Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-24

these properties. They realize from daily
experience that the large increase In wages
paid VIII not be In any measure compen-
stated for by increased efficiency of service.
the belief that a spirit of Independence and
unrest has been engendered and broadly
disseminated through one agency or an,
branches Of the railway service. the effect
OF which has been and may continue to be
to lower the general standard of efficiency
Of railway employees.
That the coal roads are not going to give
up their coal mines without struggle Is
evidenced by what President Truesdale has
to say to the Lackawanna shareholders.
In the amendment to the interstate COM
merce act passed at the last session of
Congress was contained a provision max
ing 1t unlawful for a common carrier to
transport in interstate commerce any COM
modify such COAL mined or purchased
by it, or in which 1t had any interest, ex-
ceptfng such coal or other commodity is for
it's own use, this provision to the law to be-
come effective after May 4, 1908. President
Truesdale calls the attention of the share
holders to the fact that the charter of the
road from the commonwealth of PennsyL
vania gives it the right to mine, transport
and sell coal, and he gives the shareholders
to understand that the road will make
legal fight to retain its charter rights.
X
The street attaches significance to the
two sharply contrasting facts:
% That H. H. Rogers has appeared in
the market as borrower of money.
(2) That ]. P Morgan has for some time
past been a very heavy lender of money.
The argument based on this strange stu
alton was that Standard Oil speculative and
Industrial contingent was intentionally
pursuance of his traditional policy, has
sold his" and had made himself strong
in cash, against any storms that might
blow up. Conditions were reversed only
two or three years ago. Then it was Mr..
Morgan who was spread out" His finance
bills to an enormous aggregate were afioat
in London and other foreign centers and
the bankers of the old world were looking
cross-eyed at him. With his back against
the wall he liquidated on stupendous scale
and at an immense sacrifice Of paper prof
it's. Standard Oil was on top of him pound
ing his most sacred securities and showing
no mercy.
Istit possible that the Old Lion of Wall
street has turned the tables on his former
prosecutors and is making it hard for Them
as they did for him when they had him on
the hip? It almost looks that way. There
Is limit to the resources of the strongest
men on edrth- IL Is barely possible that
the Wall street wing of the Standard Oil
party has been overplaying itself in an eff
fort to monopolize too much of the worlds
activities. Wall street is quick to find a
connection between the borrowing for the
completion of the deep-water and tide-wa-
ter roads and the incessant liquidation of
Standard Oil specialties in the stock mar
ket. 1t may be that Wall street has jump
ed to wrong conclusion in assuming that
Standard Oil interests have been selling
stocks in order to raise money to meet de-
mands for the carrying out Of their enter
prises. Still it is the province of Wall
street to speculate in possibilities. Also
there is an old saying that mo one man or
group of men in Wall street is as large as
all of Wall street
Judge William H. Moore has been admit
ted within the sacred precincts of the
Lackawafna directorate. This signal step
in Judge Moore's career finally placed him
among the ultra conservatives. He is now
hand in glove with the Taylors, the Sloans
the Astors and the Vanderbilts The old
est inhabitant of Wall street will remember
the time in the long distant past When
Judge Moore and his friends We're regarded
here by such conservative fnanciers as
Mr.. Hartman and Mr. Morgan as students
of the Colonel Sellers school of finance But
that was long ago. Today, while the press
of the world is telling us daily of the radi-
calism of American railroad finance, the
Rock Island goes on in the even tenor of
its way, and has taken rank with the con-
seryative roads. No one hears Of any Rock
Island financing these days. Judge Moore
is now one of the conservative railway
men of the day, and his election to the
Lackawanna board of managers put the
hall mark on him.
Some inquisitiye railway student has dis
covered that the annual report of the Lack
awanna shows an increase of nearly ST.,
100000 in appropriations for renewals and
betterments, thus creating a very marked
decline in the company's gross earnings.
This will not alarm the Lackawanna stock
holders 1t will rather make them feel
easier of conscience. The trouble with the
Lackawanna is that 1t makes money SO
fast that 1t is a problem how to cover up
its swollen fortune" The Lackawanna
earns about 90 per cent.
Is
Wall street is waiting to hear of the
raising of railroad rates in the country, and
there are many conservative men who hope
that the railroads will be able to pull
through this period of unprecedented pros
perity without any wholesale raising of
rates. One of these men has this to say:
There are not few conservative railroad
men who hold to the opinion that the pres
ent is an inopportune time to advance rail-
road rates, as such advance would in
evtably add Goals to the fame Of adverse
agitation, just when there is prospect of
a better public feeling developing in regard
to railroads. Moreover, there is some ques-
ton whether, in view of the larger profits
which will come to the railroads as a re-
suit of the abolition of passes and rebates,
there is any pressing necessity as yet of
advancing rates. The fairest policy from
this point of view would be to keep rates
on their present level. 1t may be added
that President Roosevelt wants neither
capital nor labor to work for nothing, and