Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-07
F financial News Letter
BY ". @. NICHOLAS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star.

NEW 1onh, JuIlc .. A.rSS
At no time in recent years has the stock
market been more absolutely in manipula-
tive control than at the present writing
A small group of powerful men and In
terests are in complete charge Of the mar
ket and they are doing with 1t about as
they please. Those who happen to get In
right have been making money. Those
who guessed wrong have lost Judgment
has counted for little The group Of big
men in the saddle have command of the
loanable cash OF chain Of the strongest
banks and trust companies in America,
and they have made the best possible use
of 1t for their own advantage. BY rea-
son of their command of this vast float
ing capital they have been. able to mark
up the price Of stocks to such height
and in such manner as to substantially
influence the popular sentiment. and by
50 doing reap stupendous stock market
profits for themselves. aid materially In
creating a general investment demand for
bonds and, incidentally. In giving nerve
and courage to the great business COM
munity at large.
Every one of the big men who have
been engaged tn this profitable and pa
triotic campaign comes under the general
head OF 'malefactors of great wealth"
against whom the heavy artillery of the
politicians and newspapers has been di-
rected for the past three years. They
seem to have come out OF the battle In
fairly good shape. and to have pulled back
upon the plane OF solvency tens and hun
dreds of thousands Of their fellow-citi-
zens They have been some what SCARED
and hardened by their strenuous expert
ence. but In the summing up 1t Is found
that they are more strongly intrenched in
the citadelS Of finance and business than
ever before. They tower above the wreck
age of panic and privation and general
bankruptcy with more money and more
power than before the intense warfare
upon them began.
-.
There Is prevailing belief that the
stock market is to be held around current
levels until after the Chicago convention,
and then allowed to take care of itself.
The obvious purpose of the great bull
campaign has been fairly well accom-
plished. One Of the greatest stock mar
ket killings on record. II not the very
greatest. has been made and a vast ag-
gregate volume Of new bonds f1oated sue
cessfully. thus enabling the great male
factors to proceed with their plans of
railroad extension and combination. They
seem to have provided themselves very
well with what new capital they needed
regardless OF what may hereafter occur.
and they are therefore away up on Ia y
street" to use a popular co.loquialism.
Being thoroughly saturated with the gam
blers' philosophy mot to care blank
what happens to anybody SO long as it
doesn't happen to me-" they are not CIV
ing much thought to the rest Of the
world. Their wants are provided for.
The passage of an emergency currency
bill exerted helpful effect in Wall street.
A great many of the men who criticised
the intrinsic merit of the measure and de-
plore the fact that the door has been
opened for the issuanc. of a currency
which may degrade and dilute the aggre-
gate volume for the promotion OF specu-
lation admit that 1t will be very likely to
reduce the chances of future panics. They
regard the bill as a mere stopgap how
ever. which will in the course Of time
give way to legislation for permanently
increased currency stability. The mere
fact that 1t will be possible to inject into
the volume of money anywhere up to
will go far toward averting the necessity
for its use. To that extent. therefore.
tho law viii be serving a useful purpose
Most bankers are Of the opinion that even
though the bill had not become law
there the t,s would be plenty Of money ayailable
The authorization Of big lot Of new
money may be regarded In a sense as
''cinching a cinch." The bull: Leaders of
the stock market made the most Of the
enactment and used 1t az one Of their
trump cards. Once again was Washing
ton employed In the gamblers game on
the stock exchange. 1t has been used in
that capacity many times during the past
year.
1t cannot be said truthfully that the
players In the stock market are paying
much attention to the republican conven-
ton at Chicago 1t Is assumed in ad-
vance that Mr.. Taft will receive the nom-
ination and that platform will be adopt
ed pledging. the party In power to a re-
vision of the tariff by it's friends" This
puts the burden of carrying the election
on the manufacturing interests and al
ready much Is heard Of the enormous
campaign fund which is to be raised en-
tirely Independent of railroad and insur-
ance corporations which Of late years
were the heaviest contributors. The os-
tentatlouS eagerneSs of the Standard Oil
bunch and Of Mr.. Hartman to aid in the
continuation OF MY Policies is looked
on as one Of the curious political develop
ments of the hour in Wall street, and 1t is
having no little market effect. as indicat-
ing general amnesty among the high
powers of finance and politics.
i 4
Beyond a doubt the public has been
roped into the buying of stocks on an ex-
tensive scale. 1t stood up nobly under
the sharp break Of last week and added
to its holdings on the subsequent recov-
cry. This seems to be the almost unani-
nous opinion Of brokers and commission
houses How II will act In the event OF a
big decline after the national conventions
is an open question. II the promise of a
substantial industrial and trade revival is
made good the great multitude of miscel-
laneous investors may conclude to hold
on and buy more. q
The outlook. however. is for an unusualt
iy violent and nasty campaign. and should
this theOry be confirmed there is likely to
occur month or two Of disquieting un-
certainty and incidental liquidation. The
big market leaders now in command are
no doubt putting themselves In shape for
such contingency. They will probably
be found fully insured II the house should
burn down.
The break In pig iron was offset by the
Simultaneous announcement that negotia-
tons were on for the purchase of hum
dreds OF thousands OF tons OF steel rails
by the Russian government. Thess nego-
tiations are understood to be on for some
time. President Cory having gone to Eu-
rope to close the bargain. The magnitude
Of the deal Is not even economically an