Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-17
WY NpusrRIALs AVE Low.
Public Confidence tn waterloEGed
Combines Badly Shaken.
~Philadeiphia Press.

81 BADLY Shakes
Philadelphia Press.
The Industrial has fallen on evil times.
Not even the enormous earnings which
the last report OF the United States Steel
trust Indicate. and which II has certainly
earned. have suhloed to advance it's stocks.
Nothing seems to be suf1cient 70 lead
the general public to treat the earnings
Of these corporations as are those Of rail-
roads In determining the value Of their
stock.
The Colorado Fuel and Iron company,
which a month ago was to lead the ascend
ing line OF these securities. has dropped
abruptly some twenty-three points, from
no. in q short time. and has passed its
dividend. These have been few. however.
during the last ten years. Once. Just be-
fore 1893. and again in the recent boom.
But the fall In this company means less
than the abrupt fall Of the American Ice
company. which found itself In trouble last
week. having fallen from s1T, which It
was last January, to 12h, which 1t was last
week. It, too. has deferred It's dividend
and decided on a bond issue. The Dis
filling Company OF North America Ia going
through q "readjustment" and has fallen
from 10 last February. to 81.
These all are added to the long list, which
Includes Asphalt, AmalgamAted Copper,
United States Rubber company. which has
begun to advance, but Is still less than
half its price a year ago. and others In like
condition.
1t is true Of all Of these that they have
gone through the same change which found
the American Sugar Refining company (ths
Sugar trust) melting 90 per rent OF the
sugar used in this country. and leaves Il
~ lgaa AA- - Ara
increase in competition. When the United
States Rubber company was consolidated IL
included practically all the plants in the
country. Today it's capacity is considerably
less than half. When the Asphalt trust
was formed 1t united the competitive COM
panies in a single corporation. II IL no
longer without a rival. Even the Steel
trust ~ another year will have q much
smaller fraction Of the steel and iron out
put OF the country than when II was or
ganiEed. II Is for this reason that It de-
sires to issue $50, 100000 OF bonds and tho
prudent among It's preferred stockholders
are trying to turn themselves into creditors
at 5 per cent instead OF remaining preferred
stockholders at Z per cent.
The broad difference between these COM
panies, however, and the same plants when
they were in private ownership is that the
tOoSI uue 10 lack III pEOuIS, ueCEehStnB OUT
put, or even suspension. was once felt by a
few. and is now felt by tens of thousands.
The recent lists which have been published
Of the stocks held in the steel trust show
how widely the securities are diffused.
Probably five years ago not over 5000 per-
sons owned all Its plants. Today they arc
owned by nearly so, 600 persons. The
management and control OF these corpora
lions depends no longer on ownership, but
upon manipulation, speculation and man
a%gement." The steel trust has in all TO-
1856, 602 shares. The largest individual
holder holds 16s. $40 shares, or q little less
than 2 per cent OF the entire stock. There
is no combination which holds even 10 per
cent. Ownership is diffused through q
vast number OF small stockholders, who are
only too glad to vote for any group OF able.
powerful and visible men who seem likely
to give them dividends.
There is a complete change from past
conditions Of manufacture. in which those
who controlled owned and those who owned
controlled. 1t will render 1t possible to
plumber any Of these industrials whenever
ability and integrity happen to be separated
In their management.