The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-20
NICHOLAS WALL
 STREET LETTER Stock Market LapSeS Into HoIi-
 day Desuetude BANKERS CALL IN LOANS Appointment Of Committee To InvestI- gate Speculation Methods Causes consyernatlon In the Street.
 MT. Taft TaIkatIve.
BANKERS CALL IN LOANS
By w. G. NICHOLAS.

New York December 19.-The stock market has lapsed into a state of holiday desuetude, with the talent working quo- tations up and down to get its daily acalping tribute from the public. very decided difference of opinion has devel- oped as to the immediate future of the market however, and 1t may be now de- scribed as distinctly two sided. very powerful element in the market is con- vlnced that the advance has gone far enough and that only tho rankest manip- ulation can put prices materially higher. In standardization to this, big manipu- lators who have time and again demon- sctrated their mastery over the specula- tive situation seemed disposed to crowd things little further This may be be- cause they want to establish a better level for distribution, or 1t may be because they really believe that the outlook warrantS a continuation of the bull movement that has been going on for the last five months without reaction.
 Bankers as a rule are on the side of the conservatives, who think reaction Is in order and would be healthy. They are calling In loans moderately and getting themselves in shape for the end-of-the- year calls, which will include the sending
  900 in dividends and interest. This calls for a shortening of sail, but as money is very plentiful, the operation is not dras- tic At the same time the bankers are trying to make it appear as hard as possi- ble in order that they may have an ex- cuse for marking up the call rates, which have been perceptiby hardening for some time past. This phenomenon Is of nual recurrence, however It is looked for in December as regularly as the all manac announcement of the arrival of that month.
 At the same time the banks are obvi- ously against any disturbance which might throw the market into a state of mind which would only be satisfied by a harsh decline in prices The banks have money to sell and would like to get high a price for it as possible, but not at the expense of big disturbance on the market at a time when the patient Is be- ing coddled along through the middle stages of convalescence.
 The professionals have been against the market for week or 10 days. That attitude Is made known in a variety of ways. Down to date 1t seems to have made small outside impression. To all surface appearances the great body of the ice still seems strong and firm. It is mo- ticed, however, that good many air holes are appearing.
 This is shown mainly in the odds and ends. This class of stocks have been marked up and put in line with the rest of the market during the last month or two and have seemingly joined strongly in the big general broad movement. It is observed, however, that whenever any body wants to sell some of these fin sects," as they are called in substitution for the old designation "cats and dogs" trades are made at very sharp conces- sion from last quoted prices Brokers often find 1t impossible to get within one or two points of the market 1t looked to be before an offering of real stock ma terfalized.
 Wall street has had several things to talk about this week. One is the supreme court decision in the Hartman case. An other is the appointment of a commission of eminent citizens by Governor Hughes to investigate the financial district and formulate a plan for its reformation. The third topic is the progress of the tariff hearings before the ways and means com mittee; and last, but not of least import ance, is the unexpected development of effectiveness on the part of MT. Taft.
 The moral effect of the Hartman deci- sion was unfayorable. It seemed to give to insiders of corporations a license to exploit the treasuries of these corpora tiors by immunity from harassment for private purchases of stocks and their sale to the companies controlled by said in siders As a matter of fact, the decision gives no such freedom of action
 The ruling merely puts limit on the power of the interstate commerce com mission in it's examination of witnesses. The effect of the decision is that another method will have to be found to get at men charged or suspected with having wrongfully used their powers as officers of corporations for their own enrichment at the expense O. the stockholders. Evi- dently they cannot be reached by the process attempted by the government in this particular Hartman instance. Until