Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-11
JAPANESE MARKET LETTER.
Securities Yield Better Returns THAI
Ours.

From the New York Sun. Y
The Japanese are not known as keeft
stock spectators, but there are evidences
that they are learning the ways Of the ma1s
ket Within the past few years many houses
have begun dealings In stocks and bonds
and some of these issue market letters
after the fashion of brokerage houses In
Wall street A few publish market letters
in English with the idea, apparently. Of
attracting buying from American and Eng.
| lish investors.
These market letters, printed in English,
contain comments on the stock and bond
market and furnish detailed Information
of the capital and earnings of the various
railway and industrial companies, the divt>
dendS paid on the stock, the current quo4
tations for the stock and the approximate
return to the present quotation.
One of these issued recently by n. Hays
ashi, broker with houses in Toxic and
Yokohama, shows that japanese railway
stocks pay dividends in excess of the avers
age American issues and at current Quota~
lions yield a better return to the investor,
The stocks Of ten railroads are given in thu
list, and of these all but two, the Yokoha-
ma Railway Company and the Hokkaida
Railway Company. are dividend payers.
The lowest dividend is at the rate of pei
cent and the highest at the rate of 10 per
cent. The average return to the investor
in the eight dividend payers Is considerably
better than per cent.
The Hokkaido Colliery Railway Company,
apparently a coal road, Is the melon stock
of the list. occupying the place held in our
market by the Delaware. Lackawanna and.
Western, also coal road and the highest
priced and biggest dividend paying railroad
stock in the New York market. On cap.
ital Of 100000 yen, Hokkaido stock last
year paid 10 per cent and at the end of the
year showed a legal reserve rye OF 10000
yen, a special reserve Of 1,O25, 400 yen and
a surplus Of 5l9s27 yen carried to the
credit of the next term.
This stock was most active in the Market
advancing in week from 9Sa to 1O4. the
par value of the shares being 80 yen. At
the high figure the stock yields about ~
per cent to the investor. Lackawanna in
the New York market has sold as high as
$50 this year a result Of dividends ag-
gregating 1914 per cent in 1905. Ordinarily
the market price of Lackawanna yields the
purchaser less than per cent.
Other good dividend payers are the Nip-
pom railway. which distributes Is per cent
on capital of 66,0O0, 900 yen; Sany06
10 per cent on 49, 100. 600; Sobu. 10 per cent
on 5000. 900, and Kyushu, 10 per cent on 62,>
was: Nippon, 1850: Sanyo. $500: Sobu,
1890, and Kyushu, 49, noteworthy point
about the railroad companies is their small
capitalization in comparison with the cap.
italiZation of American companies. But
two companies have capitalization in exc
cess of 100000. government regulas
ton compelling companies to report the
amount of capital stock paid in offers the
investor protection against the purchase Of
watered stock
News to investors in railroad stocks ID
given in this way in the circular:
The stocks haYe maintained their position
without any change in the market as ex$
perienced in last week, and very few bust.
ness has been transacted during the week
owing to the inactiveness of business cir
cles in general, but with the favorable op>
portunity in future in consequence of the
time of the purchase Of the Fusan-Seoul
railway have been fixed for the 1st OF
ha
long under consideration. The government
will issue loan of about %, 100000 yen, in-
Guiding the price of the Seoul-Chemulpo
Railway Company and hand it to the rail.
way company during the present fiscal
year. On Saturday last the Hankaku Rail,
way Company held its general meeting at
Osaka and the directors announced a divi-
dend of 3.2 per cent per annum for the
past six months. An extraordinary meeting
was then held in which it was resolved that
on the security of the company's property
100000 yen be borrowed from the Japa-
nese Industrial Bank at interest of 7.3 per
cent per annum. The Hokkaido colliery
railway: Fair business has been effected
during the week at or yen in advance.
Japanese traction stocks are not as good
dividend payers as the steam roads, but
many of them are more remunerative than
the average of American fractions. In To-
kio there are two companies. the Toxic
Electric Car Company and the Toxic Street
Railway Company, paying 10 Snd per
cent, respectively. while another. the Toxic
per cent One of the traction companies,
the Odawara Electric Tramway Company,
is the only corporation on the stock list
which has followed the Occidental custom
Of issuing both preferred and common
stock. The japanese broker. In looking
for an English name to describe the COM
mon, happened on Ordinarily" and char
acterizes the common stock as Ordinarily
stock" Odawara, according to the list.
paid per cent on the Ordinarily and 10
per cent on the preferred. The common
IL ,,l1 ut Toe
the investor and the preferred at rates
netting 10.