Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-10

1t Is expected that the usual reaction will
come next year. unless there Is a setback
come reports to Wall street that business
men are more conservative than a few
months ago In extending themselves for the
what James J. Hin had to say some weeks
ago about prosperity paralysis.
h*
comment was made in this column sew
eral weeks ago on the pessimistic attitude
toward American securities taken by some
English bankers. and it's reflection In the
LONDON press Over In Paris sentiment
seems to be the other way. Leading
French bankers are pointing out to the
thrifty investors of France the ex-
Or, opportunities that have opened
up IN American securities" Our railway
corporations have been raising a great deal
OF money in France the past few wears.
french domestic Investments yield very
small return. and so our standard securi-
ties. that yield from to Z per cent an
peal strongly to the French. The Pennsyi
wanna railroad has borrowed many millions
OF collars In France the past two or three
years. and the short-term notes of other
corporations are being placed there We
nave probably borrowed 500, O0O,O 900 in
Europe in the past year.
whenever the financial critics have
dimculty in discovering who is making the
market, they usually guess that James r.
keene Is the man. Early last week IL was
reported that Mr.. Keene was Ill. and that
ne was confined to his rooms at the Wal
oorf. But he was at his Office and in the
best OF health. Late In the week IL was
rumored that Mr.. Keene was the leader
a raSlroA
much truth in the last report as in the
nrst, The market these DAYS is so bi9
ana " attracts to 1t so many men of great
WeaIth; that no one man can lead It either
iator, but he cannot lead the market Gin Ola
handed. Mr.. Morgan has a powerful fol-
lowing on both sides OF the Atlantic. but
ne cannon make the market. Twenty men
couio De named. every one more powerful
an the financial world than the greatest
leaders or twenty years, but not one can
make market.
In the old days the buying or selling Of
10000 shares of stock created n stir
nowadays 1t goes unnoticed No indi-
Vidual operator in these DAYS. however,
large his private fortune can make a mar
ket Tor any considerable period without
the aid and consent Of a considerable group
OF men like himself. In these days. when
the banking power has been so highly CEN
traiizeo, no man or group Of men can hope
TO carry a market without the support of
ieaolng banking interests Mr. Keene
round out how powerless he was when he
exempted emnpted to use the old methods in his
southern Pacific pool When the bie hank
Ing people behind the Southern Pacific a.
cloed that Mr.. Keene had gone far enough
tney put the screws on him. and there was
M mE.i1Hs Ior MN TO do but quit Since then
Mr.. keene has been wise enough not TO
attempt to make big market movements
on his own resources. He is content to
go along with the tide. and not to antas-
onlze the men who WELD the whip hand in
the great banks. and so he has more time
Tor the pleasures of life His racing
stable this season will have fifty horses
financial critic discusses the folly Of
financing bull movement in stocks and
o business s at the same time The infer
ence IS that when business Is booming we
should sell stocks and when the country
is in the doldrums. then 1t is the time to
puy This is not half as bad as It sounds.
at that. If man with plenty of capitai
to back his Judgment would ALWAYS load
up with stocks during business depres-
sion and sell them in periods of congested
prosperity (and had lots Of patience) he
would soon make all the money in the
world. The trouble with the ordinary
SPECTATOR In Wall street Is that he never
gets the pull fever strong until the busi-
ness or the country has reached such a
pitch that everybody Is buying twice as
much as he needs, and then this same
SPECTATOR never sees the merit Of selling
stocks until he hears that the factories OF
the country are all closing down for lack
Of orders.
~
1t Is suspected that the gradual decline
In American Smelling shares is the result
OF an effort on the part of the Guggen-
helms to find out at what price the public
Is willing to buy these securities The
public did not seem very anxious to put its
money into Smelling around s17O or even
$3.50, and SO the goods are being marked
down to attract buyers. 1t is interesting
to recall that the boom in Smelling shares
began when they were selling around SGD
One or the cleyerest operators in the street
interested the Guggenheims in the possi-
oliities OF bull campaign in Smelling,
and they let him go ahead with it, They
had tried 1T themselves before and thew
had failed. When the stock was finally
at that tme) the Guggenheims began to
be very conservative. But then the Wall
street operator told them that their cam
paign was just nicely under way, and that
they Old not realize what a valuable prop
erty they had. or what its possibilities
were In the stock market. The stock was
carried on up to $125 and the Guggen-
helms got nervous again. Then the big
operator took hold of the stock again and
put it up to $3.50.
BY that time the Guggenheims were
convinced that American Smelling was q
security of great merit, and they began
to tell their friends of it's great value.
But the operator who had carried the stock
from SEQ to $50 was content with the re-
suit he had achieved. The stock had had
great rise, a rise merited by the in
trinsic value of the property, but he saw
that any effort to put the price to higher