The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-06
DECISION HANGS
 OVER TIE MARKET Northern Securities Case is a
 ParaIyzing Factor WALL STREET FULL OF TIPS Bets Are Offered at Odds That Decs- ion Will Be Against the Securities
 Company, While Result Is
 Closely Watched.
WALL STREET FULL OF TIPS
BY w. G. NICHOLAS.

BY w. G. NICHOLAS. New York, March 5.-(SpeciaL)-It is |
 the Northern Securities decision which is
 hanging over the market The delay on
 the part of the supreme court in hand
 ing down this decision is offered in ex- planation of the paralysis which seems
 to have overtaken the stock market at this time. For a year or more the an-
 nouncement has been made with great
 frequency that any decision which might
 be rendered by the supreme court had
 been discounted. It would appear. how
 ever that this discounting has to be done
 over again about every thirty days. Wall
 street is grumbling loudly over the appar-
 ent indifference of the supreme court to
 the necessities of stock speculation and
 to the urgency of the demands of com
 mission earners. When their business
 gets slack the great horde or men in and
 about the brokerage and commission
 houses feel the pinch sharply. There are ] fewer banquets, fewer box parties at the
 opera, a diminished number of winter | trips to Florida and California and a
 general curtailment in the personal ex-
 penses of the high-hyers. Consequently, l whenever anything happens to kill off l speculative enthusiasm there is much dis
 content in the street.
 There are scores Of commission and l brokerage houses in Wall street whose i daily expenses range from $500 to S1000
 each. It is estimated that there must be
 an average business of from 100000 to 5OO,- l 900 shares on the exchange to pay the ex-
 penses of the game. For weeks the aver
 age has not been above 25O,000 shares. 1 There have been days when high as l 1,000,0 900 shares have been traded in but
 these are rare and at the present time
 the volume has run down to below 100000 shares. This means tribulation for hun
 dreds and thousands of brokers in the financial district. It means heavy losses to the proprietors of all of the larger
 houses. Very few people have ever taken the trouble to make careful estimates of
 the cost of maintaining the machinery of speculation in the New York stock mar
 ket. The total is enormous and the pub
 lie foots the bill A careful calculation was made some years ago that $50,000 a 1 day were required to pay the expenses l of maintaining the Chicago Board of
 Trade, no account being taken for inter
 est on the capital invested. The cost of
 keeping up the machinery of the New York stock market is at least three times
 as much as that, or $150ooO day, grand
 total approxmating $i60O0,00O a year. This huge sum the pubic pays annually
 for the privilege of doing business in se- curities on the New York exchanges, it
 is estimated. But that amount, large as
 it is, by means represents the total tax upon the public. It does not take into
 consideration the speculative losses
 which are borne by the great army of | players. Not one trader in ten comes out
 with a whole skin at the end of a years operations, yet the Vaccinations of the
 game are so great and the prizes are so
 large that hundreds of thousands con-
 tinue to contribute.
 l In their anxiety to "get action" the rank
 and file of chronic spectators turned l from stocks when they got dull into cot l ton, grain, coffee and provisions. They l were directed into these special fields of
 trading by commission men and brokers, and the public has lost an immense l amount of money. When speculation
 breaks loose in these commodities the
 bulk of the money that changes hands
 passes to the bank accounts of the speci- | alists or some group or combination of
 men who understand the game thorough 1 ly and take advantage of unusual condi-
 tions. Even the cleverest among these spectators oftentimes lose money. It is
 said of Sully, the cotton king" that he | overstaid his game and played back mill | lions of the profits of his series of spec | tacular deals According to current l gossip W. B. Brown, the New Orleans
 plunger Is about the only cotton special | st who got out anywhere near the top | and secured his profits. This great trader | Is said to have settled $1 ,000000 on his
 wife, and S1 100000 on each of his chil 1 dren and that after doing this he had | a balance to his credit of between $4,000,-
 900 and S6OO0,O0O. According to the com
 mon understanding in Wall street MT. l Sully was less fortunate, although he is 1 still far ahead of the game. Like many
 another player he drew cards once too often
 Two men, Herman Sielcken and L. l.. | Smith are said to have made the star | killing in the coffee boom. Sielcken has
 long been recognized as a leading author l ity in the coffee trade and of the | most successful merchants in that speci- 1 alty. Mir Smith was a member of the 1 old Gates Steel and Wire crowd. Be- l tween them they are reported to have
 cleaned up $3,00O,000 in one short cam
 paign, getting out at the very top and | distributing a great mass of the commo- | dity to a large and enthusiastic Hebrew l clientele MT. Smith has had a remark l ably successful career since he entered Wall street. and by his own admission
 has about s6,OO0.0OO invested in New York l real estate. l For several days Wall street has been | full of advance tips on the supreme court decision in the Northern Securities case. So confident are some of the candidates of this advance information as to the correctness of their advces that they are offering odds In the betting market that the decision will be against the Securities company. Bets have been made to 1 on this proposition although strong belief is prevalent that the finding of the lower court may be softened or modified to some extent. On the other hand positive assurances are heard that the decision of the supreme court will be drastic and that it will afford no loop-hole of escape | for the Hill combination or any chance to | continue the holding company under a | new guise. Already sanguine Wall street people are saying that if the supreme 1 court rules against the Securities com pany a bill will be immediately passed | through congress amending the Sherman | and other antitrust laws, so that rail road combinations may be made along | fhe lines originally protected by Mr. Hill