Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-05
Financial News Letter
BIZ n. q. NICHOLAS.

A reinstatement Of Steel common on
skinny dividend basis IL expected to bring
the public into the stock market and
bring about another enthusiastic hull move
ment. It win take about SIC, 100000 to pay
the 2 per cent dividend on Steel common
for year. and as the corporation l. earn
Ing more than $4,000 900 It would appear
that the amount can be spared. 1t might
even add to the credit Of the company
should the management deem it wise In the
future to borrow money and issue more
bonds for the requirement Of Tennessee
Coal and Iron. Colorado Fuel and Iron.
Jim Hill ore deposits and other out
! side properties The Steel dividend declara-
ton adds to the tangible proof that the
powers Of Wall street are friendly to the
stock market and willing to see prices go
up. There Is midsummer abundance of call
money at 21S per cent available for specu-
lation In securities.
Wall street forgot to put on crepe over
e. H. Harriman's defeat by Mr.. Fish of
the Illinois Central. Mr.. Hartman is dis
tinctiy not popular in the financial district
He is arrogant and unsocial In hts financial
life beyond anything known here. His
plans and campaigns are organized and
carried out regardless Of ambitions, COM
forts and arrangements of others in the
same field He Is necessarily and agrees
lively grasping for more power. and as he
is utterly fearless nearly everybody is more
or less afraid Of him. From the very be-
ginning he never for a moment hesitated
to grapple with the biggest giant on the
street. His first encounter with J. p Nor
gan was over the last reorganization of
Erie, when singie-handed he forced that
great fnancier, then the unchailenged king
OF Wall street. to reshape his plans. There
has been open ill-feeling between the two
ever since, and on more than one occa-
sion battles were fought that shook the
market to its foundations. In every in
Is stin after the Morgan scalp as hard
as ever.
In speaking of the continuous increase in
the worlds volume of money. due to the
enlarged production OF gold. care is taken in
financial quarters to avoid the use of the
word imitation" Bankers and business
men do not Hike the idea which the use of
that word expresses. They prefer Eek
pansion 1t sounds better and does not
give rise to such unpleasant thoughts. They
pendous increase in the quantity of money
which Is continually going on represents an
entirely healthy growth and that the money
structure is building soildly from rock foun-
dations They preach that the increased out
put OF gold is a wise interposition of Provi-
dence to enable mankind to finance this
wonderful age of progress and prosperity
and that there is no possible danger. In
their public talk the rank and file of bank
ers and the spokesman for other business
interests refuse to give the slightest en-
couragement to the idea that this colossal
imitation Is case of balloon filing which
must ultimately result in disastrous ex-
plosion.
The Hartman denial that Union Pacific
1.n- - l.
buy it is looked upon as technical His
voluntary announcement that the story
was started by some one having an '-ul-
terror motive has set people to wonder
ing what his own Interior motive might be
In departing from his policy Of silence In
this case. Mr.. ], J. Hill is quoted as saying
that he understood that an arrangement
has been entered into for an alliance be-
tween ST. Paul and Union Pacific, which
gave Mr. Hartman an excuse for his volun-
teer statement There is well defined the
DRY that when the deal referred to is an
nounced Southern Pacific will turn up as the
holding company into whose hands ST.
Paul viii pass. Southern Pacific and st.
Paul, being about one thousand miles apart
cannot be accused of being competing
were to be attempted directly between the
Hartman parent system and st. Paul.
4
The Standard OH magnates do not relish
being advertised as having gone into the
business of disciplining the business world
in order to show the administration at
Washington what a mistake it made in
interfering with trusts. hence the activity
of its publicity bureau in trying to correct
the impression which has been formed that
Standard Oh was behind the liquidation in
the stock market which produced big
break in prices. The governments fall
down in the Ohio prosecution of Standard
OIL multi-millionaires and~the contempt
raneous return Of John D. and William
Rockefeller to the United States, coupled
with miraculous turn for the better in
the stock market, were incidents used as
a peg to hang the story on that Standard
OIL and the Washington administration
have made UP and are again sleeping to-
gether peacefully. 1t is a beautiful theory
with many facts cftable In proof OF its
correctness.
Friends of Canadian Pacific take issue
with critics who claim that the bulk show
ing of big revenues accruing to that road
during the last two or three years will
not stand analysis because there Is not a
proper separation between legitimate trans
portation earnings and the sales of mil
lions of acres of land given the CORPORA
ton by the Canadian government. They
advance the argument that though the
charge be true, the facts are nevertheless
bullSh because the land has been sold to
settlers and the population is far better
asset than idle land In this connection it
would be interesting to know exactly what
percentage the land sales by the Canadian
Pacific represent actual immigration and
what per cent mere speculative invest
ments.
The bond market Is dead and many rail-
roads are bridging this apathetc condition
by borrowing short-time money from rich
stockholders and friendly banking connec-
tons, paying as high as 5 to 51a per cent.
Union Pacific paid oiz for 100000 the
other day, although reputed to have $75,-
100000 to s100.030,000 in cash and cash as
sets in the treasury. Mr.. Hartman would
hardly be paying any such rate If he in
tended to inaugurate dividends OF Southern
Pacific-unless perehance the Union Pacific
is borrowing usuriously the deposits of the
Southern Pacific and other auxiliary cor
porations. scalp of 1 to per cent on
$50, 0e0,G0o to s50.000.000 would not be so
bad these dog days, although assurances
are given that graft of every description
has been abolished.
* *
official disclosure of s,,rrJ,e of 90 c3,