The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-16
POLITICAL. MARKET
 NOW IN THE SADDLE May Continue In Wall Street
 for Some Time iN AN OVERSOLD STATE The Invisible Vest Pocket Reserve Is Receiving Considerable Attention Among Professionals In the
 Street-Harriman' Profits.
BY w. G. NICHOLAS.

BY w. G. NICHOLAS.
 New York, February 15.-There Is likely to be a continuation of "polit- ical market" for some time to come. It is the one thing uppermost in every body's minds and it is the one thing which is kept everlastingly stirred up by the vocal efforts of the politicians and by the space which is given over to the subject in the newspapers Cap ital has fallen into the habit of think ing it must await the development of decided tendencies before it can form judgment as to the future course of prices. If it must be kept on the de- fensive for another four or five years the feeling is that it will seek location where 1t can be subjected to the least damage, and that 1t will not be tempted to take the aggressive. Sentiment is threfore pessimistic all along the line, and Wall street Is taking the dis couraged view. Information pours in that the rest of the country would like to be hopeful and cheerful, and that it. regards with open disfavor the gloom of Wall street
 What the wiseacres of the financial district profess to be in greatest fear of is the growth of dangerous class feeling. They imagine that the politi- clans are fomenting a nasty state of affairs between capital and labor, condition quite as threatening to the safety of the republic al the sectional hatred which led up to the Civil war between the north and south. They have worked themselves into the belief that the country is passing through the earlier stages of a serious crisis, and that it is in actual danger of either mob rule or imperialism. In the back ground of all this sort of talk looms the gigantic figure of a spectacled man on horseback This may be the rank est kind of nonsense but the feeling exists neverth eless and has specific bearing on the markets and on business in general. It is a factor in the mak- ing of prices and must be considered in. giving a truthful picture of cur rent developments.
 The professionals have the market pretty much to themselves these days, and as they are overwhelmingly bear ish in sentiment the market has worked into an over-sold state. In some of the leading stocks the short interest has become unweidly, and the bears find themselves in a position where they
  in the mind of some of the market leaders to make a demonstration against the short interest. which Is larger in the Steel issues. Union Pacific, Reading, New York Central, Pennsyl- vania, Atchison, Missouri Pacific and St. Paul than in any other stocks. The trouble has been that every time the bulls move and put up prices they meet mass of real stock, which IS the last thing they have any use Tor in addition to what they already own and are trying to get rid of. Still 1t Is not improbable that before the de- parture of MT. Morgan for Europe, an event now close at hand, the shorts will be given a lesson not soon to De TOT eotten MT. Morgan and his allies nave already made a killing with the stocks they bought at the inside panic figures and unloaded during the January boom. That however, will not prevent MT. Morgan adding enough to his pronts to buy a million or two dollars worth or new art treasures. He only has $12,- ooo oo0 to s15,OOO0 900 worth of goods in his collection and would naturally like to supplement these holdings with fur- ther purchases
 The feature of Senator Aldrich's great speech which attracts most attention was that part relating to the inVlsloie vest pocket reserve, amounting, accoru- ing to his communication, to about sls per capita against SIP per capita l2 or lS years ago. The aggregate or the reserve that is kept out of banking circulation IS thus shown to be at least $1,5OO,00o.O OOo. money which will gradually find its way back into banks as the masses Of the peo- nle find their resources cut down by req son of employment. As long as times are prosperous people continue to carry liberal amounts about with them. lh lean times this reserve diminishes. With A per capita invisible vest pocket re- serve back to where 1t was 10 or F years ago the result would be the reinforcement of visible circulation to the. amount or nearly s6O0, 900 ,O00 sum worth taking into account in figuring on the future. Les son taught by this exhibit and illustra- ton is that as the people spend their vest pocket reserve supplies of cash in bank will increase and presently stocks or money in sight will be mountain high. Then will the machinery of business pc fabricated and the country be in position to start afresh on another upward and forward movement.
 Much is heard these days about the prodigious short interest in steel. By some it Is estimated as high as 100000 shares. The SpecidnSts ticot tiiS S innate with open sceptcism. They say that the great bulk of the supposed short interest is really long stock sold for in- side account. and held back for delivery later on This was the trick played i'll 1902 and 19o3 when the big insiders sold against their holdings and borrowed stock wherewith to make deliveries Messrs. Prick, Schwab, Morgan. Rockefeller and most of the other big fellows In the com bination have been accused of pursuing this foxy policy, thereby concealing from the general view the fact that they were getting out of their holdings while the public was buying
 The whisperers have been uncommonly busy this week. The names of more than one important institution and interna- tional house were freely used, and there was a good deal of liquidation and short