The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-12
ltiE SlULK slAKkEl


 New York, March 1l.--The aggressive speculative leadership which took mold of the stock market laLe last week asserted itself again today and prices were lifted substantially. It was not until nearly two hours Of the sessIon expired that tne move nlent got under way the interval being fnl- meat wnicn marked the conduct of further testing operations by the leaders or the operations on the long side. of the mar- keI when operasiohs were resumed in any aggI essive. way the improvement in the technical position of the inarket iesuitlns lIolii yests. days reaction becAfhe ialanilesl- 1he nesiIatlon in the upward movement yesteruay nsk reached in s large extension the snort interests. as the professional el- ement nad been uistguStfui Vf tiis auVaneD rom the outset ana were w4tcnIui Lor an opportunity 10 put out Tresn snO4t linss. 1tiese uiiCoyereu shorts maee a potenlIai oeinand iof stocks on the auvaaee wnIch aIded the buns materially. ahe dlSes- LIon of profits effected by yesterdays sell ing aIso IeIt the seIiers In sIIvng po- sItIon to renew their holdings. The oo- SIous condemnation of the operations los- tered the conviction that important finan- cial interests were enlJarAeu m a eon- certed movement for extending the risc, with the probable acroval of banking in- terests looAlng 10 tne furtherance or com ing plans Ior necessary financing wnien eollfivnI them.
 a revnal or rumors Of importanC develop ments which lacked yerificAtion and when wsbe in themselves vabue as to form ana S1ts1AeAAA~N- most potent Of these in it's effect on the market was a revival of the report set sfloat last week that conferences were m progress to secure assurance of permission being granted by the interstate commerce commission to the railroads to adopt moderate advance in freight rates In return for. agreements to maintain wages oy the railroads.
 There is general recognition of the me- cessity confronting the railroads 10 secure q readJustment of the proportion Of profits to earninga. either by reduction of expenses or by increase of charges.
 The current assumption in the specula- be solicitous to aid in sustaining wages of labor that consent will be given 10 an increase of freight rates. No official sane stantiaI reports were published today of concerted plans amongst the railroads to re- duce wages. The stress laid son the face of heavy curtailment of earnings by reli- road officials Is taken to mean that the argument for the necessity of the cut in wages shall be enforced on public atten- ] The days speculation held it's view of a probable agreement between railroads and the national authorities in spite of the lack of official confirmation. The conspicuous leadership of Union Pacific in the move ment was due to revival of reports that the plan for segregation of that company's in- vestments was ripe and would involve an extra disbursement to stockholders. The extra dividend rumor was revived to apply to Northern Pacific also. The strength in Reading was connected with report that a case was being prepared by the department of justice to test the commodity clause of the Hepburn law, which would exempt the coal roads from penalties for non-compli- ance pending the decision of the suit
 The reaction late in the day was partly due to profit taking. The instructions from President Roosevelt to the commissioner of corporations to investigate stock trading was not generally known on the floor of the stock exchange before the closing, but 1t is probable that some of the late selling t.~ wl.r t,4A aA4 A4a 6a tents. The market closed distinctly weak in consequence.
 Bonds were firm. Total sales par value changed on call.
 CLOSING STOCK LIST.