The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-05
Tafts Election Is Acceptable to
 Conservatives"
THE TROUBLES OF ERIE
It Is Said That This Road and the Southern Are In a Bad Way To Meet Urgent Calls In
 Near Future.
BY w. G. NICHOLAS.

i AlSlll III " dAi street ONSf things pOllllcdl. not seen in months. The phenomenon is
 due to the conviction entertained in high places that the nomination and cleo
 ton of MT. Taft will be acceptable to the so-called "eonservative ves." The inspired
 word has passed along the line that Mr.
 Taft Is right" and that if he gets the nomination the money will be put behind
 him" to insure his election. Wall street,
 which in some respects is the most gullible community in the world accepts this proposition blindly as meaning that MT. Taft or some one speaking by au-
 thority has made bargain with Wall
 street which is to hold good regardless
 of the candidates professions to MT.
 Rooseyelt-a bargain. the essence of which is that MT. Taft intends to fool either his friend the President or the dear peepul-a suggestion repugnant any way it may be taken.
 Incredible as the idea may appear it may be stated as a fact that the Wall street theory most commonly held is that some sort of q deal has been made which makes the presidential candidacy of MT. Taft acceptabl in sinister sense to the powers of high finance. You hear 1t whispered at every turn and especial ly among the people who are really at the helm of large affairs. That imparts to the proposition a quality of substance that goes to make it a real market fac
 tor.
 If 1t should come to pass that the sup
 posed pact or deal is merely the figment
 of imagination and lacks the essential
 ingredient Of MT. Taft's indorsement then
 the reaction will be harder than the
 benefit accruing from the invention. For
 the moment, however the weird dream
 has all the market effect of a hard and
 fast agreement and is taken with all
 seriousness by people of exceptional im-
 portance-in whose judgment and knowl-
 edge the street attaches great value. All
 of which makes the development the
 more curious.
 The stock market has taken on a phase
 of confidence and stability directly trace
 able to deep seated conviction that
 Washington is pledged to let up on capi-
 tai and that it has at last realized the
 mistaken policy of continuous noisy as-
 sault on credit, even to the extent of
 substantial reversal of front on matters
 of supremest importance. The new note is heard everywhere and is confessedly at the bottom of much of the recent heavy
 buying of stocks by some of the lead ing interests of the street.
 This sort of thing will strike most people as being an absurdly inadequate 1 foundation upon which to build po rna- nent bull market It may, neverthe- l less, be accepted as fact that this very l thing has influenced a great deal of the
 buying which has been in evidence Of l late Business conditions throughout the | country are not improving to any extent
 There is a whole lot of talk to the con
 trary, but facts and figures will not sup l port the claim.
 In some parts of the west and north 1 west improvement is noted, especially in
 that territory tributary to Chicago l and to St. Louis. In the east and in the
 middle west, depression is the rule. Cor
 porations regardless of locality, continue 1 to show decreases in earnings, and there l is steady procession of reports or de- 1 creased dividends and curtailment in l every quarter.
 l The crop outlook, so far as there IS any l line to be had on actual conditions, seems l favorable in the main, and as the spring l advances this feature will grow in im- | portance as a market element. Recurring to the matter contained in l the introductory paragraph, 1t is que l to remember that the panic which inaugu- rated the period of hard times through l which we are now passing was occasioned | primarily by the loss of credit, such loss ] heinz traceable more to political attitude l than to any other one thing. change in 1 the political front from hostility to friend | liness might have a recuperative effect 1 quite as effective as it's operation against l prosperity.
 l Ninety per cent of business is done on l credit, and it does not take very much 1 imagination to estimate the possibilities | for recovery, as well as for depression. | Dominating political and other forces in l action for a restoration of credit must l not be underestimated in value. It IS l upon this feature of the situation and 1 upon the outcome of the crops for this
 year that the course of the market and
 of business in general must hinge. The moral sense of the stock exchange has been most horribly laeerated by the | unhoIy exploitation of Yukon gold by l Thomas Lawson, abetted by the Guggen- l helms and the advertising pages Of the | press of the large cities of the country. | Oh the shame of it! Here we had game | going all right; plenty of money on the l table and the kitty doing well, when along comes a rank outsider and sets up across the street, hires Dig brass panu and starts opposition.
 A whole lot of our fellows cash in and buy chips in the other game. They ma | | -t5s- mare attractive and give us the | go-by The worst of 1t is they take real l Inorny out of our game and the chances are it will never come back, 9t least not l for long time. We can figure out dl- rect loss of s, S,5O0.0 GOO that much having 1 been invested first hands In Lawson s l scheme, that we know of.
 l yvr-, a bank or trust company puts up | its shutters there is some hope of getting l son,et hing back No so with Yukon. That | s3500,000 is a total loss. It has gone | from the street forever more. The knloh- l c'.c '-ar failnrc at it's worst did not mean | as large an actual extinguishment or | < nt.,iing capital as the initial success or 1 Yukon gold Whether or not Lawson | makes a hit with his subsequent manipu- | lation is another proposition. Indications | are that he has placed the 7OO,00O shares l given to him to market, and that he and l his side partner, w. B. Thompson (hero | of Nipissing) have cleaned up matter or | s1 .OOO. 900 on their campaign of newspaper l advertising They deserve every cent they | have made The closest scrutiny fails l to disclose the slightest taint of misrepre- | gentation in the broadest advertising cru l sade
 The goods were displayed on the coun-
 ter for what they were worth and the | public was invited to buy. The public bought The Guggenheims gave the en- terprise their background announcement
 to the extent of certifying to the ultimate l value of the placer properties represent
 ed by the shares. They have put s25OC0,
 GOO to s4O,0O0,000 into the development of l Alaskan mining and ought to be reason
 | ably well informed. They have more 1 than s10,OOO,o00 in cash in the proposition
 | called Yukon Gold'' and their say SC
 as to It's merits is entitled to weight
 | fad it1 c