The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-09-27
Special.

interests are still supporting the
stock market and any discussion OF
financial prospects must necessarily
be subject to their movements predi
! Gated upon the whims of exigencies OF
their present interests. Dealing, how
ever, with the fundaental situation
which in the long run must prevail
there appears no question that devel'
ouments are converting it into one
of increasing burden for manipulative
interests, and the features to be
watched in the current period OF
strain are indications of the endul-
ance, strength and determination of
the manipulators. The weeks news
developments have cen discour-
agement to those outside interests
who became enthusiastic over market
prospects Immediately after the death
of Mr. Hartman. There have been a
number Of specific disapoiitments.
In the first place, the speeches of
President Taft in his tour of the west
nave SACiCI a lutItl uhpCtbiiHt1
Influence upon holders of securities.
They suggest that the trend toward ma
tional supervision of accumulated capt
tai did not end with the retirement of
the presidents immediate predecessor
and Mr.. Taft's distinct statement that
recommendations are to be made 10
Congress at the December session,
of a character calculated to reopen
discussion and action on corporation
matters of a controversial character,
can hardly be viewed as favorable
stock market Influence. A large per-
centage of the very heavy advance
that has taken place in the stock ex-
change price level since the inaugu-
ration of President Taft in March last
has been based upon the belief that
legislative antagonism to accumulated
capital as such was on the wane and
that just as surely as national politi-
cal sentiment moderated so would
state, county, municipal and lesser
governmental organizations fall into
line Holders of securities began 10
feel from care in this direction; they
quite freely admitted that the Roose-
welt policy while perhaps at times UNI
necessarily harsh, had not been with
out its pronounced benefits upon the
financial and business fabric as a
whole, and that changes had been
forced quite as necessary as for the
moment they were unsettling and per
haps temporarily disastrous.
Taft's Speeches Factor.
The presidents speeches, especially
that at Des Moines, have suddenly
made it clear that great questions ar
tecting the financial the financial
markets that were considered settled
are, in fact, not settled and that the
opening of congress Will again be-
come the source of uneasiness and
uncertainty among large railroad
andi Industrial managers and owners.
The president announces, for instance.
that he will urge the establishment of
what win in effect be an interstate
Commerce Court of Appeals to con-
slider appeals from rates fixed by the
Commerce Commission: he will also
recommend the extension under Ger
tain conditions, of the powers of the
Interstate Commerce Commission to
include the fixing Of rates; he will
urge legislation preventing one inter-
state company and compelling roads
such stock to dispose of their holI-
ings within given time. The presi-
dent announces that he will also seek
Legislation to prevent the overissue of
stocks and bonds and to prevent also
the watering Of stocks. His position
lis that the permission of the Inter.
state Commerce Commission for the
issue of such new securities must first
be obtained and that the Commission
itself must make careful and formal
inquiry before granting such permits
sion, and that in no case must stock
be issued for less than par. Other rec
congress by the president on mucn
the same lines. and taking the legisla-
tive outlook as a whole the eXecu-
tive's position becomes one of dis
tinct Importance to holders of secur-
tiles Some Of the recommendations
possibly all of them, have in view the
! creation Of improved conditions in
the financial world with distinct
tendency toward steadying the list of
security values. On the other hand,
the danger should not be overlooked
of any attempt by the government to
take from railroad managers the prop
err duties of their various offices. 1t
will not do to place the management
of our great railroad and industrial
enterprises upon a plane that shall in
effect be purely mechanical, plane
where experience - judgment and
ability shall not count and where
financial experience and backing shall
not be necessary The preservation
of enterprises is quite as necessary
as the suppression of abuses, especial
ly conditions that have in Difference
to human nature arisen from a toe
concentrated control of public utili
ties. On the other hand, the firts re
certion of the presidents plans is APT