The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-12
Commercial, Financial and Polit-
ical Developments Kept
the Ticker Hot.
LESSON OF THE RECENT PANIC
Danger of Frenzied Speculation
Clearly Shown by One Mans
Ability to Upset Prices
and Cause Chaos.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL

| REPUBLIC SPECIAL
New York Dec. 1l.-Developments of the
week in the commercial, financial and po-
| litical world have been Of more than usual
| interest and Importance. So much. in
fact, has been crowded into the interval
and the entire period has been so seriously
disturbed by the wiid performances of a
| self-constituted speculative leader" or
stock-market dupe, that it is difficult even
yet to assign to a proper position and
determine the relative Importance and fu-
| ture Influences of the various new ele-
ments injected into the situation.
Commercially. the country has expert
enced a sharp Decline In the price OF the
greatest tstaple-cotton-with much attend
ant uncertainty and unsettlement to the
textile industry and also to Southern
planters and bankers.
Apparently some of the heresies
preached during the campaign Of educa-
ton for higher prices of cotton still lin
ger. What else can explain the reports
of meetings all over the South adHocat-
ing the holding back OF cotton. which
reach the extreme in the press dis
Ala? An organization of farmers there
propose to burn 1.0O0GO bales. pro-rated
through the Southland. in order to main
tain the price at 10 cents pound.
Developments of interest. but rather the
reverse of the case with cotton. High
prices there have been followed by the an
ncuncement OF wheat impottations from
west and now comes the Information that
a paternal government will apply the
drawback provision OF the Dingley tariff
act. remitting 50 per cent of the duty on
INN cd
form OF hour.
INCONSISTENCIES IN SITUATION.
There certainly seem to be some strange
Inconsistencies In an era Of prosperity
which brings about an embarrassment
of riches In the South. but which brings
the Northwestern miilers to their knees
pleading against the protective. or pro
an exception may be made in their case.
or more properly. that they may share
some Of the advantages of drawbacks on
imported goods re-eSported now enjoyed
to such marked degree by the un-plate
nanufa cturers of the East
Scarcely week has passed since Sec
retary Wilson hal all Wall street enthused
over the "unthinkable values of farm
products. and here are the planters OF the
South advocating the destruction Of some
So 009.000 of cotton and the Isfllers Of the
West beseeching Secretary Shaw to per-
nit them to bond their mills to share in
some of the wealth produced by our sis
ter country, the Lady of the SHOWS across
the border.
Financially the entire community has
been called upon to witness a remarkable
spectacle In the stock market-a spectacle
remarkable not only for the extent Of the
collapse In paper values and their equally
remarkable recovery. but also remarkable
for the manner la which the collapse was
brought about.
MINIMIZING IMPORTANCE OF PANIC
1t is not unnatural that Wall street
should seek to minimize the Importance OF
q semipanic produced. at least in part. by
the devices OF mountebank at coun-
try fair. Unsound as on many occasions
is the fiuctuation upon which speculative
market rests. it would never do to let the
impression go abroad that II can be top
pied over at will by a mass of incendiary
directed chiefly against blind-pool Sc
curity. but gradually expanding in scope
until properties Of various kinds and char
acters are included within the list. that
It makes little difference whether the
public was urged or forced to sell in
order to permit some overextended bear
operators TO cover. or in furtherance of
a mere vulgar stock-iobbing raid. The
result IS about the same In either case.
There are few signs Of wreckage in Wall
street as a result of Wednesdays and
Thursdays coIlapses. but no person IA
the outwardly smiling appearance OF
things into believing that the slump passed
Oft without injury
The entire community has had an object
ulative ventures. There is little that Is
cheering to the man stopped out at
the lowest prices to observe his Securi-
ties selling at highest figures within q few
hours He hss sustained his loss and is
out OF conceit with speculation for time
thereafter.