The Minneapolis journal., 1905-11-25
WALL STREET AT
LAST WAKING UP.
Provincialism of Brokers Falling
Before News of Approaching
Z Rate Reform.
Realizing at Last that People and
President Are in Dead
Earnest.
journal Special Service.

journal Special Service.
New York, Nov. 25.-At last Wall
street seems to have awakened to full
realization Of the fact that the coun-
try and President Roosevelt are alike
in earnest in insisting upon radical
legislation that will give the Interstate
commerce commission absolute author
ity to revise railroad rates.
For long time the Wall street con-
tingent has been led around by the
nose by certain optimistic railroad
presidents. They have insisted, first OF
all, that President Roosevelt did not
really know what he wanted, and that
he could be bamboozled or film-hammed
into accepting some sort OF a compro-
mise, which would turn out in the end
to be complete triumph for railroad
interests.
No one here in the financial district
seems to have fully prepared for the
awful fact that the president and the
country generally know what they, are
after, and will insist upon having it.
Wall Street shivers.
It was cold shower bath to Wall
street when the report was circulated
here that the presidents ideas on
freight regulation actually had been
strong enough to capture majority OF
the members Of the senate committee
on interstate commerce. AS understood
in Wall street, the situation is: There
are enough republicans and democrats
on the committee, who will vote to sus-
tain the president, to make possible q
favorable report on any reasonable DILL
submitted by the house.
This is an entirely new point Of view
from the Wall street standpoint, be-
cause, as usual, New York people have
failed to take into consideration the
tremendous effect Of the overpowerin ne
public sentiment thruout the great ex
panse Of country west OF the ALE
ghanies.
Wall street operators, as a rule, in
cluding many men who ought to know
better, are inclined to- gage public sen
timent by what they may happen tt
hear on the subway trip from the Wal
dorf- Astoria to the immediate vicinity
of Trinity churchyard. They tnvari
ably neglect the rest Of the country
4 and this explains why the market ha
only today awakened to the fact that ;
momentous change in the entire system
Of railway management soon is to take
Suspects Break Is Near.
i. Certain large holders Of railway
shares have begun to let these secunri
ties pass out Of their possession. L
looks much as if they were beginning
to take their profits, and the street i
suspicious that sharp break in rail
road securities, based entirely on tn
legislative situation, is about to occur
| Union Pacific and Rock Island wer
} both kicked downstairs yesterday, an
> the decline was positively violent dur
: ing the last twenty minutes or so, jus
/ before the close.
There is a wel-defned belief tha
Rick Island, for instance, was ham
: mered by pretty much the same crow
e Of boomers who lifted Union Pacifi
prices, There is every reason to be
lieve that certain important interest
in both these stocks are getting "ou
s from under' in anticipation of ger
: eral selling, which may be expecte
e later on.
J. Now Taking Notice.
9 Also, the great and unthinking crow
on the Stock Exchange has begun
take alarm at the railroad situation
. There is no real reason for selling o
l. transportation securities, and yet a
u the indications are that certain of tt
biggest men in the street are "gettir
e out from under' number of railroa
10 properties, and are cleaning up the
o tables in anticipation of drop, whit
le they believe to be certain when the 81
IL uation in the senate actually develop
In the abstract, railroads are bett
investments than ever before. Rece
compilations show that they are ma
,e ing much more in gross and net pro
t. every week this year than in the san
IN weeks last year.