Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-25
Mansfield Stock is in Demand
|. w. THOMPSON

easily marked up. They have been used
time and time again to stimulate public
interest In the market because while they
are advancing, although the public does
not buy them, it nibbles at lower-priced
stocks. The advance OF the past fortnight
has been strictly Wall street affair. par
ticipated in only by that portion OF the pub
lie which trades habtually in the street
for two or three point profits. From sur
face indica tons 1t would seem that the big
men who have been marking up stocks have
had some success in distributing a part OF
their holdings in Wall street. but the real
public. the public that went wild over
Steel common and Amalgamated Copper
and other new stocks in the last big specu-
lative boom. is buying very sparingly.
The Standard OIL party and the other
speculative pools are evidently trying to
make stocks look more attractive by quot
ing them at higher prices. It is one of the
curiosities of human nature that people
would rather buy things at higher prices
than low prices When stocks were really
on the bargain table in the spring of 1904
nobody wanted them. Now that they
have advanced so to 100 per cent and more
they look very attractive, but the public
is not in the market. If it was we would
have 100000 share days now instead OF
1,000.0O share days. Five years ago, when
many standard stocks were really selling
higher than they are now, taking into con-
sideration their intrinsic value, we had
plenty of 100000 share days. and one day
the trading was away above the 3,OO0,0OO
mark. Since then the country has in
creased enormously in wealth, private for
tunes have grown at rate so rapid that
publicists like Mr.. Roosevelt want to have
them limited by law, and, If speculation
had been keeping pace with the growth Of
the country then, we should have 1900. 600
and 100000 share days occasionally, and
100000 share days very often. but the
public speculative fever. received a severe
shock four years ago and the public Is still
growth Of the country.
Wall street tries to keep its ears closed
to disquieting news from Washington
that is. it makes a public pretense Of keep
ing It's ears closed-but there are more pri-
waite underground wires between here and
Washington now than there ever have been
before, for every capitalist who has large
interests in railways or Industrial corpora
lions is disturbed by the daily outpouring
Of antitrust news from the national capt.
tai It seems very plain to Wall street that
Roosevelt in his characteristic way means
to steal the thunder of men like Hearst
and Lawson. who have been appealing to
class prejudice. Mr. Roosevelt in his pub
lie utterances talks very strongly against
the growth of private fortunes and the In
ereasing power of railways and industrial
corporations. In his conversations with
his friends he is even more radical. Wall
street expects that the remainder of Roose-
velt's administration will be largely de-
voted to probing all forms of business
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. Mr.. Roosevelt recognizes
that the public Is pretty well stirred up
over all these exposures of special priv
leges and he evidently feels that II he
does not go ahead investigating corpora
tons the people viii put the democratic
party in power to do 1t.