The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-08


 hind them were arrayed other interests almost as powerful as were represented by the petroleum kings.
 Josephine having been administered and dangerous expansion effectually stopped the need for further repression ceased.
 The spectacle is now presented of prac- tlcally all the great interests in Wall street working once more in substantial l accord. The wind and water has been pretty thoroughly squeezed out of securi- ties of every description and those in com mand of great enterprises feel once more | that they can proceed with legitimate de- velopment without fear of further finan- l cial backsets
 There is plenty of money for investment l Tn well backed stocks and bonds of new manufacture. This claim is borne out by the reception accorded the recent issue Of about $30,000 900 in bonds bearing the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Railroad company The issue was over subscribed | many times, fact which gave the Street | the first pleasurabe surprise it has had | in month. A portion of these bonds are for refunding purposes, but the proceeds | Of the majority will be used for the con- | struction of a great terminal station at | Washington, D. C., and for other needed | improvements. The necessity for enor- nous expenditures by this great railroad company to provide facilities for handling 1 Its business typifies the situation which 1 confronts nearly every important line of | railway in the country. The era of heavy expenditures for this purpose Is not past by any means. The Erie railroad the | Baltimore and Ohio, the New York Cen | tral, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western the Reading and the Wabash in the east; the Southern railway, the Sea- | board Air Line, the Louisville and Nash 1 vile and Illinois Central in the south; and the Rock Island, Missouri Pacific St. Paul, Union Pacific. Southern Pacific and Atchison in the west. are all in the same | boat. The terrific outlays of the last four or five years for betterments, extensions, | equipment and terminals still leave the work incompletel. The inability of most corporation no matter what their stand | ing to sell bonds or new issues of stock i during the last year has resulted in the | piling up of a large volume of floating | indebtedness which will be transferred to capital account at the earliest moment practicable The Pennsylvania got the start in this matter but other roads may be relied upon to get in line quickly. New | investment capital aecumulates rapidly and must find an outlet Life insurance companies alone are obliged to put out more than $4.000,000 a week. To this can be added the steady accretions to the for 1 tunes of the wealthier classes. which ac- cretions are not long allowed to remain idle. As soon as the market will stand it at least s25O coo, GOO in new railway bonds will be crowded for sale, of which at least s175 GOO GOO will represent the amount required to take up floating indebtedness,
 This sum seems formidable at first glance, | but Is really only about IA per cent of | the total railroad capitalization. This can hardly be tortured into an evidence of extravagant management or unwise ap- propriaton of funds. In circles of high | finance the opinion Is generally held that the bonds will be absorbed without forced effort and without inconvenience if proper care is exercised in not throwing the whole bunch on the market at once. Some of the old heads in Wall street
 find amusement in the action of the direc-
 tors and leading stockholders of the Mer- cantile Trust company of St. Louis in
 pledging their fortunes on the solvency of the institution. By the form of pledge to which they subscribe citizens of St. Louis
 worth $60 900. .0G0 to 900 bond them selves in perpetuity to secure creditors and depositors against loss. Wall street law yers seem to think that the pledge will
 be perpetual lien on the estates of the men entering into the bond and that great difficulty will be experienced in extricat- l dorsement, however. shows the danger of subscribing to hastily written pledges. | Wall street is taking only the most
 anguid interest in the approaching ses- sion of congress- The hope of important financial legislation has been practically abandoned and seemingly those who were loudest in their demands for congressional action a few months ago have stopped thinking about it. So far as the street is concerned there is in sight very little that is likely to be of interest in the least of Washington possibilities during the com winter. The supposition Is that the two parties will put in a good share of the time playing politics and preparing mate rial for campaign consumption next year. It is the expectation that various devices will be resorted to by the minority at each end of the capitol to force trust investi- gation of one sort and another. mild fear is entertained that the republican leaders may conclude to steal the oppo- sitons thunder and engage in an anti trust crusade on their own account, seek ing thereby to make capital This is the only dsqueting feature in the situation here.
 The developments fin the copper war in Montana have not materially changed the prospects so far as can be learned. The Heinze persistence in the face of long continued and determined Standard Oil ef- fort to oblterate him from the situation has somewhat demoralized believers in the omnipotent force of the petroleum millions. The Rockefeller party has met in this obstinate German foeman worthy of its steel. Admitting everything bad that is said against Heinze he has demon -t.. ftasl slftrffl al