The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-03
BETTER OUTLOOK IN WALL STREET
The Purposes Of the Managers of the Rock
Island System.
BY w. G. NICHOLAS.

ana might henceforth be abandoned
secrecy has always been a. consnic,,oa,,
feature OF Standard Oil enternrisae
LIS appncatlon to the affairs of fine
steer trust after widespread adver-
using OF the fact that the public and
ne ne stoCknolders were to be taken into
the FULLEST confidence is sioDi6ca,t
of the growing sentiment amone, '' ant,,ai
owners and managers, of big indus
trials that it may not be best after
all to scatter too broadcast the inner
most details of the conduct of a bust
ness enterprise.
The formation of a blind pool to
take over the control of the Chicago
ana Alton has aroused curiosity in
wall street. ]. ]. Mitchell, president
OF the Illinois Trust and Savings
bank, appears to be the leading fig
ure In this mysterious deal. The pur-
pose of the scheme, as near as can
be ascertained, is to get hold of tba
control of the property and then try
ana md purchaser for it. In con-
nectlon herewith reports are afoat
tnaI the deal may be vastly more am
pltlous than this and involve the
merger of three or four other lines
including the Glover Leaf" Kansas
City and Southern and one of the
minor Iowa systems. What is to be
the ultimate fate of these properties
is at this moment purely speculative
proposition. In the absence of infor-
nation ma on the subject Wall street Cos
sip connects the Vanderbilts. fine
Rockefellers, Erie and Pennsylvania
with the star-chamber enterprise.
what the actual purpose of the blind
pool may be is likely to remain cloud
ed for good while. Mr.. Mitchell and
his associates have had a grip on AL
ton for several years. They have been
engaged in many combination and
speculative jobs, and are Skilled in
the arts of promotion and high
finance.
Conservative operators have been
getting out of cotton for some time
pack and the speculative market dur
ing the last few weeks has been left
almost entirely to the plunging ele-
ment and to a public which delights
In wild-price gymnastics. At IA cents
a pound for cotton it is very easy
to figure that the South has raised
SIO00,000,00 crop, and exaggerated es-
Inmates are made on that theory. The
South has unquestionably been ex-
ceed1ngly fortunate in securing high
prices for the cotton raised last year.
put the latest jumps in prices have
not been of general advantage to the
growers. The speculative contingent
has won and lost in the gamble, the
larger proportion of the real produc-
ers of cotton having let go their prop
erty earlier in the game. Even at in
side quotations, however, they realized
an immense profit on production and
are understood to be well satisfied
It is not every year that planters and
farmers are able to make from rs per
cent. to 125 per cent. on their crops,
and when they do, they should not
complain if the gamblers make a few
points. The cotton market has been
more exciting during the last sixty
days than stocks or grain, but indi-
cations point to a subsistence of the
fever
The government report, which con-
tanned an estimate of . the value Of
farm products for 1903 has had a re-
assuring effect upon the securities and
money market. There is something
impressive in the official announce
ment that real wealth to the amount
of $500, 10000 comes out of the soil
in single year, and that is what the
Department of Agriculture has said
under the seal and signature of Secre-
tary Wilson. The reports of the great
surplus states make the total yield of
corn very much smaller than given
by the government bureau, but at
worst large crop was raised and
farmers are getting good prices. All
of this has a distinctly tonic influence
in Wall street, which is reflected in
the quotations on the Exchange.
Money promises to be in plentiful sup
ply during the next six months. Large
financial operations which have been
held in allegiance for the last year are
being pushed ahead to successful con-
clusion. Railroads will have slight
difficulty in floating reasonable issues
of bonds to take care of outstanding
floating indebtedness and to provide
for commitments.