a measure
nv the annual statement Of the New York
Central system This showed. rather sur
pnsingly, a net loss. though a small
mo, for the wear. due almost entirely
% al inrrra-e In operating expenses
Tho greater part Of these increased
ulrrating eNpeus's was cau-,d by the in-
,r"a~~d cost of transportation. thu chief