New-York tribune., 1909-12-12
The Financial World

tial IN cor pOratiOn ardlrS are inclined 4,
be carefully undiscIosiye OF their Dos,.
/ ton. Thus we have a guesswork rnarkes
Much stress Is laid by the commun,-
/ cative ones upon what may come OUT ~
| Washington. They recite a long LIST NJ
possibilities. AnaIyzing this sort OF reel
tation. the practical business man win bs
| unlikely 70 be impressed The scheduIs
is foolish, In nine out Of ten instance,
the representations are not factz bu,
arguments. not what is but what NAV Ne
For months past ~ has been the fash
ton to insist that dreadful things wsr,
going 10 be imposed upon American cor
porations-not anything SPECIFIC. sut
just what might be possible. Sseeks By
wholesale have been sold saor, on this
sort of propaganda And the actual
truth Is that not enc bad thing of aay
sort comes 20 pass-er Is likely 20 coma
70 pass. There has been nlsrepresenta-
tion-shameIess. indefensibIe. The rail-
roads OF the eeuatry, the industrial cor
perations os the country. all are To-day
In better condition than svar hitherto--
better not msrely Ia their immsdiafs
earnings. but bettes tremendously IN
what Is prospective.
In the United States steel Corporation
is example representative. Paying rer
cent, il is earning = per esnt.--feF The
common stock. Barely rear ago ths
quotation was an less than half ths pres
ent price; but even then there was clear
disclosure that current earnings wers
warranting the price that u to-dsy ve-
corded. And so il is. in reality. With
most OF the live aRd intrinsic pFopsstiss
OF ths stock Exchange-they are selling
at prices which will ieek snail Ia tas
nearby future when there is sppreesa-
ton of what present earnings signify.
United States steel COMMON stock 10 20
have a larger dividend. Il : earaiaz
much more than now 10 10 paying fhs
afticial program IS that N viii be Bsr
cent stock next year.
Among the railroads there Is gsnsrsi
uncertainty ss 20 what may q any time
happen-sO insecure do they all seem as
to orders issuab bic from the Interstate
Commerce Commission at Washington.
Yet, upon every hand there IS agrsenent
10 this-that earnings are better. because
more agreeable mood. because they are
able to command impTeyed aecommoda-
ton; that net earnings results mus. bs
bigger. because traffic Is bigger and rates
are better and shippsrs are less antag-
onistic. And. taking the long list OF re-
ports Of railways all ever the country.
the exhibit seems % bear euE this very
9ptimistie view. u - very clear thar
the railroads OF the eeuatEy arc doing
the best they can, and !, Is encouraging
to diseeVeF that the shippsFs OF the eoun-
try are coincidsntiy showing a aispssi-
I tea TO bs cooperative Where there
was war not long ago there seems now
to be agreeahlensss In any ard!aary
recitation this does net seam 20 have
much consequence, but actually il IS FAR
reaching.
It IS the Wall Street view that the in
yestors CT the eqgntry are aisipellnsd az
thS moment 20 give much heed 70 the
ups and downs OF quotations: but tAe
American investor Is an alert perssnaze
As he fs not mindful Ok the exrrava-
gances upward or the sxtYava gaaees
downward, so he is likely 70 bs actually
anprseiatiss Of ths appoEtqnitiss offered
, when there IS market qqieIEde. II Il
hardly safe to calculate upon the In
vester's sluggishness az any time.
Much effort Is being made 10 inducs
the public 70 trade In the local traction
stocks. The purpose is not honest. In
/ siders are overloaded. Tue peols. tor
example, are tying 20 unload tntsrhsr-
Cugh shares.
Ia Brooklyn Rapid Transit there may
be an increase in dividend. II Sc, Brook
Iyn can go 20 par-but il will be safer to
wait for the official announcement Of
such Increase than to anticipate il.
In Third Avenue there still proceeds
| the official determination 20 make The
market price low. Third Avenue is she
I one local traction stock selling below
what il is wOrth-it sells at one-hfth OF
what il is worth. They who have II
must still face The manipulation proc
esses OF an aggressive crew; but in the
end. when intrinsic value finally becomes
/ assertiye, Tiers is going to be disclosure
/ Of the fact that Third Avenues SOURCES
I CT reYeAHe are such that instead OF dis
! credit and disturbance there will p
( shown net revenues expanding ta the
/ point where dividends are provided.
/ rms sort OF forecast does not agree with
| what now is current and fashionable.
/ but 10 is what this review believes 10 b.
conservative. stockholders who under
/ scare or duFess now sell Third Avenue
stock are stockholders buncoe9.
Among the weeks developments -
strength IN Erie Railroad shares There
is one strange thing about this--stranss
because this strength has been delayed
/ We have a new Erie. Erie first aud Erie
second preferred shares are before lens
/ 20 % dividend shares.
Aud Denver ard Rio Grande Is strong.
| both common and preferred The West
eTn Pacific opens for business, IN
Rouneement OF il is in the news columns
to-day-and the significance for Denver
J cannot be 0yerestimated. \ year ago
\ Western Pacific was scheduled as
/ Gould property-nOw IL is recognized as
I in the conjoint ownership OF Mr.. Gould
| and James j. Fiji. And what this means
/ for Denver aud Rio Crande-throush
/ connection TO the Pacific Coast, not
/ merely for the Could system. but for tha
! Great Northerr-Hill system, II II nct
possible 20 OveFaPpreciate-DsRve AMI
Rio Grande, the intermediary line ter