The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-01-27

bfOuBht It's AFFAIRS IN ORDER so lHaL ticIt
was every reason to believe that it could |
now pull through.
Efforts 10 revive fears OF possible !
trouble at home met with the kind of re- /
ceptiun they were entitled TO. and the
trading element showed an apparent APP
probation OF the patent fact that the
liquidation during the past few weeks has
eliminated whatever elements Of weak /
ness which might have before existed in
the Wall street situation.
Operators for the fall seized upon the
announcement that an association Of /
metal dealers had invited the Federal
authorities 10 investigate an alleged at
tempt To form a trust in the copper trade.
This. they said, would mean that the
AmalgaInated Copper Company would be
investigated on the same broad lines as
the Hartman system of railroads, by a
commission with power 10 inquire into
everything whether relevant 20 the ques-
ton of alleged intention 20 form trust
or not.
IN spite Of the strong bear pressure. /
Amalgamated Copper steadied itself soon
after the opening break, good support be
ing met with at about 1l2 At the lowest
point Of the day the stock was still frac-
tionaIly above the low Of a week ago,
and, as the dividend has since been de
Quoted. t0-day's lowest price was. 10 all
intents and purposes, more than . points
above the extreme limit Of the last de-
cline. Amalgamated has become popu-
lar in the recognized prosperity OF the
company. and the broad market and the
strong support maintained for the stock
at all times having brought il into favor
with the traders and the speculative in
VeStOTs alike
For a couple Of weeks rumors have
been. in circulation to the effect that
New York Central would soon come into
the market with an issue of notes, the
amount being variously stated At from
$25.UO10C0 TO S50010.000. Now comes the
announcement that a prominent banking
house has bought notes to the smaller
amount from the New York Central and
other notes from Lake Shore and Mich
lgan Central, bringing the total UP 20
the larger amount for the entire Wander
bllt system. Under the circumstances
the official statement of the sales has not
caused any surprise. and those who tried
to sell New York Central down on the
announcement have very little show for
their pains.
Il is. of course, well known that the
Vanderbilt roads have been spending a
good deal Of money for betterments, and
as the5conditions during the greater part
OF the past year were not favorable 10 the
raising of funds, II has long been reCOg-
nized that as soon as the situation i'm
proved the financing of the work would be
arranged. That there is a good demand
for the notes from investors goes with
out saying.
Some importance was attached to an an
nouncement that the Baltimore and Ohio
would not push its Improvement work at
Pittsburg this year. although this was
really only one of the matters covered in
the general statements made on good
authority some time ago that the road
would not make any but the necessary i'm
provements in the next twelve months
For this policy, which has been adopted
by several other railroads, such as the
Vanderbilt lines and the Rock Island sys-
TEN, there are strong reasons, chief
among which are the adverse money con
ditions and the high costs. particularly
the high price of labor.
When railroads begin to reduce the vol
ume of their Improvement work. the labor
problem. which has presented many diff
iculues in the past year. viii be in fair
way of solution. The roads have been al
most completely at the mercy Of labor
for q year or more. and no matter how
arbitrary demands might have been con-
sjdcred, there was no alternative than TO
consider them, and the best that was
hoped fora being that some modification
of them could be obtained Hardly any
railroad could have faced a strike and
the greatest difficulty was experienced in
finding even "a fair number of unskiled
wori.men for track work although the
rate Of wages was higher than ever be
fore. Now that relief is promised for the
labor market and a smaller demand on
Wall street for funds than has heretofore
been anticipated, there is no good reason
why the investor in railroad stocks should
feel any uneasiness over this prospect
very interesting fight occurred in
Reading after the price dropped below
Jog. The bears, emboldened by their sue
cess, tried TO drive the stock below the
low level touched on Monday last. but
the support encountered was So strong
that no amount OF selling seemed great
enough 10 force a further retreat. The
stock presented the appearance Of as
pretty a fight as has been seen on the
floor of the stock exchange In many a
day and at the end IL looked as If vic
tory viii fall TO the bull interest. In all
events they not only succeeded In hold
ing their ground whereby to make
stand but they forced the bears to retire
from some of the ground over which they
had advanced.
Even the most casual observer could
not fail 70 notice the character Of the
buying Of Northern Pacific. 1t was good,
Enthusiastically SO. There are times when
large interests in their eagerness to ac-
cumulate stock are forced 10 neglect
measures TO conceal their operations. and
then they just go into the market and
take all they can get even if the effect
is 10 make q few Of the traders shaTers
with them before an outside following is
really desired. This seems TO have been
the case in Northern Pacific. and the in
siders succeeded in accommodating a fair
sized line before most brokers realized
that they were doing anything more than
merely lending support. The rumOr about
a large extra dividend still receives
credeuce in many places, although moth
ing authoritative has so far been said
in confirmation Of IT,
One of the largest and most conserva-
tive houses in the street says in its mar
ket letter to-day:
While the market is discouraging, We
do not feel justified in changing our hope