The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-09
SOME REACTION IN
 STOCK MARKET Bull Movement Is Halted By
 the Conservatives RAILROAD STOCKS LOWER Action of Northern Pacific In Making No Advance In Dividend and Re ceivership of Another Road
 Aids the Decline.
RAILROAD STOCKS LOWER

New York, January S.-Events today confirmed the doubts which began to manifest themselves yesterday over the operations for a present rise in stocks and they were practically abandoned. Some natural reaction followed with the selling out of disappointed speculators who had bought in hopes of an exten- sion of the advance, but the backward movement was made the more assured by the extent of the previous buying and the advances. The action of the North ern Pacific directors in declaring only the regular quarterly dividend proved particularly disconcerting to. a bull party in the speculation which had advanced very bold commissions for consideration of an intended distribution of 10 per cent in extra dividends. The failure of these prophecies greatly discounted the claims on which this bull party has worked, which included intimations of encourage ment and backing from important cap ital interests The confirmation of yes terday's rumors of an intended receiver ship for the Chicago Great Western re- moved misgivings of damage to be suf- fered from the financial crisis and the reaction.
 The sympathetic effect of this news was most marked on stocks of companies sup posed to be in a similar condition of finan- cial need especially those with heavy temporary note obligations incurred dur ing the past year. with a narrow mar gin of surplus earnings of fixed require ments and with heavy increases upon the previous rate of earnings caused by the business reaction. Reports became current of offerings at a wide discount in the curb market of the Erie one-year notes. of which s5,5OO,OOO were issued to mature in the coming April. $6,0OO0OO Rock Island issue natures about the same time.
 The finances of the Southern railway offer a sufficiently close analogy to bring its stock into the movement today. The condition thus presented is general enough to have an influence on railroad securi- ties as a whole. Railroad companies of first-class credit as well as those lower in the scale were driven to temporary note issues last year and very heavy maturities fall due all through the pres ent year The issues were made, not with the intention of redemption in cash at the expiration of the period, but of refunding into longer time obligations as soon as the prohibitive interest rates should have yielded Such incidents as those which came into prominence awaken the question of the feasibility of rais- ing new capital supply in some of the cases even in an easier condition of the money market. Ruling prices of some of the temporary railroad note issues suggest faulty condition of credits apart from money market conditions.
 The large waiting demands for capital in fact constitute an important element in working out of the financial future. Foreign markets as well as our own have shown their sensitiveness this week to an- nouncements of new government loans. It became known today that city revenue bonds had been sold to the syndicate which obtained an option on them at the time of previous subscriptions. A heavy volume of mercantile credits also re- mains to be taken care of. Encouraging progress in this respect is reported, but sentiment is easily affected by news of even minor business embarrassment. The pushing of prosecutions against financial offenders and notice from supervising au- thorites of exact compliance with re- strictions to be required are looked to as part explanation for the abstention from speculative activity of some pre- viously conspicuous forces. An influence in the same direction is the new regula- tion soon to be in force for weekly state- ments of financial conditions to be made to the state banking department of the