The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-04-23
RAIL MARKET AS
TRADE BAROMETER
BIG RAILROAD MEN SAY THEY
ARE NOT BUYING.
This Causes Depression of United
States Steel, Which Affects j. r.
Morgan, and That Hits Wall Street
Condition Regarded as Indicating
Slack Trade in the West.
Special to The Journal

Special to The Journal
New York, April 23.-StuyvesantI
Fish Of the Illinois Central says: We
shall not need to order steel rails or
any supplies, since our contracts for
these were placed some time ago.
James J. Hill, Great Northern-Wet
are not placing orders for steel rails
and have placed none for xmanyl
months. We are doing very little
construction work. We are develops
ing what we have done.
w. B. Leeds, Rock 1sland-Rocki
Island is not in the market for either
rails or equipment at present. Wei
bought our supplies last year. Sssl
e. II. Hartman, Southern Pacific
Our improvements are about COM
pleted and the end Of the present year.
should see a cessation of the heavy
improvement charges on this road.
These four quotations should con-
vince any one who reads them Of the
exact conditions prevailing on western
lines. This halt in railroad expend1-
ture is not peculiar to one road or
one group of roads, but to all roads,
big and little, east and west
The four men quoted ab e1 are are
both traffic and banking conditions.
They will talk by the hour about the
peculiar conditions that insure to their
systems good earnings, no matter
what happens to the rest Of the tcoun-
try. Most of them will say the trouble,
is in Wall street and Pittsburg. They
are willing to forget that the curta1l-
ment of their orders for steel at Pitts
burg is one of the great causes. II
caused the collapse Of the steel trade.
which caused the decline in United
States Steel, which caused the decline,
Of j. P. Morgan, which is the under-,
| lying cause Of the public ,distrust of
Wall street and all that is in Wall
street
At the moment most Of them are
not talking very much, and what they
| do say is tinged with hopefulness.
They say, for instance, to quote ME-.
Fish: II look for continuance Of
good business and expect an Improve
ment in net earnings" Mr.. Fish does
not say much about gross earnings.
On the same day that Mr.. Fish made
2 the above remark, one Of his traffic
men said: There is less tonnage
coming to the road than a year ago,
but we manage to keep pretty busy.
That puts the whole matter in a
I nutshell. Traffic returns per mile in
gross are just about the same as last
year; the future depends on the crops.
But to make up, the roads have cut
down expenses, curtailing orders for
rails, taking on only half the extra
men they took on last year, and post
poning improvements promised FOL
this year. So the mills at Pittsbure
and the car shops at St. Louis are
a drumming light: where for the past three
years they havezrun with nigh shifts
The railroad situation indicates a let
ting UP Of business thru the west. vi
) The western railroad men are talk.
z ing Of the st. Louis exposition as e
: cure-all. They look to tremendous
traffic on a2-cent fares, Or less, to max.
over the traffic returns Of the grea
| freight lines. Doubtless they know
| that passenger traffic at excursion
| fares has never made a railroad. 4
may be that this magnificent sadver.
] tisement will remake the southwest
people it's empty territories and fl
its many empty treasures. The rail
road people say it will.