New-York tribune., 1910-02-06
ALLAWAY'S REVIEW

Wall Street has had a near ra1tc
Until ar the very close Of the week
ouotations have been dennoralized- Noe
one development Of serious conprehen-
swe character. certainly none 10 De re-
earded as on the destructive side. Ia,
appeared An important failure came az
= surprise al the weeks opening. but no
combinations Of disturbing charaetsrar,
tbn result of IL; what, IN contrast with
,.rdi,arv records. f. significant is thar
not one element iTnpsacnlng the honesty
~ anv transaction IS fnvolVed-thls saal-
IRE altogether a misfortune, IN no sense
nor 20 any extent the result Of aazht
that can be considered questionable. IA
q s+ock market influence this failure has
insignifcapee.
What Is stznifcant--~hat has bean
donainant-In the affairs OF tns week re-
Nects the adroitness and The forcefulnsss
of leadership upon the bear side
Thomas w lawson has had his way
What the relatively picayune traders os
tine stock Exchange have for months
sarrulousIy attempted, what all their re-
sources nave failed 10 inhuence, DIR
Lawson within a fortnight acconpishss
dreadfully. II Is the Wall street dec-
trfne that Lawson is w1cksd--Isuaiiy il
is the fashion to proclaim that hs IS in
consequential But this weeks record is
actually in duplicate OF records That
have gone before Between Mr Law
son and lIr. Rogers OF the STANDARD Oil
Conpany there was formally bitter
continuing contest; but the passing .,
Mr.. Rogers has ameliorated the oldtims
ennnities. has even resulted, IL may De, IN
the rapprochenent OF aroretlrls hasrils
interests-one conspicuous STANDARD OH
trustee (ft is certain) being now per-
sona1 Lawson intimate. And this-ov
c1~nfcaI folks at least-wiIl be constraed
int, the theory that Mr.. Lawson recent
aeeressiyeness against the market has
had the seal OF high financial cerrifca-
tor There is in Lawson 4 falling
uniqueness-his canpal gn1ng seLS AZ
Wall Street precedent aside. II IS stock
E-xrha0ga cIeveTness forever 20 hghr
under cover--this one man never has
shown avoidance OF personal opsnaess
He calls hard names, he makes graga
scousations-but never By 1nnuendc.
never except with the utmost oUtspoksn
declaration Of his own Identify as ne
accuser Naturally enough he ~fas
enemies in abundance; naturally IN wan
Street it. is difficult 70 hnd any laIr az
l. praiser OF him. They sneeF ar nm VAo
fear him. they have been happy n re-
cant months in the dream that hs vas
extinct Wherefore, what nov happens
iy tha stock rlarkeL-LaW WSon the IN
/ doubted depressor-has double un~ei-
coroAness by reason Of the facr thar ;ha
/ chiefest influence is 50 clearly revealed
/ T-,f+ad S+a+es steel common has. ot
cor-ee hser the centre OF the weeks
combat. It IS and must bs under exist
ing conditions the market barometer. II
has 10 sustain the bulk OF attack. IS tbs
I chief target Of every bear assault AsF-
/ ,rthaIess. there is not The sllgntsst
/ change in the remarkably good business
positrou of the United states Steel Cor-
poration. For example, at the ti-1e WREN
the weeks market was az its lowest.
( official announcement came OF the pl7c-
ing Of orders by a single railroad fer
| s.. 200. 600 worth CT steel rails Here q
concrete business, entirely una1ectad y
! Wall Street conditions.
Now as To United States Steel com
mon stock-it. IS Some Is points lower
J. than it's extreme high point, oE1 ar ifs
/ present price IT IS yielding about per
! cent 10 the investor-an excellent rev.
enue. That it IS earning more than thfss
!. times what it is paying Is cornra0n
| knowledge. There is absolutely no war
( rant for any owner OF Steel common 70
/ sell his shares. II would be a difficult
/ matter for an investor 70 shift from
/ Steel common TO any other security and
; obtain the same revenue combined win
/ tbe szne chance Of capital enhancement
I and future increased dividend All tnsse
things are so patsnt-ars so easy or N
| teligenr conprehension-Ihat II would
seem 70 be the rnerest maunderlng Oh
| rnendacity 70 assau the position OF Stsel
/ securities And IN taking account ei
Z these securities the bonds and preferred
stock need not be conS1dsred-Ihsy slS
/ admittedly irnpregnaole-
II is OF course quite possible thar ne
I yagarIss OF speculation can induce Iui-
Iher depression in Steel common, LuE
/ there is no limit to the speculative Sllh-
ness which ar times cbsaSSes the pro-
I fessionaI mind. But speculative co1sid-
J eratiOns do not particularly ansct th7
/ investor, and the enormous TRANSACTIONS
in Steel common now current cledrly =
veal public Investment buying on "
rendous scale. And IL IS slsnlncanL - t!.@-
& very important portion OF this Duyh.s
Is conducted by the CSd-lor houses 4.
is further significant that the deEnana
for the Steel common stock IS not coz
fined 10 American investors bur IS arg
IL participated in by English. French ana
German buyers. So far as future Stss1
business conditions can De judged [asIs
Is nothing in sight but continuing an.
increasing prosperity. This i csrtl1r1
10 by every trade authority. That S1es'
will continue 70 dominate market nnove-
rnent is certain It's pre-sninence u
this country land the worldl admits 70
challenge
One disturbing element OF the week
disclosure OF the vindictiveness or ths
fight going on in the matter Of the pFs-
posed merger Of the secondary copps'
companies. Wall Street had become -
convinced that harmonious concluslnn
had been reached as 70 be startled 3
the revelation Of diScord- And this :
accented by the announced disgust o.
Mr.. J. Pierpont Morgan. and his az
parent Willingness 10 TshnGulSh an
further connection with the scheme les
which his name stood sponsor. lrcl-
dents Of this character are not CheerfuE
make for unsettlement Of sentin1sns
Marketwise they are displrlttug- oI1
unpleasant Squdbples among rnancls.
/ supposed 10 be in the first rank Canno'
but exert unvholesome effect.