The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-30
PRESSURE TO SELL
FROM THE START
Market Closes at Bottom Prices
Despite a Favorable Bank
Statement

NEW YORK. April 29:-The conditions
of distrust in the New York market which
have been growing for some time broke
into furious storm of liquidation today
and swept away all support. Selling under
pressure of necessity found practically no
demand TO meet it and the comprehen-
siVe slump in prices was the result. The
weakness was multiplied by the decline in
| prices and many additional offerings were
forced upon the market by lenders of
money soicitouS for the value of their
collateral, by spectators desiTOuS of linn
iting their losses and by holders on mar
gin who are forced out by their brokers
I as the margins We're wiped out. The con-
ditions which resulted We're those of panic.
| The professional bear operators. of course,
| added their efforts to aggravate the de-
I cline and reaped rich harvest on the
! slump. The violence of the decline. the
I urgency of the selling and the lack of the
| confidence argued by the small demand
4 to buy at any stage of the decline natu-
rally gave rise TO many rumors of finan-
| cial difficulties.
| The pressure under which the members
| of speculative pools and various stock
market plungers were laboring was suf-
hcIently obvious, but TO this We're added
fears OF financial weakness in more inn
portant quarters Nothing developed af-
/ fecting Intrinsic conditions to account for
| the enormous liquidation. The bank
statement made a strong showing, the
considerable loan reduction together with
an effective increase in cash. expanding
| the volume of the surplus by over one
tnlIO TO nearly Sl.OOU.OOO. The break IN
| the market could not be traced to money
| market conditions. although next weeks
! heavy requirements received some consid-
| Grafton. The tone al the closing gave
no clear evidence that the storm had pass
ed, prices i'm some cases closing al the
| lowest with the furious activity unabated.
| for the closing before the reporting of
| accumulated transactions on the tape was
1 completed. The extreme losses extend
/ very generally from l to 4 points and
4 for RuffllO RnPhaSfar and pift Chnrr
| there was decline of 1lA Northwestern
| preferred $%. Cleveland, c., c. x st. Louis
Rubber preferred IA. New York Central
| z, and for an extensive list of active
stocks from to 5A. the latter figure for
st. Paul
Total sales of bonds. par value
| The stock market this week has been
| given over to paying the penalty, of the
unbridled speculation which had been
| rampant previously. The process of LETT
| ting out speculative imitation in the stock
market and In the wheat market has in
| tensified the penalties. The parallel specu-
| iation in the stock market and in wheat
was highly sensitive to- the course of
! events in the other. Many observers hold
the view that the collapse OF the wheat
corner was almost entirely responsible for
| the overthrow of the speculative fabric
OF the stock market but this view ignores
the prevalence of similar influences to-
wards imitation which have figured i'm the
great rise in stocks. 1t is seldom that a
great speculation had been carried to
elimination in face of such a body of op-
| posing conservative sentiment of fire.
quently uttered warnings and of authori-
! tative disclaimers OF the rumors upon
which the advance in prices was based.
| Practically all of these various SUPPOSE
tions have been suddenly abandoned this
week and as a consequence stocks were
sold by those who had bought In the faith
| that the Suppositions We're true.
A cloud of these rumors has centered
about the Northern Securities company
/ and the beginning of the actual dissolu-
| tion of that company and the distribution
/ OF its assets has been the principal fac
| tor in discrediting them. The inconveni-
ences which result from the dissolution of
| this merger have been long known and
| recognized but assertions had been per-
| sistently disseminated. that the purpose
| served by the merger would be conserved
Dy alternative projects and that these
projects had been worked out in detail and
agreed upon. 1t seems probable that such
propects were discussed and negotiations
/ were had looking to their adoption It is
| difficult To account otherwise for the
| boldness and extent of the market opera
tions which have been pursued.
Railroad Situation Unchanged
But the conviction has emerged with the
progress of the dissolution of the COM
\ pany that the railroad situation in the
! northwest is left practically where II was
1 before the control of the Northern Pacific
] was secured by the Union Pacific and the
Northern Securities company formed In
/ cidentS were seized upon this week 10 in
| flame an apprehension that open hostili-
ties would result between powerful groups
OF capitalists. No clear policy has been
| furthered by Union Pacifc's holdings of a
minority interest in both Northern Pa
cihc and Great Northern in place of it's
former control of Northern Pacific and
| II was believed that its holdings of the
| two stocks would come upon the market
The affiliation of the Burlington with the
Pacific coast roads was believed TO be
! pushing st. Paul and Northwestern to
| competitive plans for a Pacific coast out
let The resignation of George Gould
from the Union Pacific board to give az
tention to the Western Pacific was looked
upon as another measure of competition
| and the question raised over the old Car
negle company CONTRACT for United States
Steel tonnage to the Gould roads was re-
! gaFded as another threat OF reprisals for
/ grievances elsewhere
At the same time the appointed meet
| ing OF boards of various companies with
| out dividend increases which had been
| foretoid, or without completing various
| merger projects which had been expected
amongst steel smelling and lead com
| feet OF the prophets of these things. An
| example of the effect of the exaggerat ted
! predictions current was the response OF
| the United States steel stocks to the re-
| port of quarterly operations of that COM
pany. The report showed the high degree
! OF prosperity existing in that industry.
| but the estimates of the ret earnings
which had been circulated previously ran
several million dollars ahead of the actual
showing. disappointed spectators there
| fore sold
BigeIow's 5anefuI Work
Much influence must be allowed for the
sentimental effect of the revelation of the
great bank defalcation at Milwaukee due
TO speculation in wheat. Aside from the
actual loss involved a spread of suspicion
| Is the inevitable result, with unfavorabIe
| effect on the state of general confidence
| which Is so important an element in the
prosperity of business The life insur-
ance scandal and its free ventilation be-
fore the public is a vicious influence in
| the financial world. and is expected to
add TO the difficulty of marketing new
issues.
Confidence is not so firm in the ability
| of the money market TO meet all require
ments facing il. The weeks rise in ex-
change Is believed to reflect an accumuIa-
! ton in preparation for remittance of the
| Japanese loan subscriptions of which a
final inStallment OF $50. 000, 600 is payabie
| in New York on May %. Between NAV 1
and MAY subscribers to $100 600. 600 of
| Pennsylvania convertible bonds will he
called upon to pay so per. cent Of s,1h-