The Washington herald., 1907-03-15
WALL STREET NOTES
Stock Exchange Clearance
Sheets All Go Through.
BROKERS INSIST ON MARGINS
Panic Lessons Teach Them 10 De-
mand OF Customers That They
Keeu Wide Limit of Covering Funds
on Hand-Bears Not Baked Be-
cause of no Failures wednesday.

cause OF no Failures Wednesday.
New York, March 1.-THE fact that
the stock exchange clearinghouse was
able to report at IL o'clock this morning
that all clearance sheets of the preced-
ing day had gone through nj! right. this
being in effect the official statement that
no stock exchange house would be obliged
to suspend as a result of the decline that
had already occurred here, created a feel
ing of astonishment in Wall street cir
cles, although it only justified statements
several times made in the earlier stages
of the decline on the authority Of promi-
nent banking interests that the commits
sion houses were in better condition 20
withstand a strain than they had been
at any time in year or more. The
warning given by the slump in the HUI
stocks in the closing weeks of last year
was rot disregarded. and brokers very
generally scrutlniZed their customers ac-
counts closely at that time and adopted
a policy Of insisting on unusually wide
margins that mas never been departed
from since.
Margins have not been allowed to be
come so attenuated that the broker as
sumed serious risk, and, In a great many
cases, customers have been called upon
TO put up more money even when they
thought their stocks We're amply protect
ed against almost anything that could
be appTehended. Protestatons or ap-
peals for time were not allowed to inteS
fere with the determination of the bro
kers TO conduct their business on a safe
basis, and customers who did ret respond
were either sold out or requested 10 take
Up their accounts
OF course the bears were not to be
baked by the fact that 10 failures had
resulted from Wednesdays decline. and
only redoubled their efforts 70 drive
prices down so that the additional mar
gins put up by customers of the commits
sion houses would not avail 70 hold stocks
OF the market The Generalization that
ensued made many traders regret that
they had rejected the advice given by
many brokers. that instead Of putting
up more money the holders Of stocks on
margin should close out and wait for an
opportunity 20 buy back after the storm
blew over
At the opening. despite the improved
complexion that had been put upon affairs
by the substantially higher level Of prices
at which American stocks were quoted
from London, it was evident that liquida-
ton was still under way. augmented by
the selling out of stocks on which calls
for additional margins had nut been
responded 10. Some encourag cement was.
however. derived from the fact that Ger
tain houses which often execute orders
for prominent interests became active on
the buying side. the supposition being
that an effort would be made 10 stem the
tide Of declining prices, although there
were very few who believed that IL
would be possible, even by the united
efforts Of the leading financial interests,
to turn the market AZ that stage. Bat
even the hope that the downward rush
could be stayed proved entirely nlusOTy.
and by noon there was the plainest evi-
dence Of the demoralization-compl and
Observation-Disclosures occurred during the
hour Immediately following.
The panicky conditions were responsible
for all sorts of rumors, one of which was
{
tween Z Il Hartman and other large
interests in Union Pacific. and that as the
result. Mr. Hartman would be deposed
/ from the presidency Of the road. This
story Sas aftorward denied, but the
denial did nothing TO restore confidence,
for the bears at once adopted the line
of argument that such a breach as had
/ been spoken of would be only a minor
matter TO the more serious considera-
tions that operated TO produce conditions
/ in the stock market that vividly recalled
! some of the worst panics within the
memory OF brokers Of long experience.
| About 2 o'clock a covering movement
set in that resulted in substantial rallies
/ all through the list. but only to give
way later 10 further slump that
| quickly wiped out the gains and brought
/ prices of most of the leading stocks down
/ to new low leveIs-many of them the
/ lowest that had been reached in several
/ years. Some of the keenest observers
/ OF the market, however. said that on the
/ final break they observed a better class
! Of buying than they had seen before in
/ two days.
About the most encOurag ging news heard
/ through the day was that there was an
! appearance of foreign buying. some of
the most substantial banking interests re-
porting that their connections on the 9th
eT side had begun to manifest apprecia-
/ tion OF the fact that American stocks
were cheap. The volume of such buying
Was not large, but that il had begun TO
appear was at least a favorable symptom.
Wall street was full of ghosts who
filed the brokers' Offices moving about
silently, as if without power of speech.
Not in years has the street presented so
melancholy d spectacle The ticker did