The Washington times., 1908-10-04

NEW YORK, Oct. S.-During the
greater part OF the week the stock mar
ket was extremely dull. too much so
for the commission houses and depress-
inEly so for the rank and file Of brokers
and room traders. The only positive
feature was a really encouraging show
Of strength In the midst Of neglect No
one cared 10 make much Of play 10
sell stocks for the reason that they
were held entirely too strongly, and be-
cause Of the added fact that it was me
clique's next move.
Patiently the Street waited for de-
veIopmerts For two or three days
there were no eruptions In the heIu OF
pronunciation. and the traders DreaIhed
a little easier and took chance at
few hundred shares Of stock now ana
then. Just testing the market. Every
thing indicated a gradual Improvement
more men at work, heavy marketing or
crops. an absolute certainty or easy
money and a gradual cleaning OF the
probabilities Of the election Of 1903 IL
so far as Presidential possibilities are
concerned
And still the waiting market was the
vogue. II was vexatiOUs, but it was
1serhaUs the best thing that Gould hap
Den. Bankers were Of this opinion ano
they were probably somewhat active
in holding of speculative and manipula-
tive advances.
II was a case Of a very little bust
ness. a little reaction and a small re-
covery, and then all Of a sudden, Ike
n flash, the situation change. The re-
dictionary tendency ceased after ! O'Clock
on Friday afternoon and during the four
hours in which the exchange was in ses-
sion thereafter there was activity
enough and the total sales on Friday
rose from a 10000 share market 70 a
G25.OoO share.
Discounting Ides of November.
The clique evidently started the hur-
rah boys The long delayed wearisome
period Of waiting was. for the time be
ing at least. over and the walters in
brokers and commission houses all over
the country woke up and started on tho
trail OF the leaders. stopping now and
then TO take in a Few dollars profits and
to get IN again and out again, after the
fashion that should characterize the
operation Of a wise trader during the
period OF uncertainty.
As they discounted BTyau's defeat IN
1896 and again in 1901-as they discounted
FarI1er's losing fight in 1yo4-so are they
discounting Bryan's chances again in
1905. The astute leaders Of Wall Street
seldom wait for development OF good
news any more than they DO for unfavor-
able. They read the handwriting on The
wall or wherever IL happens TO be dis
played. so that when the denOuemenJ
comes they have FULLY discounted ii.
History Repeats.
McKinIey's election was believed to be
a certainty almost from the advent Of
October. 1896. In 1900 the scare did not
materialize at all, nor did il in 1904
on all these occasions October was a
month I'm which the opinion began 70
grow that there would be no change IN
the party in power Today the story
is the same
It is not likely that the election OF Mr..
Taft would be followed by any sharp
advance in stocks. unless, percuance,
the clique may move prices upward in
an effort 10 draw the public into the
stock market, and up TO the present
writing the public is as Indifferent as
possible, save In the matter OF bonds,
where there has been q continuous de-
mand for some weeks-mOnths, in fact
an evidence Of the confidence of inves-
tors In this class Of securities
The Anniversary.
It is Just about a year since the panic
started its disastrous journey through
our own country and TO Europe, and
wherever the civilized world depends on
the prosperity Of its greatest unit-the
United States.
We are at the turning of the roads
There has been splendid recovery The
grand crops, the salvage from the
wrecks the bOUntifCl crops, the unim-
paired buying power Of the agriculture
people. and Of 60 per cent of the worrying
people. have gone far toward the rein
statement Of the old order Of prosperity.
There is no better evidence Of this than
the red ICticu in the number OF idle
cars within the last five months from
$4,000 to $4,000. There is ROOM for i'm
provement, and it is coming gradually
in the movement of wheat, corn, cotton,
and other products of the field TO the
centers Of trade, and the return flow OF
manufactured products and necessities.
The technical position OF the stock
market is excellent The big fellows
have the stocks and the money, and the
banks are willing to furnish money at
low rates. The magnificent earnings
or Union racine ana tle DIVIDEND on
Great Northern are bun factors.
Commenting on this very matter, Dr.
Henry Clews, the eminent financial spe-
cialist. says:
1.-The market is high rather than low
yet has a good undertone Of confidence
and seems more responsive to good news
than 20 bad. Holders Of securities seem
pretty well satisfied that the worst has