The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-03-20
Gambling CHANCE
DOES NOT APPEAL.
Brokers Stay Out Of Market I'm
til After Tobacco
Decision.
S rog!c.K PRICES WAIv Err
5Uproarious Bull Campaign Like
If Supreme Courts Finds
for Defendant.
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New York. March i5.-DstDocK price.
wayered In Wall Street to-day after q
strong opening. The strength at tbs
: beginning OF trading was due to re
ports OF q compromise reached at Chi
Gago between the switchnen and the
railroads. Later. reports that tho To-
comotiye firemen had been unable to
make any AGREEMENT with the Inter
state Commerce. Commissioners who
are sitting as an arbitration commit
renewed upprclensions in regard to
the decision which many believe the
supreme Court will hand down In the
tobacco case Monday.
While, OF course, nobody knows
whether the Supreme Court will rem
der its tobacco decision Monday. tho
matter Is 80 extremely important that
many traders have gotten out OF the
market completely. II 1t be not rcn-
dered they Will buy stocks in the att
crnoon, for 1t cannot come until April
:. II not rendered Monday.
Opinion In the best legal. banking
and speculative quarters IL that de-
cision in favor OF the tobacco company
VIII cause an uproarious bull market
at once. "A drastic decision against the
company Will save ON immediate and
profound depression.
But a decision against the company
+ yet permitting 1t to do business with
certain restrictions that corporations
could adopt without complete reorgan-
ization would cause quick break,
followed by an immediate recovery
and an important upward movement
In all stocks. Even those who Be.
lieve the company will win wholly or
In part have been letting tho market
alone tho last few days. feeling 1t bet
ter TO pay more for their stocks. IL
necessary. after the decision is ren-
dered than to take a gambling chance.
The market for the past week has re-
Elected nothing more than the cross
currents caused BY the evening UP OF
operations.
1t was realization Of the growing
strength OF tho steel trust as much as
anything else that checked the down
ward movement In the stock market
the past week. The public was familiar
in a general way with the figures pub
lished quarterly, but the detailed
pamphlet statement presents steel In
forclble way. For instance. the trust
has put more than s4o0.00o.000 OF earn
ings into requirements and new con-
s,ruction. This Is equal to practically
the market price Of the common stock.
il has increased Its surplus OF net as
sets from the original s25.0oo,00o TO
S151.000.00o. and has exactly doubled
its manufacturing capacity. Earnings
at present are at the rate OF nearly 20
per cent. or about four times the high
est dividend that any one expects the
rtN L. Cbafy n q m
pIoYes, and operates railroad system
Of 5000 miles. on which there are 50.-
300 cars and LOO locomotives.
The steel trust is the biggest COM
binat!on the world has ever seen. and
neither the new Standard OIL Company
nor the new copper corporation. which
everybody expects Will be floated this
year, can compare with 1t In financial
Or business importance.
Financially. 1t Is just about as big
as the United states government. and
the United States government has In
vestigated its business methods In a
way that has insured immunity from
attack by the administration. Thus
1t Is strong financially. legally and
morally.
The sugar trust also made a public
statement which convinced the public!
that this sinner In the list OF corpora
lions has finally seen the error Of Its
way. It earned, net, In 1909 more
than 100000 In excess OF the Prev
Gus year. but the conscience fund alb
sorbed nearly $s.000o0o, so that the
years operations shoW a deficit which
was supplied out OF the surplus The 4
surplus IS STILL however, above s21.-
100000. and the company has q very
large amount Of cash on call In Wall!
s Street all the time. The steel trust.
by the way, has more than s5s.ooo,oOol
spot cash on hand.
Vast cash holdings by the corpora
tons OF Which the steel and sugar
trusts are only two. made the finan-l
scia1 world pay excited attention to an
advance In tho stock OF the Nntionall
Bank Of Commerce the past week.
The BELIEF was worldwide that
& Morgan was planning to consolidate
the Bank Of Commerce and the Ma
tional City Bank. It Is known !
that his power In the Ma
tlonal City Bank IS now practically
equal to that OF the RockefeNers,@ II !
indeed he be not the master. 4 con-
solidatton OF those institutions is plan
ned In an indefinite way, and will un.
.doubtedly be accomplished some day.
Among official developments Of the !
week was the announcement Of a.
Forthcoming convertible bond Issue OF |
gS37,e00,00o by the Chesape n and
Ohio. It is expected that this money!
Will be used partly for taking over
control Of the Hooking Valley Rail-
road road The big Hawley railroad merger
cannot be POSTPONED much longer. and I
Will afurn1sh ono of the imp ortant mar
ket influences Of the near future,
The pro sperlty Of the railroads is
proved by the reports OF the New
York Central. showing the greatest
tonnage OF loaded ears on record.
On the Curb.
3 ding on the curb market waal
quiet to-d day ana prices were reaction,
,ary Standard OIL and American TO.
5hacco we're neglected. Intercontinen-
1al Rubber lost fraction. but was
steady. Chino declined half point \
from Its high record figure made III
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