Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-15
Financial News Letter
BY ". g. NICHOLAS.

YET mas SuHefeQ only signify 1Toh iHdi-
gestion, one of the penalties of overfeed-
ing The stocks of which they partook
SO freely belonged to the pools and
| cliques which had been bulling the mar
ket for months, and which saw in the
post-election enthusiasm a good oppor-
tunity to unload and bank profits; also to
reduce their colossal Indebtedness to
banks and trust companies. The street is
full Of stories Of great profit taking by
the market masters and their friends,
who have been helping along the bull
movement. There is one we'll authenti-
Gated case OF the liquidation of 100000
share pool in Steel stockS-20O,OO0 COM
mon and 100000 preferred. There is sup
posed to have been an average profit OF
between Is and 20 points for this one
combination. 1t is not often that a spec
ulative deal for pool account can be
closed out at profit of between S4,5O,-
COO and $6.0o0.UOO. although in the affairs
OF some of the really big men among the
great spectators such profits or losses
are not unusual.
1t was of common gossip last fall that
Mr.. Frick individually lost $3O,O09.OUO
and the story is very generally believed
Mr.. Prick. however. had enormous re-
sources and a courage that knows no
daunting. Consequently he was among
the first to buy on large scale and he
has been one of the most active bulls all
the way up. It is more than likely that
he has recovered his losses and added
to his huge fortune as the figure stood
before the panic.
Mr.. Hartman is believed to be far
away the biggest winner on the remarka-
Bile recovery from panic levels. 1t comes
from. the inner circle that Mr.. Hartman
Is today third in the list of mult-million-
aires, John D. Rockefeller ranking first
and Andrew Carnegie second This would
be almost unbelievable in the case OF any
other man than Mr.. Hartman. for 1t is
fully believed in Wall street that during
the acute stage Of the panic last fall he
cation representing the ruling powers OF
the financial world to eliminate himself
from the situation. On that occasion he
was plainly told that if he did not so eff
face himself the panic would go on and
| the whole street be involved in common
ruin: AS the story goes. Mr. Hartman
| received the notice with unruffled GOODNESS
| and told his callers that if they really
believed that he could be backed off the
board in any such fashion the powers.
had his entire permission to go ahead. He
added. so it Is said that If they under
took to carry out the implied threat to
| smash the market and really put him
out of business he would give them an
exhibition of stock selling that would
make their hair stand on end, his posi-
ton In this respect being similar to that
taken by the late Charles r. Yerkes
when the banking interests of Chicago
called him before them to say to him
that they had decided upon his elimina-
ton. Mr.. Yerkes strolled into the august
presence Of the assembled bankers and
with light straw hat tilted jauntily on
the back of his head received his SEN
tence with the remark that If they really
intended to carry out the program he
would break every bank in Chicago be-
fore noon the next day. and with that he
turned upon his heel and walked out. The
decision to destroy Mr.. Yerkes had been
reached after hot fight as to Who should
go. Yerkes or Judge William H. Moore.
The banks had decided to carry Judge
car magnate. After Mr. Yerxes' depart
ure from the meeting of bankers, deci-
sion was hastily reversed and judge
Moore was sacrificed instead OF Yerkes.
Similarly the bankers Of New York
reversed the sentence OF death that had
been passed upon Mr.. Hartman and he
was allowed to live on. He blurred the
most powerful interests ever brought to-
gether in combination In Wall street. II
was bluf1ing on a bob-tail flush or whether
he held four aces From any angle 1t was
magnificent play and Mr.. Hartman Is
entitled to the full credit Of the success
which attended 1t. Never in the history
bigger stakes and never a more stupen-
dous campaign conducted than the one
which has been generated by Mr.. Harri-
man beginning early last spring.
out the capital and influence which he
was able to command no such bull cam
paign in stocks would have been possible.
1t was undertaken at a time when the
overwhelming sentiment OF the street
was opposed to it and in the face OF
the opposition Of such men as ]. P. Nor
gan and almost every conservative bank
er in any way. identified with stock mar
ket affairs. 1t was carried on with amaz-
ing courage and audacity and upon
scale previously unknown in the street.
It gave inspiration to business In general
and was probably the most influential
cause for the restoration of confidence
which everybody now sees and recog-
nizes Mr.. Hartman seems to be emil
tied to the credit of having been the most
influential factor for a restoration o.
good times and to have practically moved
ahead for six months or year that
most desirable condition. He Is not
miracle worker. but merely most ex-
traordinary man.
Now that the public has been landed
with the goods, the question is what is 1t
going to do with the stuff. The public
bought for a profit, not for a loss. and
now that it is apparently going into loss
on some of the purchases it is taking
on look of surprise and indecision as
though not knowing precisely what to
do. In the eXuDerduCe OIL eHIuuSldSiH
il bought recklessly as though certain
that the market would continue to go
right up through the skies. It looked
tor no setback and pyramided with utter
abandon. 1t is upon just such mar
kets that the experienced bull traders Of
Wall street unload. And then if the
market is big enough and broad
enough the load is taken on and
carried up the hill still further
On this occasion the public was big
one and took an enormous quantity OF Sc
curities. Rarely has 1t been the fortune
of pools and cliques to find such glo-
rious chance to unload. 1t was an ideal
market for them. 1t was just such
elimination as they had been looking
forward to for months, hoping 1t might
eventuate. but knowing that only
combination of fortuitous circumstances
could bring about such a result. Now
that their fondest dreams have been real
lied they are sitting back quietly await
ing developments. The expectation OF
Wall street is that the market Is In for
a big reaction. which will wind up with
a huge sacrifice of public moneys which
came into the game at the eleventh hour
If it should happen, however. that the
present holders should be reinforced and
fortified by an inflow of fresh recruits
bringing with them additional tens of
millions of capital, then this expecta-
ton will turn into disappointment. In
such an event the very man who We're so
keen to sell out to the greedy public during