Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1910-06-04
NEAR PANIC To
BRIGHTEN TIE
GOVERNMENT
FinanCiers Cause Fall i
Stocks to Force Attorney
General to Let up.
SPECIAL INTERESTS 1C
RULE OR RUIN

New York, June 4. = Today when
shippers and others who are in gym
pathy with Attorney General Wicker
sham's fight against the railroads to
prevent united increase In freight
rates compared notes they were dis
posed to agree that the situation here
indicates that powerful Wall street In
huences are lined up in support Of the
railroads In the struggle.
The kings of finance who rule the
destinies of the stock market are said
to have endeavored to administer a
savage rebuke to Attorney General
Wickersham yesterday for his railroad
war by causing near panic on the ex-
change. The crash that, began at noon
and continued without abatement until
the close Of the day was the worst of
the year. Standard securities tumbled
as If 1t had been discovered suddenly
that they were gold bricks. The entire
list was sold off as If the public were
ANoAAhB nAtOAy " NONGI III u
fear of being ruined.
The tremendous selling pressure was
not the public Withdrawing its sup
port, however, for the public has not
been in the market for several days.
The raid was palpably artificial, and
when $200000,000 had been shaved
from the value of listed securities the
word passed round the financial dis
trlct, well, this ought to be lesson
to Taft and Wickersham to leave us
alone"
The $200,O00,O00 loss represents the
decline in stock value since the finance
barons of the street learned of the de-
cision Of the United States circuit court
of Missouri enjoining western rail
roads from putting up their freight
rates. No sooner than that decision
was announced the railroad magnates
began TO mutter threats and boast OF
what they would do to the stock mar
ket and the peoples securities. They
began to make good their boast on
Tuesday, ana the artificial panic was
continued Wednesday Then there
was lull in the storm, which contin-
ued during the opening hours of trad
ing yesterday but suddenly the barom-
eter changed from fair to storm, and
the hurricane broke.
Union Pacific led the decline, and be-
fore the days toboggan had ended
had declined points below yes
terday's closing. Losses of from 2 to
A points were scored for the entire list
of both railroad and Industrial securi-
ties, while St Paul, which led the de-
cline of Tuesday and Wednesday, lost
41a points more
Absolutely no effort was made to
steady or support the market. The
tide all flowed in one direction. and
everybody on change seemed ready
and willing to board the band wagon
and join in the selling raid. The stocks
were dumped in big blocks. and the
selling was fast and furious from the
moment the break came.
Steel common was sold down until
there were few takers and closed at
7512, loss of four points for the day
When the raiders turned their atten-
tion to the copper stocks they had
ready the report that the Calumet &
Hecla mine had announced cut In Its
dividend from So to So a quarter. Both
Smelters and Amalgamated suffered
from this report.
The first decline came so suddenly
that many small traders were caught
unawares. When margins were wiped
out the brokers dumped the stocks
overheard with precipitation. The de-
moralization was general and not only
caused frenzied selling ON the Stock
Exchange, but on the Consolidated as
well. Wild reports that President Taft
had delivered a speech in Ohio in
which he predicted panic within ten
years helped to draw the tension a
trifie higher