The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-25
t H, Hartman Poses in the LimsIight More Than
 Ever Before
.PESSIMISTS ARE PREDICTING
 UTTER FINANCIAL RUIN.
Newspaper Fakirs Have Been Ex- tremely Busy In New York With Crime Waves and Poverty of
 llionaires-Public Tired.
BY sEWELL HAoGARp.

BY SEWELL HAGGARD.
 New York. August 24--(speeial.)-E. II. Hartman has furnished a rich morsel for the statisticians of paper losses in Wall street Before proceeding 1t Is only fair To say that the persons who make much or paper losses are those who are aIways trying to prove that the country is going To the dogs financially. Yellow newspa- pers iead the van. with disappointed pol- uelans following a close second. But to set back to Hartman. Between June 30, 1908, and March of this year, MT Har- riman spent SIPS LOIS of the money or the stockholders of the Union Pacific railroad for huge blocks of stock. As shown by the investigation of the inter- state commerce commission. he bought most Of these securities from himself. acting both as buyer and seller in ths transactions, A few days ago when the slump in Wall street had reached it's lowest level these stocks were worth sos.- 2l4,9So, showing the stupendous loss of SS2, i26,oSs on paper
 It is hardly necessary to say that no one felt this paper loss because the hold CTS Of the stock did not have to sell at the low figures In much tine same way the calamity howlers have been figuring the so-called gigantic shrinkages in Wall street. In the last twelve months the stocks of fourteen steel, electric and equipment companies have suffered a pA- per depreciation of approximately $2e0. .5o0,- W0 or that amount about one-half was contributed by the common and preferred esI,a ..ff fI,.
 ation. In the Colorado Fuel and Iron company there was a shrinkage of nearly S4,W0000 on the common stock. One of the interesting anomalies of Wall street lies in the fact that while all these pa- per values were tumblng the industries themselves were experiencing unusual prosperity While steel stocks were de- cllnlng on the market the steel corpora- tion Itself added nearly S20,oo0.0O0 to its surplus and appropriated between 50,9lo.- 0o0 and $0, 100000 for new construction.
 For this paper shrinkage there must be q cause. or course, professional stock manipulators always find an excuse for hammering stocks up or down. The gov ernment campaign against illegal trusts has been the most popular excuse and IS the one given most general credencc. There are, however, many well posted financiers who agree with the President that the so-called panic is due to Il con- spiracv of rich men to diseredit his poli- cies. A seeming confirmation of this Ia the attitude the New York Sun has re- gently assumed toward Nlr. Roosevelt. No one need to be told that the Sun re- fleets the temperature of Wall street. At one time l. ?. Morgan was said 10 con- trol the paper. but now Thomas r. Ryan is credited with dietating it's policies. The Suns comment on the recent speech of -I. rt..t gfs.WNr a.R4 ing short of vicious Referring to his statement that rich malefactors have combined to bring about financial stress for tn, purpose of discredtins the policy of the government. 1t said:
 "A more interruptions or a more des- perate statemer1 tt would be impossible to make His great position forbids It's adequate characterization.
 Up to few days ago the Sun was a supporter of Secretary of War Taft for the republican nomination for president but since he has come out so strongly for President Rooseyets policies 1t has begun 10 crltcise him. However. if Mir Taft really desires the nomination he is fortunate in not having the support of the Sun.
 New York runs to extremes in every thing The newspapers that are sup posed-beeause they have the most circn- latlon-to mirror life in the metropolis never take the middle ground in anything. woman who is hit by street car Is always exceedingly beautiful. never home ly or merely good looking. If anything happens to a man to get his name In the public prints he is always very prominent and very rich or very poor and miserable He Is never simply we'll to-do. So 1t is with the so-called Wall street panics. The losses are always
 l.n arA ma -lraN shrinkage of last spring the papers started out to prove that the millionaires had lost so much they could not take their usual summer vacations When summer came, however, it was noticed that there was no slump in vacations even if there had been Wall street slump Now the papers are at 1t again trying to show that the millionaires are short of pocket change. The most absurd yarn printed in connection with this was the laughable statement. apparently made in all seriousness. that the rich men were so poor they were selling their auto mobiles. Here's the way the story be- gan:
 More than two thousand New Workers. some of them ranking as millionaires. have sold their automobiles within the last few weeks. Almost many more. it is estimated by the trade. have can celles orders for new machines. These automobiles represent total cost of over y15.O00,O00. They are now worth probably s7000o00.
 "The rich mans panic in Wall street has made all the trouble said an upper Broadway dealer. He exhibited a tele- gram from a stock broker in Broad street which read:
 Sorry, but sickness In family com pels me to spend summer In mountains. Please cancel my order for that S5l0 machine
 There's no sickness in his faimly,' said the dealer. He's been stung In the market. He made a 10 per cent deposit. but can better afford to lose his s750 than put up the balance.
 This is only one of the many examples of New York newspaper "faking.' It has already been told in this correspondents % hour the na ners finding 1t a dull sumrunr