Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29
THE INSIDE OF
WALL STREET
BY EDWIN LEFEYRE,

In the past few days Wall street has wit
messed a revival of speculative activity. 1t
Is not so much that the stock market
doomed wildly, but that the volume of bust
ness increased from the discouraging totals
of the previous fortnight. and especially
that change came over the spirit of many
SPECTATORS dream. For a long time the
stock market maintained a state of almost
perfect equilibrium-which was exasperat-
ing to a community that asks only that
stocks shall move. Up or down, 1t does not
matter which way prices go, SO long as they
fiuctuate There is profit in either buying
or selling securities if the price moves the
right way, but it must move. The change
that came in the direction of higher
level and with the advancing tendency came
inreased business. 1t may solace the I'M
philosophical bear to reflect that it was not
altogether genuine or natural rise, that it
was aided by more or less fragrant manip-
ulation and that the general public did not
come back to Wall street in droves. But
the fact remains that when the market
emerged from its rut it was to advance, and
that, however much the advance may have
been assisted by the manipulative tactics
Of ciiques and individual spectators, it sue
ceeded in arousing the long dormant gam
bling desire in several hundreds of people
far more quickly and easily than had been
deemed likely. Also that the bears lost
money
However. perhaps the most interesting
feature of the change was that the bull
squirt was neither planned nor executed by
the great powers of the street the financial
olgarchy that, we have so often been told,
Is forever arrayed against the great public's
pocket book. The great banking firms did
1.ya1 tive
for the rise. They may have graciously
permitted others to mark up prices and
doubtless abstained from going out of their
way to check the bull demonstration. But
they did nothing to convince the street that
they thought the movement was based on
solid merit. They were not, in o her words
leaders this time. 1t was not the arstoc-
Tacy. but the rich middle class of the street
which became suddenly and enthusiastically
optimistic and made prices rise. Indeed, in
the very abstinence of such firms as Kuhn,
Loeb & Co., J. p. Morgan & Co. and Speyer
u Co. from active participation in the little
bull squirt more than one conservative
operator read a warning against plungng.
One of them voiced the opinion of his class
when he said: Il see no reason why stocks
should not go up just now. But it looks as
If the big bankers did. They know more
about the money markets of the world
than | do. Therefore, since they are not
actively bullish. neither am L." Neyerthe-
less the victory was with the bulls and
however brief it may prove to be, it was
decisive enough to raise the question
whether. after all, the public could not be
coaXed back to tickerdom.
If in Wall street there Is struggle be-
tween the classes and the masses it has
therefore been shown that the classes are
of various degrees, just the mass s-the
public-are. In the highest rank are the
big banking firms alluded to and the Stand
rd Oil SET vub Of
only the individuals. but their allies-that is
just as Mr.. Hartman with his brains and
his millions. trains with the Union Pa
cific bankers, so must Mr.. George F. Baker
and the redoubtable First National Bank
party be included in the Morgan group The
Standard Oil cote-ie may may not follow
Kuhn, Loeb q Co. or the Morgan lead. 1t
may itself lead irrespective of the big
bankers wishes or plans but 1t is not apt
to be bullish when the others not for
the reason that the upper ten OF high
finance possess pretty much the same In.
side knowledge of general conditions and
none of them Is inclined to butt down stone
walls with their bare heads The allies OF
these men, the very rich Individual capital
lists and leaders of financial institutions
who have long and assiduously cultivated
habit of entering on the ground floor and
of working on the same side OF the market
seldom venture to take definite position,
irrespective of what their friends may
think, for the reason that they realize the
stupendous power of united effort and the
manlfOlu advantages tnefeOf- Each helps
the other. The leaders must have allies in
order to make money and the allies must
also make money else they would not long
be allies.
So far as the stock market is concerned
the second rank of the aristocracy is mostly
western, and that not because of numbers
SO much as of the daring plunging of such
men as the Rock Island crowd" the
Gates gang'-no offense meant-and few
lesser lights. The Rock Islanders do not
bag of the magnitude of their operations
and they do not parade the statistics of
their winnings. Neither are they ostenta-
tious In the matter of their losses. The
Gates push" as some of its members all /
tide to themselves, are equally daring |
piungers. But they are not taciturn
Among them are men worth millions Who