The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1907-10-27
THE WALL STREET
FURRY

The agitation in Wall Street has a
sinister look When we remember
a panic is a psychological phenomeu-
on, we cannot close our eyes to the
fact that flurries of this sort depend
for their extension largely ION the
views which people take OF them, Our
financial situation is based on credit
and that depends upon the general
conditions. OF the public mind Hence
events which largely disturb the gen
eral disposition to conhde in the IN
tegrity Of financial institutions are of
grave IMPORT.
1t become more and more evident
that the disturbance turned largely
upon copper. As a contemporary re
marks, IAN international combination
raised copper by controlling. a very
large share OF the supply from an
equitable ten or twelve cents a pound
70 twenty-six cents" As this metal
is largely employed in electrical work,
which is becoming more, and more
extended, the artificial price put upon
il was tax on all the people But the
combination undertook to make a
further corner in copper. Whether
the secret OF the contemplated cor
ner leaked out in the wav that has
been told, the movement was a fail
ure. 1t involved some banks that
were under the control Of the manipu
lators, and it was found necessary to
reorganize them. Prominent 6nan-
clers assure us that the banks in NeH
York are sound. There Is, therefore,
no need for a want of confidence The
price of the metal copper has fallen
to about twelve and half cents, Z
figure which is blessing to the world
OF consumers, and which is not APP
parent below the cost OF production
with a suitable profit
That public confidence has been
Alargely- shaken can hardly be denied
But here distinction is necessary
The faith III the essential soundness
of business conditions remains in
tact, or nearly So Lit IS in the man
Ipulation Of securities that the people
have lost faith, and in some cases this
has been justified by the revelations
Other securities, perhaps. have been
unJNstiy suspected, bat this suspicion
may be fairly expected to pass away
with the lapse of time.
A shrinkage in the value of securi-
ties in some months to the estimated
amount of three and half millions
IS circumstance OF much gravity
But these are largely paper values
Many of the institutions floating
these securities are paying larger di-
vidends than a year ago. The fall,
therefore, in the value of some of
these securities is largely due to the
circumstance that they had been too
high. This tendency has, in MANY
cases, gone too far, and depressed
prices below what they should be on
the basis OF earnings and dividends.
There should be a reaction in these
cases, but the better opinion seems
to be that the decline, in general, is
the result OF real conditions, follow
ing period in which values were UNI
duly swollen
Speculation in futures seems inn
possible of suppression, but the same
is not wholly true of the methods by
which it is often directed The men
who govern the various corporations
have, in many instances, res:rted to
the most violent methods to initiate
or depress values. The men on the
one or the other side of the market
alternate in their influence upon
prices. The bulls had their innings
and carried values to an excess. Then
the bears got in their work The
mistakes of their opponents beco1n-
ing manifest, enabled them to de-
press the market undsly, at least in
spme cases. Nevertheless, they have