The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-08-18
Heated Term in wan Street.

President Roosevelt and Secretary Taft,
within the next two or three days, will
address the American people upon the
political questions now uppeTmOst in the
public mind MI Taft. in his Columbus
speech. promises 10 define his political be-
liefs at some length. while the President.
doubtless. Will take occasion to reafirm
the essential features Of his economic
policy in his Provincetown address.
These two forthcoming utterances have
been the cause Of much perturbation in
Wall street, where frantic endeavors
have been made. with more or less sue
cess. TO obtain some inkling OF their pur-
port Earlier rumors were that the Pres
ident and his Secretary of War would an
nounce a changed attitude toward the
corporations but this pleasant informa-
ton has now been replaced by a pessi-
mistic belief that no "reassuring word
Will come from either. and Wall street
has braced itself for another drubbing.
We are at a loss TO understand why
anybody. in or out of Wall street, should
look for a 'reassuring word from the
President or some member Of the Cabinet
every time that panicky feeling takes
possession Of the stock exchange Most
Of the hysteria which seems to prevail
in the financial district Is due to gross
misconception or downright perversion Of
the administration policy respecting cor
poratiOns- The essential conservatism Of
that policy appears to be almost wholly
unrecognized. That its ultimate conse-
quence will be to place all forms Of cor
pOrate securities on a soVnder and more
stable foundation is ignored. Exploration
Of the dark places Of corporate finance is
deplored as tending to unsettle stock val
ues, and attempts to lift corporate man
agement to higher plane OF probity and
public usefulness are regarded as uniusti-
fable interference with the rights Of cant
tai Such being the common though bv
no means universal miscOnception Of Mr..
RooseveIt's policies, why should he be
expected TO rescue hystericaI fnanciers
from the troubles into which they
have precipitated themselves largely
through the spread Of false and exag-
gerated representations OF the intent and
effect Of those policies? Mr.. Roosevelt Is
not bent on the destruction Of national
commerce and industry, which. in point
OF fact, have been growing and thriving
amidst the calamity wailing of metro
politan fnanciers. The common sense of
the country simply refuses to see in orr
Astounding harvests. busy factories. over
worked railroads. and well-emploved labor
any evidence that there is a Roosevelt
panic" impending. People are not so
easily scared nowadays by a slump in
Wall street that may be repaired in a few
days or few weeks by a bull campaign.
There is a silly disposition in some oslar-
tiers to manufacture a terrible bogev ont
of Mr.. Roosevelt and everything he saws
and does. word or a phrase is erected
into disruption Of the whole industrial
fabric. suggestion distorted into an ac-
complished fact; a possible Interpretation
of the Constitution construed into an
actual amendment of that fundamental
instrument Mr.. Bonaparte is now a vic
tim Of the same methods of misconstr1Ic-
ton. He has been admonished by the
metropolitan press 20 pick and choose his
language 70 omit smiles and shrugs and
Bonapartian wit, lest stocks should fail
on a point or two because his manner of
saying the law viii be enforced is
somewhat too caustic. Silence. and
mighty little of that" as the Irlshman
said, would seem to be the Wall street
idea Of official propriety. Well. the ST.
lence is going to be broken on Monday.
and again on Tuesday: and our guess is |
Wall street Will discover that the Attor- |
ney General has been singing in tune with
the Rooseveltian chorus.