The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-03
WHY THE BOOM BUSTED
Hartford COurant,


There is no denying the passage of 'the
BOOM 1t has gone where the woodbine
twineth. Steel common has dropped from
sly to 1917, decline representing
nominally a shrinkage in valued s17S,-
900. The shipbuilding Trust, which
was supplied with water enough. to" float
its own product and to. drown Its. own
shares. collapsed entirely, and the Trust
Company of the Republic, which. went to
$50 on its connection with this bonanza,
had to be recognized and the stock
dropped below So. The United States
Realty company Of New York, which was
underwritten by a syndicate; has skipped
its second regular quarterly dividend
and the capitalists who stood to add mil
lions by their keen financing, find them
selves stuck for 4s per cent loss on their
subscriptions. The Amalgamated Copper
company, whose stock at 120 was the sure
refuge for widows and orphans, is now
at Is. Where the widows are is not ex-
planned. The international Mercantile
Marine concern, which affrighted all Eng
land and was going to- corner the ocean,
is. selling at. about 8 for the common and
below - for the preferred stock. The
Consolidated Superior companies, which
seem to have a property Of actual value,
cut down It's capital from above 500 ,O0O,-
600 to $30,000,000, and now fails for a
paltry 100000. These are only in
stances. There is hardly an industrial
trust, capitalized for the sale of its shares,
that is paying even. its cumulative divi-
dends. Many are busted" ....
In the stock market solid and unques-
tionable stocks are quoted at figures in
credlbly- below those of two years ago.
The Chicago & North Western, a tradi-
tionally conservative and rich concern, is
selling about 100 points per share below
where 1t sold then Look at New York
central pennsylvania and so on. The
owners of these have the same fraction of
the entire property they had before, and
so far have the same dividends, but when
it comes to sitting down and figuring up
what they are worth, they find they have
had 'heavy losses.''~ These are all on
paper, but still he is a profound philoso-
pher who does not feel poor after such an
examination. "-G- = -
Now when people feel poor the appetite
for speculation is dull. They take
chances thru a feeling that they can stand
1t In the improbable contingency of loss
| If they stand face to face with a. loss
| Which they recognize, then they have had
| losing enough and are out of the running
It Is the fashion in certain quarters tc
! lay the present condition of inactivity tc
| President Roosevelt for permitting the
| suit against the Northern Securities com
! pany and here and there you can heal
famous case in Jim" Hills favor, the1
on will come the boom again more eager
than ever. It is not for us to say wha
| the supreme court is going to do, but i
is safe to say that, whatever it does, ths
| edge is off the public palate. Midas ha:
| gone fishing. You can cry his name w
! and down the streets but the people will
| not even look out to see If he is there
| they are sure he has given up his job
| Get rich quick is over. Business is chocl
full Of psychology A mental condition o
| exaltation has passed away and one, O
| introspection has come The people ar,
not thinking of getting rich, but rathe
| of not being any poorer. In this quee
world 1t will turn out that this very atti
tude is making them richer. But they d.
] not feel SO now, and decisions Of courts
rainbow articles in the newspapers, ant
other beguilements will not move them.
| The thing to do is to wait and see how
| the crops come out II we have fin,
! yield after all with high prices for foot
/ stuffs, then confidence will come gradual,
back. But it will meanwhile be worth TIN
while to ask yourself why she went
It wasn't because any schemes had failet
of being done. but because so many hat
| been already overdone The boomer, thu
i promoter, the two-and- two-make-e fgh
fellows have brought the present condi
tons in and now they kick because the,
could not keep a-going while longer
| Get down under their skins and you viii
find 1t was their notion to unload befor
the break came, and their surprise is no
that 1t has come, but that it came befor
they had, unloaded and while yet the,
| were unprepared. There were not lamb
| enough to go around.