The Washington herald., 1909-05-17

New York. May ls.-There was really lit
tie change either in the financial situa-
hon or IN the security market proper
last week. and people in the financial
district had no such striking developments
% talk about during the week as the
neeision Of the Supreme Court in the COM
ol0olueSs clause case or the report OF the
United States Steel Corporation for the
march quarter. which were leading topics
q conversation little tine before
The progress Of affairs last week was,
however. thoroughly typical OF those ten
oeneies In business and finance that have
Aeld sway for many months past There
vas no boom. no stock exchange excite
nnent' no wide fluctuations in prices, but
al the time a steady and sustained bet
Iefnent n commercial, mercantile, and
financial life.
The only difference between conditions
al presertan those two CT three months
ago is thai the expansion OF business is
now proceeding at more rapid rate. and
tne evidences % improvement are becom-
lngf more clear. Two or three specific
oIsSnesses could be picked out earlier in
ne year n which distinct signs Of greater
prosperity were making themselves mani
Test Now. such instances can be COM
piled al along the list. and the cases
cited are so numerous that Il can fairly
oe said that the business enterprises in
the country that are stiu notably de-
pressed foTE1 an exception 10 the general
rule.
What hostile critics OF the stock market
usually overlook. OF al least have over
rocked FOR year back in forming their
judgment as 70 a proper market valuation
OF the United States steel common and
preferred stocks. is that these stocks. or
a $ieast the first named. are not selling
opon their current dividend return. bat
upon the demonstration Of their ability
70 fairly earn their dividends after fun
charges Tor depreciation through a pro
~onged period Of generally hard times :
ana mat their vast equities al some fu-
ture tine and perhaps Al a tine not
Iar distant must pass from A potenthai
into concrete form, The United States
steel common stock may be cOmDared Al
TIE present tine with the position occu-
ped BY Reading common stock several
years ago, and perhaps even to-day.
Sotn stocks represent a tremendous de- (
gree Of latent earning power. and in the
case OF both stocks an immense sum o. {
money has been taken cut OF earnings
and laid OFT. without an increase in cap
ltallzation, in lettering the condition OF
The property Represented.
Z lhere was any special news last week I
i was thar pertaining 70 the increasing
orders for iron and steel materials and
the entrance al last into this field OF pur-
chase of the railway companies The Chi
CagO- Milwaukee and St Paul and New
York Central companies have already /
paced large o=ders, and IN all probability
TIE Baltimore and Ohio and Hartman
lines VIII soon make similar contracts
All these companies have held OF from
acton of this sort as long as they could.
and Indeed II IS generally expected that
their iron and steel buying in the present
year viii not be as great as II viii be IN
1914
Car Loading Increases.
The president Of the New York Cen
tral stated last week that the car load
ing over his lines was greater in the
month OF April than II was In similar
month in any year with the single ex-
5sption Of 1877. and that thus far in Nav
LAC AodlllAss nave Deel greater flal in ]
May. 1897. The last fortnightly report
CT the amount OF idle freight cars over
the country placed the quantity thereof
at the lowest number Of the year; but
there should be q better popular under
standing than there is OF the way in I
which these figures ought 20 be inter
preted- There always is and alwavs
must be necessarily a considerable num-
Der OF idle freight cars This IS partly
because there is invariably a certain pro-
portion OF freight cars that. willis not
exactly unfit 20 be used, are still used!
with reluctance by the railway people.
owing 10 their lack OF availability for
various reasons. But more potent cause
is the fact that the use Of freight cars
follows Ike everything else. certain sea
sons. There viii be q season. for in
stance, when the cars used for the es-
pecial purpose OF transporting fruit are
IN active demand. This viii be followed
by periods when these cars viii not be
IN demand at all and as they cannot be
used for general railway purposes the
cars pass 70 the surplus list