Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-06
BULLS And BEARS

NEW YORK, February 6-Complaint has
been made lately by some Ontario and
western stockholders because there has
been no dividend since the Ii Per cent
paid last July, Apparently these stockhoid-
ers thought that the declaration Of s. .
share in 1904. on which the yStfng trust
was disaolved. followed by the declaration
Of IL Der cent In the middle Of the next
year. established the stocks on per
cent basis. In the semi dividends Of
lh per cent. The general understanding
has been. however. that for the present, at
least. the dividend on the stock had not
been established at very definite rate. 1t
was onicialiy fntimated last summer that
the declaration at that time must not be
regarded az a precedent.
1t was further stated In the New Ravens
report for last year that the Ontario and
would probably be able to pay a sufficient
dividend to cover the cost OF interest on
the New Ravens controlling shares. the
Implication being that for q while, anyway
no dividend In excess Of that would De
paid The New Haven has not far from
cost about $i3. 5O0, 900. A dividend of IA
per cent year on the total owned by the
New Haven yields about $3.50, eco, or about
31s per cent on the cost Of the New Ha-
Yen's stock.
How the stock market Is likely to take
authoritative announcements or definite dis
closures of the greater and lesser deals
that are believed to account for the per-
sistent accumulation of many important Is
sues, Is one of the interesting subjects OF
daily debate In the customers room OF
brokerage houses. In times past such de-
yelopments with a big bull speculation UNI
der way have served to infiame the speeu-
iative imagination, stimulate the appetite
for more news of the same kind, breed or
foster confidence In rumors of other deals
that never materialized and induce more
or less heavy buying of the list. thus per-
hitting liberal profit-taking and distrfbu-
tioa
Big deals when announced have even
been known to cause further striking ad-
vances In the stock directly affected. In
the last two years Wall street has had a
market so thoroughly proportional that II
has been heavily sold on good news, and
the distinct tendency has been to sell and
not to buy on such occasions. 1t must be
admitted. however. that such good news
has included very little In the nature of
deal of any magnitude. and todays mar
ket, which has upset so many presidents
and has In so many ways shown features
and characteristics that have baff1ed expe-
rience-is still riddle when one endeavors
to figure out its probable course. following
Developments Of moment to particular Sc
curities.
Apparently much VIII depend on the ma
ture and import Of the deals. 1t Is more
than doubtful is the market would accord
a gracious reception to one involving the
manufacture Of new securities on an ex-
tensive scale. 1t Is also probable that In
order to induce such buying as will absorb
the deal-makers' stocks. the developments
must be intrinsically and really valuable to
those stocks.
The extent to which Washington is a fac
tor in the present stock market IL indi
Gated by the following extracts from Olet-
ter Of Bartlett Frazier & Darlington on
yesterdays dealings:
'.Close attention was paid to Washington
because of the knowledge that a bill was
In preparation to limit the operations OF
railroads and to prevent their control of
other properties, such as coal mines and the
like. The purpose of that bill Is apparent
on its face and needs no comment. OF
course, 1t Is idle to discuss the prospective
but 1t seems very clear that we have ar
rived at a period when the demagogue has
the floor and when he has an attentive and
earnest audience.
''The Presidents insistence on rate legis-
lation HAS resulted In flood of bills hostile
to capital. and to railroads particularly. He
has loosed a flood that he may find difficult
to shut off, and 1t would not surprise us II
the fTeSluenl > OWN rate pOilcy were 10 BO
down in a reyulsion of feeling which is
likely to develop when the situation be-
comes clear. There have been abuses in
the railroad world, and serious abuses, but
it is question whether they can be RENE
died by some Of the historical legislation
that Is proposed.
1.-The Hepburn bill will be damned through
the House Of Representatives presumably,
and 1t is likely to pass the Senate. Any
one who believes that 1t Is a conservative
measure should read its text and then
analyze the possibilities of the enforcement
of such law under changed administra-
ton. Frankly, we do not believe that the
Hepburn bill. as proposed. will be ever sue
cessfully put into operation. Some of the
other bills before the House have a queer
look about them. The stock market Is,
after all. the most attractive gamble In the
world"
4
Readers of averages will probably say
that the markets tendency is still upward
According to records, it has In that case
followed normal course since the slump
last week There was sharp recovery
from the bottom on Tuesday Of last week
Then there was irregularity and another
break but on the second break prices did
not go down to the last low level and there