The Washington herald., 1906-12-16

]
up beyond the 200 mark. Those who asked
/ for reasons were told that the interests
which advanced St. Paul would take
/ Union Pacific next II this did not satisfy
| inquirers. no further effort was made 10
/ influence them. It was merely a case
/ of asking the traders TO buy because Ger
tain interests were buying, without offer
/ ing any proof that the latter had sound
reason for their attitude on the stock.
/ and. OF course. without assurance that il
these afterward decided to change their
position they would make the fact
1 known.
Apparently the technical position in
/ Union Pacific is rather favorable to
rise. Many weak accounts have been
/ closed out since the publication OF the
annual report. and a considerable part
/ Of the trading element has been on the
short side since the Interstate Commerce
/ Commission announced It's intention OF in
curing into the relations between the
/ Hartman roads and various matters con-
nected with their operations This may
/ prove strong enough to enable the bulls
! 10 make good their prediction. though it
requires a good deal Of optimism 10 think
| 50.
! There is a very great difference be-
/ tween movement in ST Paul and a
/ movement in Union Pacific and interests
/ which made q great success Of the one
might only achieve moderate success IN
the other St Paul IS so nearly cornered
THAT Standard OIL interests can do any
/ thing with il they want 10 IN the way OF
moving its price. although prudence de-
mands that nothing shall be done which
might prove a disturbing factor in the
market. With Union Pacific IL is differ
ent. The stock Is widely distributed, and
while, Of course It might be possible to
move the price up j. points or more, the
/ amount OF money involved Is so great
/ that even the interests which put up St
Paul may hesitate about attempting il
under existing conditions Of stringeuCy.
Maxwell Edgar attorney for the city
OF Chicago. contending that the stock Of
the Peoples Gas Company should be as
sessed at par for taxation purposes. ex-
pressed the opinion that it is worth 5000
a share Optimistic claims in regard TO
the value OF Peoples Gas have often
been made in Wall street, but never any
thing so wildly optimistic as this. It is
/ probably safe TO say that II the city Of
/ Chicago made an offer Of anything like
that price for the stock it could get con-
troll OF the company within an hour, and
/ if only a single day was allowed for the
deposits the downtown section could not
maintain order in the rush Of otherwise
/ orderly citizens to get their stock in with
in the time.
The insiders IN Peoples Gas could hard
/ " be expected 10 disregard the argument
/ for higher prices unwittingly placed at
their disposal by Mr.. Edgar, and they
! promptly proceeded to make use of il.
with the result that the stock was one
/ Of the strongest features of the day. In
} the judgment OF the street. the price is
not high N this level. though the stock
is too much of a specially to attract much
/ speculative attention.
! Sir Thomas Shaughnessy. who. like Mr..
! Hi. never knows anything about the
( stock market, says he Is glad that the
public is beginning to realize the value OF
] Canadian Pacific This is very much like
an assertion that the movement TO go
/ was in the direction Of values. and that
/ Y has not reached its end yet The presi-
dent Of the road did not go into any de-
/ tails 20 show on what grounds he ap-
/ parently considers Canadian Pacific under
/ price at 200, considering that it pays only
I
| extra to be paid next year from the pro
/ cccds Of land sales. But there are a
number Of features which Wall street
/ can call to mind to supply the deficiency
/ The similarity of the roads results 70
/ those of the Hill lines. which are now
distributing valuable rights to their
/ stockholders, the wonderful prosperity OF
/ Canada, which promises not only the
maintenance. but a larger increase of the
/ present volume Of traffic; the apprecia-
tion in the value per acre of the COM
/ pRny's lands similar to that which caused
/ the great rise In Hudson Bay shares
! these are considerations which, with the
present large margin in earnings beyond
/ dividend requirements. give TO the stock
/ 4 real value far in excess of the measure
/ Of rate of distribution. which will
either have to be raised or supplemented
/ by valuable rights before long, in order
/ that stockholders may adequately partici-
pate in the prosperity of their company
The Hill stocks, in the opinion Of con-
servative banking interests. are very well
worth their present prices. It is no longer
/ necessary to ask what the name of Mr.
/ Hill figures in the price of Great Northern
and Northern Pacific. This fact has now
/ been eliminated. There are assured 7 per
| cent dividends. present rights of great
value. the prospect of enormous expan-
| sion in business through the furnishing
1 OF new facilities, and promise Of further
rights in years to come. The weak specu-
/ latlve account opened in these stocks in
anticipation Of the rights has now been
/ forced out, and the floating supply has
been gathered into the strong hands
which have always been the largest
/ holders.
/ Some doubt seems TO exist as to
whether St. Paul can issue mere stock, in
! account Of the limitation laid down in
its charter. but the matter has already
/ been definitely decided. as an additional
issue Of S75,0OO,OOO of this class of stock
was approved at n meeting of stock
holders in October. At the time this
action was taken IT was pointed out that
there was authority for 1t in the Mime
sofa law. which allows issue of the stock
for construction or purchase OF new
road and for improvements, equipment,
and real estate
"A very important element is the
delay Of shippers in loading and unload
inE cars" says member Of the Inter