New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-11-03
The Financial World.
THE TRIRINF'S FOREIGN NEWS.


sents anarchy. Security quotations no longer
have to do with value. And the Oracles who
little while ago were prating about bargains
see their figures discounted tremendously What
a stock is worth counts for nothing at all No
recorded market criterion IS entitled 70 consid-
Grafton. The only market test is what VIII an
offering bring. And this status signlnes that
there is no buying confidence anywhere In sight.
that intrinsic value has become unimportant for
market measurement. that common sense stand
ards are departed-that every contract and call
culation is now narrowed down below any level
hitherto approached
With some JUNCTION philosophers and rerninis-
cents affect to compare present discomfort and
decentralization to what was the situation IN
1S93-the only other panic time wherein general
market value shrinkages had consequence COM
parable with what is now inflicted But sanity
revoIts at any representation that 1907 can be
brought into basic similarity with the 1893 dis
turbance Then there was what practicallS
amounted to business suspension throughout the
country Manufacturers were without custom
ers RAILWAYS had no traffC-the financial sltua-
ton of every important corporation IN the couh-
try was deplorable. Receivershlps jumped AAe
mushrooms into fntrusiveness everywhere over
night Union Pacific Atchi5On. Reading-aImosr
the whole long list of properties conspicuous
had IN throw ont signal flags of distress Where IN
he record of 1901 is there dnyJnlLs tlhS W $500
Fronerties that had then to depend upon assess
o,+s are distributing dividends tO-day-tnelr
baptruntcies have for succession prosperity
Observation-Disclosures to investors not only NO"
large hut with guaranty Of steadily increasing
earnings bound still to be larger Take Ohioh
Pacific. for exampIe-2O per cent collected as
assessment upon each share Of stock then
upon stock nat barely had a 81 market Fa'u0
"A $40 annual dividend nOw-and vastly nlole
than this distributed SO shown IN the property
mounting earnings. Almost a miracle the rec
or7 saems Yet so II is not merely in Union
r.ciAc hut almost generally in the list OF stand
ard American properties-true in the hst OF
rafIu,av investments true in the list OF invest
ment industrials- -.
In 1893 there was on every hand warranty loF
panic: in 1907 panic warrant is dlscoveraoie i'0-
where.
AGAINST The sorry exhibit which spreads every
where throughout the financial world there
shows an amazing record Of prosperlty-vlrt-
uaIIv universal-in industry. in commerce. IL
ae~ricuItrre-in every one of all the branches OK
American activity Crops are DIG ana ciOP
prices are big: manufacturers have hui the oile
grievance that their output cannot keep pace
with demand: the railroads OF the country are
crowded with traffic every one Of the great svs-
teros of the West congested by shipments Rail-
wav earnings tell the tale succinctly, emphati-
caIIv Gross revenues reach totals never BEFORE
APPROACHED: net results are construaole only
into guarantees Of increased DIVIDENDS 1hel'
is no variation in the register. Prosperity doni-
mates in every quarter
1t NAV he that out OF the Wall Street Collisions
and disturbance serious setback may be ad-
rninistered to the industrial interests or th9
country; but in the face of the dreadful Things
already disclosed no recession and contraction
in industry are vet disCoverable on any sunstah-
tiaI scale. some of the great railway systems
are LAYING off labor. The Pennsylvania Is %
cut down its payrous. Rock Island. Atchison
and Union Pacific have issued similar reduction
orders. But-what must be accounted as sig
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. directions have accompany
ing official explanation that these new orders
are TO be considered only temporary, that
they in no sense reflect business conditions IN
nediatelv affecting the railroads themselves nu-
or. resultant from what the railroad managers
,o,a will he only transient discomfort IN the
banking world.
Funds have Of a sudden vanished; currency -
at n premium. Employers have this week oeeh
obliged 10 nav bonuses in order to obtain bank
notes wherewith 10 meet payrOils; ana TINS
phase of the situation localized In New 4orE'
ts evidently unprecedented elsewhere. more par
ticuIarlv in New England and the Central West
That any such business phase can be l1stins -
not thinkable however. A little patience -
hound to see the end OF any fiscal handicap OF
this sort Any other theory simply contenplateS
national incOmpetency-
Throughout the week Wall Street has been