Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-13
HYSTER|A NOW OVER
CaImer Feeling Pervades the
Securities Market.
VIEW OF TAFT Is SANER
Street Suddenly Finds He Is Not
Bent on Ruin.
HURTS IN NEED OF NURSING
When They Have Healed, There APP
pears No Reason Why Conditions
Should Not Be Normal.
IN NEED OF NURSING
BY W. G.. NICHOLAS.

BY W. G. NICHOLAS
Special Correspondence Of The Star
NEW YORK, February l., 1910.
| The hysteria seems to have disappeared
from the market and calmer feeling pre-
walls. The housekeeping appears to have
been very thoroughly done. The weak
and Objectionable accounts must have
been weeded out completely. The banks
effectually eliminated bad collateral from
the envelopes of commission houses and
brokerage concerns. The big interests
who We're out to discipline unruly and i'm
prudent operators have come back on the
| reservation licking their chops and look
| ing satisfied.
Washington was duly given its object
| lesson and properly impressed with a
/ sense of the awful things which right
| happen to this country if Congress and
| the administration persisted in passing
| laws designed to keep the big crooks
| fairly honest, or at least decently OBJ
servant of the rules of fair play and legal
| equities. All this having been done to the
satisfaction of the great interests and
their willing allies, the stage machinery
has been set to work shifting the scenery
land changing the coiors from somber to
cheerful.
1t is suddenly discovered that the Presi-
dent is not a remorseieSs ogre seeking the
obstruction of property and striving to
| throw the nation into bankruptcy. The
scientists announce that they fail to dis
cover in the signs of the times any inn
mediate probability of an unusually large
harvest this spring of earthquakes. cy-
clones and tidal waves. Neither can it
be learned that the railroads are going to
stop running trains for the transporta-
ton of passengers and freight, or that
the geeat industrial enterprises are about
to go out of business permanently Like
wise. the stock exchange is in no imme-
date danger of retirement from the
scene. even though the legislature 1T AL
bany in it's wisdom should do some law
making to compel that unique organiZa-
| ton to treat the outside public more
fairly and prevent it from shearing the
! lambs too close to the skin or too fire.
quently. Sudh Legislation might really
operate to the advantage of the eX-
change and to the comorants who fatten
on the business done through is agencies.
Scared of Their Own Bogie.
The dreadful danger which threatens
the country in the event of adverse SUI
preme Court decisions in the tobacco and
Standard Oil cases did work overtime.
So earnestly and urgently did the spokes-
men for the banking combines indulge
in scare talk, based on the impending
court decisions in these cases. that in
Oany instances they were impressed
with their own efforts in that line and
became imbued with really panicky
symptoms, genuine as far as they went.
Much talk was heard in quarters usually
accounted sane as to the calamities
which would result from the dissolution
of laWless trusts and monopolies and
the Capitalization of power at WASH
ington.
The soft-spoken Judge Gary of the
steel trust was first to call halt on
that sort of discussion by announcing
that the United States Steel Corporation
would cheerfully incorporate under a
national incorporation law IF it were
found practicable to do So" George
Perkins. speaking for the other Morgan
interests. gave utterance to similar views,
and then the whole line of orators voIc-
ing the views of 1.-The interests dropped
into step with the leaders, and a full
chorus of tentative approval of the adj
nn1n1stratlons purposes filled the air.
Some of it was genuine, but most of it
was for effect and to forestall the criti-
cismS of the prOletariat The immediate
Wall street effect was to produce a bet
ter feeling in the stock market and to
make people think that possibly the end
of the world was not yet in sight 1t
served also as a warning to overstrenu-
Gus bears, and was taken advantage of
by the element to close up commitments
on the short side.
lie CoPeTlHS ny the SnOflS caused a
very sharp rally in prices. and led a
great many traders to believe that per-
manent recovery in quotations had set
in. The majority of experienced profess
SIGNALS did not subscribe to this view,
however, and ascribed the recovery as
largely technical. In other words, they
preached the gospel of a secondary re-
action after the shorts had filled their
contracts, and thereby taken away valu-
able support from stocks And that is
| a nit
ket distinctly has two Sides and in the
background there Is yet remaining con-
siderable nervousness. 1t would not be
surprising after what has happened
during the last six weeks If the market
should enter upon period of dullness
After such a terrific decline as we have
experienced people must have time to
nurse their wounds and get themselves
in shape for another season of activity.
Average Above Low Record.
Severe as the decline was, the statisti-
clans note that the low range of prices
did not bring the average down to the
level that prevailed just about a year
ago. Reading. for instance, at the bot
tom quotation this week, was 40 points
higher than last February, Southern
Railway points higher, Southern Pa
cific points higher Union Pacific 6
points higher, Steel 30 points higher.
Pennsylvania points higher Rock Is
land common % points higher. st, Paul
and Northwestern 5 points higher Cana
dian Pacific IL points higher. Amalga-
mated Copper 10 points higher, Shelters
about the same, Illinois Central the same
Baltimore and Ohio 5 points higher. and
New York Central points lower This
is not a bad showing after all, when it
is remembered that the figures ruling a
year ago were only a moderate recession
from a heroic bull campaign run with
prodigious success throughout the nine
months of 1908 and with the leadership
of Mr.. Hartman. The situation might
be worse-very much worse.
One feature which contains elements of
real trouble is the labor outlook For the
better part of two years a majority of
large corporations made continuous re-
ports of gains in net earnings month by
month. This made good reading for Wall
street and the investors generally and
contributed in an important sense to the
big bull movement in securities These
reports were followed by increased diyi-
dends, and the shOwings made afforded
warrant for the hope of participation nv
labor in these good times. Now. how
ever. that workingmen are coming for
ward with demands for increased paw.
they are met with reports all along the
line of unfavorable net results.
Labor cannot understand why there
should be this sudden change in corpora
ton bookkeeping and balance sheets now
that the urgent need of producing spec
ulative effect in Wall street is not SO
acute. Labor is wondering if corpora
tions indulge in two kinds of bookkeep-
ing one for the stock exchappa and ~