The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-02-19
FAKE" COMMERCIAL NEWS

John Hyde, chief statistician of the de-
partment of agriculture, is complainant
in suit against a New Orleans firm
prominent in the cotton trade. BY rea-
son of his joint authorship
in "a book dealing with the
wheat problem, his miscellaneous
writings, and the fact that the stamp of
his approval has to go upon the periodical
government estimates of wheat yields,
Mr.. Hyde is known to the Minneapolis
grain trade. The last government esti-
mate of the cotton crop was a surprise to
the cotton trade. 1t was under the averH
age Of private estimates. Naturally; it
affected the speculative cotton market in
some degree favorably. Some time later
the New Orleans firm cabled their Liver
pool correspondents that a congressional
Investigation being made Of rumored ir-
Irregularities had confirmed suspicious re-
garding the unreliability Of the bureau S
estimate. Mr.. Hyde says this is untrue.
He asks $4,000 for injury to reputation.
This brings us to a consideration of SO
| called "stock exchange ethics, which
characterize speculative. markets. Men
pride, and very justly SO, to the high
standard of honor that there maintains
On the floor of the New York stock ex-
| change for example, trades are momen-
tarily made involving large values. One
man buys a block of stock. Later the
,,5 Tn, chor irpe
he is out perhaps thousands of dollars
| When he bought he made a memorandum
on a little pad The seller did likewise
| To this time there has been no contract
passed. To deny having bought the stock
| would save him thousands. There is, as
mans say so, whose word certainly is nc
better than his own. Yet to the credit Of
the exchange cases of attempted repudia-
tion are unheard of. 9
! Go beyond the trading room into the
street and it is different. Here it is oper
warfare, where all is fair Years ago
when Daniel Drew dominated Wall Street
he said: Speculation, like the profession
| of arms, is a fierce and dangerous call.
ing. My word is my bond. Never have :
betrayed friend or broken a promise
But l. am here to win by whatever means
and with ME you will find no hesitation
no compromise, nor have<I time for sym
pathy."e Jay Gould was a wrecker o
railroads, but his personal obligation wa
a sacred thing with him.
| MANY ron,,t a hlo I,oI,coc of ~ bou ~,
taken the ethics Of Drew and Gould a
. their own, and consider it fair to u.s.
almost any means to- further their ends
Instances OF this Of local application ar
numerous. The last that comes to MINI
occurred Monday, Feb. 3. A. !. :
On that day the supreme court was ex
pected to hand down the preliminary de
cision in the Northern Securities compan:
case. A prominent New York banking an,
stock exchange house claimed to have in
side information from Washington tina
the decision would deny the right of tn
state of Minnesota to bring suit. o
course they had no such information TIL
supreme court does not leak But thei
insistence upon it no doubt had som
effect upon speculative sentiment. TIL
next day it transpired that the house il
question was the heaviest seller of North
ern Securities on Monday.
The speculative grain markets at time
meet with influences founded upon false
hood. Soon there will be more detaile,
reports Forthcoming of winter wheat con
ditfons. And then the spring wheat will
be watched. With the numerous reports
nearly all reliable or at least the expires
sion Of honest opinion will be found tn
modicum of sensational items These tn
trader must sift out and decide upon in
dividually. The stock exchange sensation
monger fourishes the year round, tn
crop killer, or he who would exaggerat
favorable conditions, has a short season
and usually makes the most Of his time
! There seems no way to eliminate tn
unreliable from the daily news of tn
speculative world. The disseminate ion @
reports known to be untrue is an evi
hard to eradicate. Mr.. Hyde's suit will
be watched with interest, yet, if he wins
ut will be because the cablegram was
reflection upon him rather than becaus
/! it was lie sent out for effect upon TIL
l price Of cotton.
AHAIlcrasrAy-o