The Washington times., 1911-10-08

from the Wall Street point OF view
better things Of President Taft ana u
the brokerage element feels very much
as though 1t had been betrayed IN tne
house OF friend, and 1t scarcely knows
| which way to turn.
No Constructive Policy.
! No one of Importance in Wall Street
! that | know Of believes that corpora
tions should be permitted 10 violate the
/ laws, but they do think It most unfortu-
nate that the great industria!s should
| have been permitted over many years to
organize and come into existence, sell
their securities to innocent holders, and
| become part of the great commercial
and financial fabric of the country. and
/ then, after all this has taken place
mainly under the Administrations OF the
! party Of President Roosevelt and Presl-
! dent Taft-an edict goes fortn 10 unuo
| what has been done.
No doubt, as President Taft has said,
we did exist without monopoly, ana we
can exist without monopoly, and we dld
survive competition and we can suIVtSe
| competition; but the process OF undolne
constructive work of thirty years is
serious dislocation of present conditlons.
and small wonder that the president
repeated insistence upon the fact that
trust prosecutions must continue, ana
that the Sherman antitrust act must
not be repealed or amended, snouio
prove highly disturbing to Wall Street
and 10 the whole business community.
Though the financial district Is now
rapidly assuming toward President IaIt
and Attorney General Wickersham much
the same attitude that II uii toward
President RooseS 1t, II realizes that the
subject of regulating the trusts mas pc
come a measure to which the SepupliS-
an party stands committed, and therein
in a source of much concern for the tu-
ture. But the point uron which 1t Is
chiefly critical Is that with ali TINS uh-
doing Of an established Older or Things
no general constructive policy has heen
formulated for the future CT the great
Industries.
The Market and Its Problems.
Naturally, when Wall Street recalls
all the many disturbing FEATURES in the
period of the nineties it recalls that II
looked confidently to the Repuoncan a
party to terminate all me agitatioh a.
to populism and free silver, and the 'as-
sault on the standard or value, ana
such was the result of the Presidential
campaign and the election OF Mr.. NC
KinIey In 1896. But wncre. says wan
Street. can we turn now nu'
the attitude Of the Republican Admins,
tration disturbing IL knows ful wen
that IL has little hope for any better
treatment from the party of the opposI-
tIon, which is the traditional ana MS,
toric enemy of the protection tarin and
n the trusts which have sprung into
existence as a development OF hlgn
tariffs.
There is no gainsaying the disturbing
nature Of Wall Streets present dile'nnIa'
and one MAY we'll appreciate the dlHi-
cuIties which the brokers experience IN
irving t. determine the way out OF tne
trouble. OF course some solution Will
be found: The market always Us con-
fronted with problems and the proDIerIS
sIways have been solved, and these Will
nroyc no exceptions. 1t Is not well 10
lose sight of the fact that, as yet. the
country has not been able to Determine
how the two great concerns Thicn were
ordered to dissolVe-the Standard vi
Company-will operate. Naturally II
must take time to ascertain the results
of their work ings under changed conui
lions. but these will become known, ana
though the outcome under competltiVe
conditions may not be as satisfactory as
Under close coordinated operations
there IS nothing that indicates that they
will prove disastrous.
Conservation Compelled
II appears to be tie settled conviction
of important banking interests that the
country as \ whole cannot expect conf
dent or very extensive buying opera
tions, eithef in commodities or in
securities, wi lie SO much uncertainty as
is now present in the situation con-
tinues. But this docs not, by any
manner Of means, imply that things are
going to come to a complete standstill.
The day-to-day needs of the country
are vast, constituting in themselves
big business in the aggregate, and the
stocks of merchandise are low every
where. so that merchandise for current
needs is not drawn out of stocks in
warehouses or from overloaded shelves,
but the orders must go to the mills and
factories, and provide new business for
labCrers.
Nor does an unsettled situation like
the present bring financial and security
markets to a standstill. That the con-
stIuctive investment Of the country Is
sound is indicated by the absence of de-
faults and by the general maintenance
Of diYidends In the case Of some cor