Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-06
DUE TO MANIPULATION
InWardness of the Rapid Rise
of Stocks.
WISDOM OF REACTIONS
Significance in Business Way of
Tariff Revision.
VIGOROUS SUPPORT ABSENT
Industrial Division of Market Con-
tinues to Show Hesitancy
and Growing Inaction.

Special Correspondence Of The Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Star
NEW YORK. December :. 1908.
Inc edge seems to be off speculation for
the time being. The sentiment of the stock
exchange is mildly bearish. Nobody looks
tor serious slump in prices. but thsre
Is Il feeling that the situation is III fer Il
reaction Consequently there is marked
dmfnution in the volume of buying fer
an immediate rise. A steady line of in
vestment buying Is going on, but those
, who are taking on securities are in no
hurry about it. They do not rush in and
insist upon having their orders filed on
the bulges. They know full we'll that the
| market will be here tomorrow and the
next day and the day after that. They
also realize that at this stage of the game
| it might pay to go slow.
There are many reasons why the wis
dom of the street SIbScribcS to the theory
| of Il reactionary period in the stock mar
ket. In the first place there has been "a
tremendous advance in prices-enougn tol
discount pretty nearly every fiEoraDie
J condition realized anticipated. This
! great rise is due very largely to manip-
ulation. \ manipulation which might be
| aptly called righteous manipulation IN
| asmuch as it has been for the benefit OF
! the country at large and has been a very
leading factor in restoring general con-
tidence.
| 1t is one case where the satanic ma
chinery of Wall street has been employed
for the universal uplift 1t has Deen,
broadly speaking. a grand gospel move
ment for the installation of hope and
faith in the bosom of the people VIII
out it the return OF good times would
have been much slower. Hence II IS that
the country at this time owes to Wall
street debt of gratitude which 1t may
be slow to realize but which is none the
less provable. An offsetting fact may DC
.f,~t I,,tl
any other element for bringing on the
panic of last year. but Wall street was
not alone in feeling a sense of panic duo
to political agitation and overeNpanslon.
| In the second place there Is a growing
realization of the significance in buSl-
ness way OF tariff revision Changing the
schedules is always disturbing lnnuehce:
and although in the present case the EVIL
effects of reimbursement OF duties is
minimized by knowledge that it Is In
friendly hands. yet the fact Itself looms
in the foreground.
As market factor. tar1n revision IN us
mlder form is figured As operating
against prices. The best that protected
interests can hope for is the worst OF 1t.
From no viewpoint can the process itself
be construed favorably to the manufac-
turing interests. After the country has
adjusted itself to the new. conditions I'M
posed by a revision then there will be
| time enough to talk of the increased ben
etits accruing from an enlarged volume
u
dreamed Of by free traders, against which
visions there stands out the fact that the
country has progressed WOnueffuily un-
n der protection. and that any change from
that policy involves doubt. uncertainty
! and experimentation.
| Not Keyed Up to Situation.
/ The stock exchange. in common with
/ business interests.generally. is not keyed
;. up to the academic view of the situation
-
the immediate future. This future at
the present writing is filled with the pic
ture Of six months more Of tariff agita-
ton, with every chance that it will be-
come more acute the day for the
e passage Of the new tariff law approaches.
: The tape is beginning to reflect it's feel
9 ing in a very moderate way. The in
= dustrial division of the stock market
continues to show hesitancy and growing
Il inaction. Down to this time there has
= not been important recession in prices.
, but there is continual grip Of long
, stock and an absence of vigorous sup
: port in any quarter. Thus far as noted
In the beginning of this dispatch. there
> are no evidences of wholesale wide
: spread liquidation in the industrials. That
G may or may not come later. Sentiment
on the exchange is visible forecast of
> further decline in quotations.
In the railroad list there is little of this
j feeling manifest. although the boom
seems to be out of things. There are
exceptions to this rule. Rock Island. for
: instance. gave an Illustration Of indie
pendent strength which cut quite a figure.
- This was due to inside knowledge that
the Rock Island company was about to
be relieved of the drag of financing the
1 Frisco system. which has been handi-
cap on the big holding company almost
from the date OF annexation five years
f ago. Confirmation Of this foreknowledge
e was given in the announcement that the
banking house of speyer Bros. had
underwritten the thirty -million-dollar is
:. sue Of Frisco bonds. the proceeds of
which are to be used in wiping out a
formidable floating debt and providing
capital for certain necessary betterments.
AS a sequel to this transaction there is
n tact pledge that in the near future
dividends will be resumed on Rock Island
preferred. The Speyer deal will restore
to the Rock Island treasury not less than
S20. 600 600 in bonds and stocks which
have been behind Frisco loans. and will
reimburse the holding company for large
cash advances. Rock Island Is emerging
with credit from a protracted period Of
hard trial and tribulation.
Gold Puzzle for the Street.
Just why this country should be ship
ping gold when there is no profit in the
transaction is present puzzle to Wall
street. Europe does not need the gold
and we have lots of it to spare, but as
before stated there is no money In ship
ping it across the water. The United
States already has an enormous credit
reserve in Europe and the steadily in
creasing balance Of trade in our favor
is adding to this reserve. Yet here we
are forcing the yellow metal. into the
gorged stomach of the old world. 1t does
not speak we'll for the home situation
when we get rid of our idle money for
the mere sake of shifting the RESPONSE
bility of storing II. Things are not as
bright as they ought to be If domestic
employment for the funds cannot be
found with call money around 2 per cent
and time money ranging from ) per cent