Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-31


have also suffered severe losses. These
losses have been sustained in spite of the
abnormally high prices for the copper
metal. and in spite OF the fact that tne
promotion plans of these companies have
been on the basis of 15-cent copper. But
whenever a wave of liquidation hits the
securities markets everything catches hre.
Investors in copper mining stocks, VINO
were unwilling to pay the prices for some
of these new stocks asked by the promo
tiers, now have the opportunity to put tne4r
money into them II they wish, at more
reasonable figures The prices of last win
ter included mine values and promoters ex-
pected profits. Some of these stocks can
now be bought nearer their intrinsic values.
Four weeks from Tuesday the steel direct
ors act on the quarterly dividends. AT the
time of the last quarterly dividend meeting
steel common was selling at $45 and the
preferred at S1O5. The liquidation in these
stocks since then seems to indicate that the
directors have given up their plan of In
creasing the rate the common next
month. No good purpose will be served
by an increase in this dividend in times like
these. 1t would only attract adverse criti-
cism. That the corporation is earning
enough to make distributions on the COM
mon several times as large as those now
being made is beyond question. But, de-
spite the optimistic opinions of the leading
men in the Steel Corporation. the country
is looking forward to period of railroad
retrenchment and less activity in the steel
industry. If the steel directors will post
pone an increase in the dividend on steel
common until after next years presidential
election. or until after the next setback In
the steel trade. the Steel Corporation will
be so strong financially that the common
stock can go on permanent per cent
basis The people in the copper trade are
afflicted with the same sort of acute
optimism people in the steel trade. They
say that the break in the metal in London
is purely speculative. There are few
things in this world that We must have at
any price-but copper is not one of them. The
great demand for copper in the electric in
dustry, accompanied by only a slight in
crease in the production of the metal, has
very naturally put It's price up But copper
cannot be used in the arts for any conSld-
cradle length of time when dollar in gold
will only buy four pounds of copper. Gold.
of course. is cheaper today than II was ten
years ago, but it is not cheap as the cur
rent quotation for copper would seem to
indicate.
The London Underground per cent notes
that mature next year have been very weak.
Although they are to be redeemed at $1,000
next year they sold this week as low as
$50. The London Underground is the COM
pany promoted by the late Charles I.
Yerkes. The Londoners still cling to the
antediluvian bus, and they have to be edu-
Gated to underground travel. Mr.. Yerkes
always had great dreams about the wonder
full possibilities of educating the Londoners
to rapid transit after the American fashion.
When he first went to London he drove
out to Hampstead Heath, where a piano.
rama of the great city was spread before
him, and his first exclamation was: This
is the greatest traction problem in the
will n1
any modern means of travel But the
education of the Londoners is slow and
costly undertaking, and the Yerkes-Speyer
company seems to be bearing all the ex-
pense of the educational campaign. 1t Is
hardly to be expected that such revolu-
ton in London in tramural transit can be
effected in the short space of six years.
This might be done in an American town,
but not In conservative old England.
The difficulties that Mr.. Yerkes' success
sors are now encountering in getting their
project on a paying basis reminds one of
the early experiences of the chicago pro-
moter in getting foothold In London. 1t
was in the summer of 1900 that he got a
voice in the Old District Railway. He had
been sending his experts and advance
agents to London for several years getting
the lay of the ground. Finally in the sum-
mer of 1900 he thought that it was time to
go there himself and do something. He
got an option on the charter of the Char
ing Cross. EuSton and Hampstead under
ground. The negotiations for the final
purchase dragged along from week to week
and from month to month FINALLY one
August day. when Mr.. Yerkes was on the
continent. he received wire to come to
London TO sign the final papers and pay
over the purchase price. Arriving in Lon
don the next morning, he drove at once to
the offices of his bankers and there learned
that the meeting would have to be post
poned. Mr.. Yerkes was angry. He asked
the reason for the delay. His English
friends explained that they could not get
quorum of the directors of the Charing
Cross Euston and Hampstead because one
of the directors was off playing golf, an
other had gone up the river for weekend
holiday and a third had gone down to the
country for a house party The English
bankers were very much surprised that Mr..
Yerkes should consider his vulgar business
projects more important than golf, shoot
ing and cricket.
If every legitimate owner of railroad Sc
curties had his stocks and bonds put away
In his own strong box. never to be taken
out. excepting on dividend and interest occa-
sions. there might be sense IN the popular
claim that the recent terrific slump in
prices did not represent actual losses, but
were paper losses" Unfortunately. most
people have to use their stocks and bonds
as collateral at banks and trust companies
for money borrowed for great variety of
purposes-to keep up working capital. to
provide for payments on real estate, to fill
in gaps innumerable in business and per-
sonal routine. AS the selling price of the
collateral drops the borrower has to for
tify il, curtail his loan or be sold out and
lose his securities. Hundreds of millions
of dollars worth of stocks and bonds that
were hypothecated with banks by multi
tudes of investors have lately been thrown
on a melting market to protect loans. There
Is nothing paper" fictitious about that
kind of loss. 1t is the real thing. Neither
is there anything nebulous in the fact that
the holder of stocks cannot get as much by
an average of 30 points as he could four or
five months ago. Amateurs and those who
haven't a dollar earth have no trouble
figuring to their own satisfaction that the
tremendous losses of the last half year were
not losses. Those who own the securities
whose selling value has been cut down a
third to a half nurse no such decisions
They know better.
The Wall street view of the political
financial situation is this:
1T would be a most unwise thing for this
country to go into a presidential campaiqn