Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-14
Inside of Wall Street.
BY EDWIN LEFEvRE.
Copyright, 1905. by Mcclure. Phillips 4 Co.,

plain. A blind man couldn't help seeing It.
But there might be trouble about the mar
gin. Well. the magnate knew some brokers
who would accept small margins. like
do what the public good demanded and Cos
mopolitan would do the rest In the stock
market. And the aldermen did. even II
they themselves were not long of the stock.
Somebody else was. A famous operator.
whose courage Is proverbial and whose
abilities as a market manipulation are OF
the highest. has always. dreaded the wit
ness stand. To avoid going on 1t, not SO
very long ago, he put up the price Of q
certain stock 20 points. A prominent politi-
clan, trading through a house whose re-
speciality is above suspicion. made q
clear $4,000 by the judicfOus purchase OF
and Ohio. No favor was asked by or done
to the company, but there was no witness
stand, and no 'racking cross-examination"
of the well-knowns- stock operator. Every
body was satisfied. and no law was violated
Proof Of Payments.
From the nature of things it Is manifestly
impossible to submit documentary proofs Of
these stock market payments. There is a
commission firm in Wall street that for
years has made specially of handling po-
pitical accounts; that is. certain statesmen
holding no public Office trade through this
house. Whenever the observation-disclosures
bought or sold stocks of western roads or
of corporations not doing business in New
York city the other customers paid no at
tention to their operations. But let the
other customers by devious methods learn
that the statesmen were buying Manhattan
or Metropolitan or Consolidated Gas, and
everybody got aboard One fine day the
statesmen would cash in. The next day
the stock would stop going up and begin
to descend. And the curious thing was that
as often as not 1t could not be learned that
n bod clyn1 CO.. E-v
But. after all, the thing comes back to
the old American optimism which has made
the habftual watering Of capitalization in-
evitable The history Of the two gas COM
P P OF Greater New York is but typical
They are consultations Of several COM
panies. some of which were in turn earlier
consultations. The economic tendency of
the times Is toward concentration. Money
Is saved by 1t and greater efficiency results
The savings effected come in handy; they do
not reduce the cost to the customer but
they help to pay dividends on the additional
water. At first the stock is worth say 80
cents on the dollar. Labor-saving devices
are introduced. The company earns more.
The stock rises. 1t is logical enough and
legitimate enough. The cost Of producing
gas Is reduced by improved processes and
new inventions. The company does not
snare 1t with the public; 1t uses it to in
crease dividends. By so doing 1t makes
the stock more valuable. What once was
two-thirds water has now become a safe
investment. Great is the wealth OF the
metropolis.
A great financier has said that a railroad
STOCK In the United States should not nav
more than per cent annually. II it paid
more the public would think 1t was earning
700 much money, and might demand reduce
tlons IN the rates and other things which
YOU'D check progress and development.
Does the public get the reduction? No.
does the stock pay more than 7 per cent?
NO. The stock is merely doubled. The
doubled stock gets the conservative Der
cent dividend which can arouse no popu-
that the doubled stock paying 7 ner
cent per annum Is not the old stock paving
"a -; per cent, which would lead to confisca.
ion Dy grating legislatures. The stock
holders are the public, The stockbo,dors
are penehted Ergo. the public has no
KICK coming, as large stakeholder of one
VI the gas companies said the other day. II
explains why In Wall street there 20 -
e lines enough to go round enough to go as