The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-29
By w. c, NICHOLAS


 mission to the full directory at its quarterly meeting next Tuesday and
 at the same time the proposition was
 to be approved, ordering cancellation
 of the Great Northern iron ore leases. and also cutting freight rates on the
 trusts ore carrying railroads. There
 was to be a surrender along the limo.
 Advance information reached insiders Thursday morning, however, that the department of justice would file its dissolution suit before sundown. At a hastily called special meeting the ore lease and rate cutting parts of the programme were adopted, thereby beating the Attorney General to it, iI.
 one phase of his litigation. The rest | of the programme wasn't ready or that, | too, would have been put through and a great tactical victory scored. The plan that is to be submitted to cure
 the objectionable features of the or ganiza ton is to segregate the corpor- ations iron ore holdings, It's coal pro T. critics, its railroads and its cement in- terests and turn them over to four sep
 arate and distinct companies, the stock in which will be distributed pro rata
 among the shareholders of the parent corporation. The trust insiders believe the plan will be acceptable to the de- partment of justce thereby bringing the litigation to a peaceful and satis- factory conclusion.
 Should this programme go through
 as framed the market effect might te m hIl1ieb ba
 dissolution suit was bearish and that
 would be going some. for the price of
 Steel common broke points the day
 following the commencement of the
 suit and the whole market was demor-
 alized There were indications of in
 side support on the slump and the old
 bull party was taking offerings on
 large scale and very quietly.
 The stock market Is in a pronounced state
 of uncertainty. The biggest and wisest
 men in the street are just as much per
 plexed as the little fellows. The chief
 element of speculation is found in naton-
 al politics. It has been discovered to the disappointment of the so called ''big in te1ests' that there is overwhelming popular sentiment behind the political movement for the readjustment Of busi- ness, closer governmental supervision of corporation affairs and a wholesale in dorsement (outsde of the banking ana managerial interests in the large cities) of the judicial findings and decisions with regard to the Sherman antitrust law
 The idea which was held by many of the financial and industrial leaders that Congress and the people would be im- pressed and frightened by a stock marke object lesson" has been rudely upset. The great public which politicians try to represent doesn't seem to care a con- tinental about stock market breaks or even stock market panics. The argument | that the big losses fall on widows and i orphans and other innocent stockholders | falls on deaf ears. It was the same
 old talk that has been indulged in by | stock market schemers and jobbers from | time immemorial. Even back in the days
 of Commodore Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Jim l Fisk and Daniel Drew, the great distress
 of the market jugglers was on account of
 the poor widows and orphans. There has | been no change in the tune and hardly q modernized version of the words of the song. The public has become hardened | to that sort of chatter
 l Wall street no longer deludes itself with any false ideas that the campaign | TOT the further control of corporation af- | fairs is going to be changed to the ad- vantage of insiders" There is a wide l spread sentiment that the establishment
 Of methods now in progress will result
 eventually to the great benefit of the out ! side public which will have a run for it's
 money, for the first time in history. | chances for inside graft are in process | or being cut down and If matters should | progress as they are now doing. if may | not be long before the real investors and stockholders will come into their own | that is, that they will get what they are | entitled to from the earnings of the busi- | nesses owned by their associated capital. l speculative banking syndicates and | scnemers who prostitute their positions ( f
 officers and directors of railroads and in austrial companies to play the stock mar | ket are In fair way to be stripped Of | 'he advantages which they have hith erto l enjoyed. The game of exploiting the prop- | erty or the hundreds of thousands of T E. l soclated owners for the benefit of the few
 who are in control of the financial man. agement and operation has been about I piaHeu out and the interruptions men who | nave Dullt up great fortunes by devious. | Wall street methods and at the expense | or trusteed interests are squealng in omen distress. It is unfortunate that many cf taese very rich men are old in years and 1 must in the natural order of things nass
 away before they can be brought to face
 open punishment
 Deep seated fear and anxiety has seized l upon the big men of Wall street. They are in no mood to run stock market deals | or to give heart and backing to others Who might want to take hold The senti-
 inent mat Is generated in Wall street is ' olst1nctly gloomy. Men to whom the snac
 ulators look for leadership and counsel are worried and troubled. They confess to newilderment and doubt as to what -he future may hold in store for them and trey have not vet arrived at that stare or education which permits them to see
 that the country can get along very well without their leadership and without their continued direction of large affairs Be-
 cause their hands are being tied. in a way. ana their operations restricted they are
 obsessed with the notion that the world Is l in dancer of going to pieces The wealthy men who have been all powerful in the
 financial world are at this present moment undergoing curious and painful process | of moral and business regeneration and readiustment. The experience is entirely novel and they do not vet know what tx ooy- of xx,I,< hox