The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-15
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL
TUESDAY, April II

IaCts OF the financial ttuatiOu DfOu&n
about in Wall Street to-day q state Of com
parative sanity. II was considered Inn
| probable, upon reflection. that the decision
| In the Northern Securities case effected tn
disruption Of every partnership In the land
| invalidated the majority OF the contract
made In the railway and industrial work
| for the last ten years. or brought tn
| country to the verge OF ruin. Even thos
| speculaters whooe operations are con
Quoted wholly upon the look OF tn
market remembered that after 30 great |
decline in prices as has been witnessed
eliminating in a sharp break and Q da,
OF very large transactions. all reasonable
probabilities favored one OF two facts
that the end Of the decline had beer
reached or that veritable panic was ap
preaching. The more these operator
thought OF the matter the more II was i'm
pressed upon them that the first named
occurrence was the more likely. Panice
to begin with. rarely happen at the enc
OF great fall In prices; neither are they
usually seen when call money Ia offered
on the Stock Exchange at per cent. Were
there any radical unsOundness In Wal
Street or In the business life OF the country
toms of it, and this barometer OF condi'
tons. instead Of indicating storms, points
to smooth seas and smiling sky for the
near future. at any rate. Many operators,
indeed. to-day, professed the most gloomy
approximations; they busted themselves,
nevertheless. with buying stocks. factor
making very much for the comfort OF
timorous people in commission houses
before the opening Of the market wa
the acknowledged presence Of buying
orders In large volume from out Of town
sources. Country people. instead Of being
scared over the Northern Securities affair
seemed to be pleased with II, in that II
gave them an opportunity, at last, OF pur-
chasing securities at low figures. Advices
received by the large commission houses
to-day from their correspondents In inte-
rior cities were that the Northern Securities
decision was received in those places with
exceeding equanimity. Neither did foreign
markets seem at all disturbed at what had
taken place; purchases for foreign accounts
here to-day were estimated at SO. 0O0 shares
II stocks had been at the level at which
they were six months ago there Ii small
doubt that the Northern Securities de-
cision would have worked havoc in Wall
Street But the strength Of the entire
situation at present is the fact that for
many months the public. instead Of being
buyers of securities, have been sellers
thereof. and that commission houses are
bare Of stocks as they have not been for
years. 1t Is apparent that such liquidation
as occurred in the market yesterday repre-
sented the frightened selling Of certain
large spectators and that very little OF il
was due to the exhaustion Of margins or
was in any way Of an enforced order. 1t
was accompanied, moreover. with reckless
speculative sales for the fall What be-
came clear to-day was that the flrst-named
operators had lost their heads and that the
class last described had heavily overtraded.
To the fact which has at all times stood out
prominently. but which Wall Street after
its usual fashion has seen fit to ignore. is
now accorded something OF its true i'm
portance. namely, that almost none Of the
railway and industrial mergers that, it
is asserted, are affected by the Northern
Securities decision are so open to attack
as was the Northern Securities Company.
Government interference with these COM
binations cannot occur in any event until
after the Supreme Court has confirmed
the construction Of the law as laid down
by the United States Circuit Court OF Ap-
peals; and then proceedings against these
various companies must he a matter OF proof
in each instance and must involve many
intricate questions Of law and fact that
were not at all presented in the Northern
Securities case. Even In q specula tive
sense, merely. il must be considered that
the chances lie heavily in favor of such a
modification OF the Antitrust law before
prosecutions under IL become general
that little OF the great work of concentra-
ton of business energy that has gone on
in the period named will need to be undone.
Finally. there was to-day much more Of a
disposition in the financial community to
consider the results OF Government pro-
ceedings OF this sort in past years. Heavy
blows were. apparently, dealt to the Trans
Missouri Traffic Association. the Trunk
Line Association. the Addyston Pipe and
Steel Company, the Standard Oil Company.
the American Sugar Refining Company
and very many similar combinations; yet
those concerned in theae organizations
speedily found a way to accomplish all
that they desired by legal means.
Prices to-day came from London at sd-
vances OF to IA points above the closing
figures OF yesterday In this market. Our
market was steady at the opening. was
feverish for a little while and then be-
came strong. Prices gradually advanced
throughout the day and closed at the high
est, gains Of about points being made in
the prices OF active stocks az compared
with the low prices OF yesterday An